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Dead Alive (1992) - Peter Jackson

Before the Lord of the Rings trilogy Peter Jackson spent his time directing some really gory, really funny horror movies. Dead Alive has some of the grossest and most disgusting scenes I've ever witnessed, it is really not for the feint of heart. The movie is a zombie film of sorts, but it is more of a comedy zombie movie than anything else; the thing that makes this movie so interesting is the incredible camera work Peter Jackson employs.

The movie is about a guy and his mother, and his mother is bitten by a Sumatran Rat Monkey and turns into a zombie. The guy has to figure a way to keep his quickly, graphically deteriorating mother from escaping and creating more zombies. The movie features a ton of incredibly cheap special effects and home-made models. It is really a cool feature, there are all sorts of things going on, from people having their entire faces ripped off to pus dripping out of just about everywhere. This movie is awesome!

The movie is really silly and incorporates slap-stick humor to make things work. There is a scene where a priest fights off three zombies exclaiming "I kick ass for the Lord!" The film has tons of memorable scenes and is incredibly quotable. Dead Alive stands to be one of Peter Jackson's greatest works, this film is a classic; I really wish I had seen this in a theater full of people.

I am going to give Dead Alive a 8 of 10. The film's effects and camera work are so good that I found myself not really caring about the storyline, I just had a lot of fun experiencing the visuals.

"Stand Back Boy! This calls for Divine Intervention!"
  • In New Zealand this movie made more than Batman Returns. 
  • Regarded as one of the goriest movies of all time.
  • The rental version of this movie came with barf bags.

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