 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1992 Peter Jackson film Dead Alive This is probably his most notorious film and it's beloved by many people and I think there's a very good reason for that I think this is a super unique film and it's not just unique from when it came out It's actually still unique now. I would argue especially because if you look to How good the practical effects were and still are at the moment and not just that but how much of it There is that's the big thing is the sheer volume of practical effects the gore gags at play in this film And it's pretty much consistent from the very beginning of the film to the very end of it There's so much thrown into this that I'm hard-pressed to think about any other films that do this much I mean if you can think of it put it down in the comments Are there any other films that throw this many gore gags at you that fast and from the beginning to end of the film? I can't really think of that and that's why this is such a unique film But not just that it's all of that and then it's wrapped up in this kind of zany comedic cartoonish Fun so even though it's presenting some very horrific things some very gory things some crazy things It's doing it in a very fun and light way and the music helps with that obviously even though the music is like super super hokey Which you know Peter Jackson does that That's his thing At least early on is what I mean his very early films. That's how his music was but Yeah, so it's I mean it holds up. It definitely holds up so let me talk a little bit about this and Obviously, I'm a fan of it. This is this is The first time I've watched it in probably over 10 years Which is kind of crazy and it's it's always fun to go back to a film after it's been that long and be like This is what I remember of it and then getting that refresh on it and being like oh I forgot so much about this film. Oh, the other thing I wanted to say really quick before I go into it more is Like I was talking about you know the the sheer volume all the gore gags But also the fact that they just keep throwing more and more at you and it's just like new gore gag New gore gag new gore gag. They weren't reusing them They just kept having all these super creative ideas ways to kill these zombies ways to do disgusting things And that's another big part of the fun of it is seeing what they'll do next and it also feels like they just keep taking it to the next Level next level next level next level all the way through to the end of the film So yeah, so obviously this is a Peter Jackson film. He directed it This was two years before he did the film Heavenly Creatures, which I've seen that film if you haven't seen it You got to be okay with a lot of crying It's it's a very different film than Dead Alive like they're they're polar opposites pretty much But the music is very similar which which is really weird, but yeah, Heavenly Creatures good in its own right, but Very different Do you just do an experiment and do a Peter Jackson? Double feature one night and do Dead Alive and then do Heavenly Creatures Or actually it's probably better to do Heavenly Creatures and then Dead Alive because then you finished with something more fun Just saying This was written by Jackson along with Steven Sinclair who also wrote scripts for Meet the Feebles and The Lord of the Rings rings the Lord of the Rings the two towers Which is the second of those films and then Fran Walsh who wrote scripts for and this is a lot Heavenly Creatures the Frightners, which is a really awesome underrated film that Peter Jackson also directed all Lord of the Rings movies all of the Lord of the all three of the Lord of the Rings movies Also King Kong the lovely bones Mortal engines the hobbit the desolation of smog and the hobbit the battle of the five armies so Fran Walsh great writer and This is why I always talk about writers when I talk about films because a lot of people know the directors involved with the films But they don't think about the writers and the writers are important obviously that's where you're getting the dialogue It's where you're getting the story You get a lot out of that so just just saying This film is also known as brain dead. That's what it was initially made as in New Zealand and it's It became known as dead alive when it came to the United States so It had a three million dollar budget and it only made about two hundred thousand dollars at the box office You can see where the three million dollars went So many effects so many practical effects. It's insane The opening scene Which is Skull Island is actually shot Where they had the shoot for the Path of the Dead for the return of the King Lord of the Rings return of the King So I thought that was kind of an interesting tie-in to old film Peter Jackson's newer film Bob McCarron did the prosthetics and makeup which phenomenal amazing unbelievable It still holds up like I said And he ended up getting an award at the Sitges Catalan International Film Festival It was also nominated for a Saturn award. I say rightfully so Did an amazing job. So the park scene a little backstory the park scene with the baby, which I think is really funny It's kind of one of my favorite parts because when he's like beating the piss out of the baby and people are reacting like Oh my god, what is going on? It's just funny like that comedic work. I really like So they ended up actually having some extra money and time at that point because that was the last scene They actually shot they had like two extra days because they got done early with filming Which I don't know how you do that with how much work probably went into this and how how much time it probably had to Take to set up all those gore gags But anyway, they ended up having about two extra days and so they put an extra money So they put extra days and extra money in the park scene to make it more comedic to you know Do the best they could with it. So I just thought that was kind of interesting There are multiple cuts of this film and one of the reasons for that the main reason for that being when it went to all their Countries each country kind of put their hands on it did their own cut You know cutting out certain gore stuff because there is a lot a lot a lot of gore and Different countries feel comfortable with different levels of gore back then and now even so that's why there's so many different cuts of this Don't know which cut I saw so that's the thing I assume it was the totally uncut one because there was so much stuff, but you know So Simon Pegg actually cites this film as one of his big inspirations for making Shaun of the Dead Which you can kind of see it in that and that's not uncommon I feel like a lot of filmmakers who had grown up and seen dead alive That sticks with them It's it's a film that gets talked about a lot within the horror community when people start thinking talking about Influential horror films are just crazy horror films Because it's it still sticks out like I said, it's still a very unique film to this day And I don't really think it's been matched for what it is But yeah, I think it's interesting that Simon Pegg found it as an inspiration and then I started thinking about that And I was like, you know when you're watching Dead alive. It's really it seems heavily inspired by Evil Dead Which was 11 years prior to dead alive coming out If you watch it through that light Lionel the character of Lionel is very much Ash Williams and Yeah, the zombie horde like it and it's kind of the same way. It's like this horror comedy splatter Gore it's it's pretty similar There isn't much time wasted on this because you get to the gore pretty much immediately where the The colonialists basically are escaping from Skull Island with the rat monkey The guy gets bitten and then they're like, oh, we got to kill him So they hack him up and they hack him up very graphically, you know cutting his arms off and everything So that's important because it sets the tone. It says, you know what? We're going hardcore with the gore Here it is within the first like minute or so of the film We're not wasting time and I appreciate that and it sets the tone Like you know what you're gonna start getting from the film You don't know to what degree it goes because like I said it just keeps going level level level level But you get a little idea So the shooting style and the characters with this are so unbelievably quirky Which I think is what really keeps the horrific and disgusting stuff from being actually horrific and really disgusting When you put the music to it that they did when you shoot it with the camera work that they that they shot it with Now there's always this like kind of fun playing with the camera where it's kind of like a lot of shots are kind of a Skew so it's it's like these fun funky angles and then they do a lot of like Real close-up shots, especially with the faces of the characters and they'll do them at weird angles with the characters faces So it gives this kind of almost cartoonish Non-realistic comedic feel to it, which I find interesting and like I said I think it takes some of the edge off of the horrific stuff and the gore You get a close-up of those lawnmower blades early on Which is kind of a funny foreshadowing of what's to come obviously the first time you're watching it You don't know that that's coming in later, but when it does It's a good time The rat monkey looks insane in this film and that's the first like big Prosthetics thing that you see that looks good like practical effects thing that looks really good Is that rat monkey and when its heads being squashed by Lionel's mother? It's long a longer scene than you would think and that also sets you up for what's gonna end up coming up and saying Yeah, it's gonna be gross. It's gonna focus on the grossness and That's a good scene to really set things up I like how the mother's wound ends up being so disgusting when they're kind of dressing it and they take the dressing off It's just this giant wound and then it's it's like moving and pulsating like it's becoming alive They have so many great touches to to those types of things in the film I like how nobody is really ever scared in any of these situations in the film They're just kind of upset or surprised at worst So the characters aren't like realistic, but that fits with the mode of the film with it being kind of like this horror comedy I'd actually say it's more of like a splatter gore comedy is I Mean for me personally like that's what it feels like that's how I would personally categorize it but Yeah, it's just funny because There aren't realistic Reactions in this and I think that's okay like a lot of films that wouldn't be okay But with this one with the tone that they said it's okay. I Actually think it works in favor of the film I don't know why Lionel actually lies to Pekita in this when his mom and the nurse End up getting killed and then he like shoves him in the basement I don't know why he lies at that point because she was already with him for some pretty crazy stuff So like that part of the film doesn't make sense. It's kind of odd to me I don't know. It's just it just seems out of place. I just don't think that should happen I love when the guy taps the eyeballs back into his mother's head After the embalming went wrong and there's like the all balming fluted like flying out of her which that Amongst many others was a very fun scene When he comes in he just like puts his fingers on the eyes and then just goes boop And then just pops them back in the sockets. It's just funny. And that's the thing like there are these nice little Disgustingly comedic moments and they work and they work really well And like I was saying before like I can't think of that many films that That are around that do that and do that well so unique How the priest's speech lines up with Lionel struggling struggling with his mother is actually really funny You know, it's talking about things about their relationship He and his mother and they're they're like fighting and how they'll meet in the afterlife and they're already meeting after she's dead And then he talks about resurrection as they fly through the window right behind him And he says resurrection and she has been resurrected. So that's just good script writing. I like that Another great moment at the quote I kick-ass for the Lord When the priest just starts doing all these martial arts moves and he's like kicking arms off kicking legs off That is also one of my favorite moments the park because of the comedic aspect of it and I kick-ass for the Lord so Funny, you don't see it coming. That's the other thing about you just really don't see it coming And it's just one of those wacky over-the-top fun things that gets thrown in there Lionel just can't get away from having to take care of people He has to take care of his mother and he is basically owned by his mother throughout the beginning of this film And then he's still taking care of his mother even when she's dead and then everyone that she turns into a zombie after that So it's like he has this zombie family that just keeps growing and his Responsibilities just keep growing too because he's trying to keep all these things out of society Which you know good on him, but what a terrible life and it's just like he can never get away from his mother until the very end Obviously, which I'll talk about more later The movie just doesn't stop going to the next level. I wrote down zombie sex zombie baby I mean zombie sex zombie baby lawnmower scene the baby ripping the girl's face open from the inside out and then the mother that Gigantic freakish crazy mother. I mean it just keeps going and going and going which is what's great about it, obviously I Laugh when Lionel is beating the piss out of that baby already said it it bears saying again That zombie baby getting the crap kicked out of it. It's just funny and that's good physical acting by that actor By the way the guy who played Lionel When less throws the party at the house You know like you know immediately This is just a setup to get more bodies to infect more people as zombies have more to fight have more Disgusting things to do more gore gags all that stuff and you know that's coming and you're ready like at least that's how I felt I was like let's go. Here's more fodder for the zombie situation. Let's do it I Wrote down. Yeah, I already talked about it a little bit, but the lawnmower scene seems nuts and it's fun But then it's actually upstaged I think by the the face ripping by the baby actually because at that point you're watching the lawnmower scene and you're just like Oh my god, this must be the pinnacle This must be like the end because it seems like an ending to any other film But then the face ripping and then the mother and it's It just keeps surprising you and the yeah, it's just one up one up one up Trying to shoe shoe horn in the part about Lionel's mom drowning his dad and his dad's lover I felt like that was kind of dumb. We definitely could have done without that. You didn't need it at all It didn't really add that much to the film Although in that flashback. I think it's kind of funny with his mother looking younger I think she looks like Michael Cain in that scene, which is kind of weird. Tell me if you think that's Accurate put a comment down there. I mean at least to me She looks like Michael Cain in that It's funny his mother wouldn't let go of him in life And in the end she tries to take him back into her womb, you know, I mean literally that's what ends up Fix this lighting. There we go. It's a little bit better In the end she literally opens up her womb and sucks him back in because she knows I mean, obviously he's getting away from her at that point his entire life He's consumed by his mother what she wants and what she tells him to do and says don't do this don't do that and this whole thing is has been his way of you know going through Terrible things in life, which finally led him to getting away from his mother And then it's the last dish ditch effort that at the end to do the ultimate and take him back into the womb That's the ultimate of taking control of his life, but obviously he gets away from that Lionel is a meek mama's boy who gets pushed around by everyone until he goes through a drastic Transformation when he goes through the long and hellacious zombie ordeal like I was talking about That's his journey and that's kind of the main thing is it's his journey from being just this like this meek person Who gets pushed around to to someone who becomes a hero, you know It's very much like ash and evil dead and I think what the pride the most defining moment of when you see Lionel start to really become that person he becomes in the end is when he punches less because less pushes pushes Peketa That's that moment where it all starts going for him. He has that kind of snap The music in this is so zany and over the top and melodramatic and like I said, it's like that for his heavenly creatures film, too If there were any updates to be made to the film I'd leave the film as is but I probably changed the music because the music to me is just it gets annoying for what it is in My opinion, although I'm sure there are plenty of people who love it There's such a hokey cartoony field in the movie because of the askew camera angles and the movement and how close they get to the characters faces I already kind of talked about that but It's a very important aspect of it. It's what gives it its overall feel And it's I don't know many people who do that that was done a little bit in ash versus evil dead or I'm sorry an evil dead Sorry, I was thinking about the most recent in evil dead like it does that to Sam Remy did that So that's another reason of why I was saying in the beginning that it feels to me like dead alive is very much inspired by evil dead That'd be a good double feature by the way evil dead and dead alive The practical effects are the best part of the movie. They look good and they keep doing creative things with it I know he said something about it, but this is another thing that bears repeating because man those practical effects look Unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable and like I said, it still holds up which is nuts This and the thing practical effects wise still holding up There's a theme in this that was used a good amount in the 90s and it's it's a quick theme But it's in there The colonizer comes into native lands looking for discoveries with no respect for the land Then something terrible happens as payback because in the beginning if you remember go back Where the colonizers are going to Skull Island and they're not basically not listening to Well, they're not not respecting the tribe. They're not respecting the land they're just taking something they don't understand taking it to the mainland and Bad things happen, especially in the 90s. There was a lot of that type of stuff going on Situations of you know the the terrible colonizers going into, you know tribal lands are going into the rainforest or wherever Uncharted territories for them and then messing with things and acting like you know They should own everything and they're gonna take this and they're gonna take it back home And then it just unleashes havoc That's something that was done a lot and you know, like I said, it's a it's a quick part of the beginning But that's how we get the entire movie like that's how it starts so it's kind of a plague of Ignorance and a plague of entitlement that comes to Lionel and everyone there Because of these people but anyway So this movie is a little bit hard to put a rating on because I'm just rating it as a film really So it's very very important for horror and like I you know, like I keep saying it's a very unique film but so With the possibility of five stars with half stars in play. I'm not gonna go crazy on this film But I think the practical effects and and how fun it is and how it just keeps going going going Makes me need to to put it at a four-star rating. I can't go higher than that I could certainly go lower than that for certain reasons, but four stars Man, it is it is a good film I recommend it to a lot of people if people are into crazy stuff and horror that alive is for them That are a lot dead alive or brain dead. However, you want to put it But anyway, thanks for checking this out. I know you have thoughts about this film. Go ahead and put it in the comments And talk about anything else you want is fine. Do me a quick favor Excuse me. Do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button if you have not So if you're gonna do that or you've already done that make sure you also hit the notification button The little bell because that'll let you know when I put out new videos or when I'm live streaming And those live streams are fun. 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