“I kick ass for the Lord”
Stewart (Bill Ralston) is an animal procurer for the Wellington Zoo in New Zealand. He has captured a Sumatran rat-monkey. It is said that the creature is a hybrid resulting from plague infected rats from slave ships that escaped to a small island called Skull Island. The rats raped the local tree monkeys which resulted in the rat-monkey. While trying to escape from a native tribe that wants to prevent Stewart from absconding with the rat-monkey, Stewart is bitten. Knowing what a bite from a rat-monkey will do to a human, the other members of the expedition begin chopping off the areas of Stewart that were bitten. The rat-monkey is taken to the airport where it is shipped to the zoo.
Lionel Cosgrove is a nerdy mild-mannered guy who lives with his overbearing mother, Vera (Elizabeth Moody). Lionel meets a bubbly shopkeeper named Paquita Maria Sanchez (Diana Penalver). Based on a tarot card reading done by her grandmother (Davinia Whitehouse), Paquita believes that Lionel is her soul mate. She pursues Lionel, to his delight. The two go on a date to the zoo. Lionel hides this information from the domineering Vera. Vera suspects that Lionel is seeing someone, so she follows them to the zoo. Vera gets bitten by the rat-monkey. Lionel takes her home.
Vera becomes sick. She eventually begins to decay as she slowly turns into a zombie. Lionel tries to hide her in the basement by giving her tranquilizers, but Vera manages to escape. When she is hit by a streetcar she is buried, however, Vera refuses to stay buried. Vera begins to infect other people. Lionel tries to keep control over each of the undead while trying to keep Paquita oblivious to what is going on.
Lionel’s gold-digging Uncle Les (Ian Watkin) weasels his way into the house and discovers some of what is going on. He blackmails Lionel into giving him his inheritance. Uncle Les celebrates by having a party. During the party the zombies in the cellar break out. Much havoc ensues.
“Brain Dead” AKA “Dead Alive” was released in 1992 and was directed by Peter Jackson. It is a New Zealand horror comedy and part of the subgenre “splatter” film. Some consider it the goriest film ever.
There are a bunch of different versions of the film depending on what is cut out and what is not. The original film is about 104 minutes long. Due to some issues with another film released around the same time, with the same title, Jackson did some adjustments to the film and released an American version that comes in at about 97 minutes and retitled it “Dead Alive”. Jackson considers the 97-minute movie the director’s cut. The 104-minute version is the international cut.
Warning: Do not eat while watching this movie. Approximately 300 liters of fake blood was used for the last scene of the film which featured a lawn mower. The fake blood was pumped at five gallons per second. If you liked “Rabid Grannies” 1988, you’ll probably like this one too.
Peter Jackson has a bit part as the undertaker’s assistant. Forrest J. Ackerman plays a tourist at the zoo. At one point the film company was sued by a family who claimed that their privacy was infringed when the tombstone of a family member was seen in the film.
Movie
Director's Cut