''Braindead'' (also known as ''Dead Alive'' in North America) is a 1992 New Zealand
zombie comedy film directed by
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
, produced by
Jim Booth, and written by Jackson, along with
Fran Walsh and
Stephen Sinclair
Stephen Sinclair is a New Zealand playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the co-author of stage comedy '' Ladies Night''. In 2001, the French version won the Molière Award for stage comedy of the year. Other plays include ''The Bellbird'' a ...
. It stars
Timothy Balme
Timothy Guy Balme (born 18 January 1967) is a New Zealand actor and screenwriter. He's most well known for his roles on the long-running soap opera ''Shortland Street'' and ''Mercy Peak'', as well as lead roles in the cult favourites ''Braindea ...
,
Diana Peñalver,
Elizabeth Moody and
Ian Watkin. The plot follows Lionel, a young man living in South Wellington with his strict mother Vera. After Lionel becomes romantically entangled with a girl named Paquita, Vera is bitten by a hybrid rat-monkey creature and begins to transform into a zombie, while also infecting swathes of the city's populace.
Made on a budget of $3 million, ''Braindead'' was Jackson's most expensive film up to that point. Although it received positive reviews from critics, it was a
box office bomb. It has since received a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
, and is now widely regarded as one of the goriest films of all time.
Plot
In 1957, zoo official Stewart McAlden and his team smuggle a captured Sumatran rat-monkey, a
hybrid creature that resulted from the rape of tree monkeys by plague-carrying rats, out of
Skull Island. During the team's escape from the island's warrior natives, who demand the return of the creature, Stewart is bitten by the rat-monkey, resulting in his dismemberment and killing by his crew, who fear the effects of the bite. As per Stewart's warning to the natives, "this monkey's going to
Newtown", the captured rat-monkey is then shipped to
Wellington Zoo by the survivors of the expedition.
In Wellington, Lionel Cosgrove lives in
Hataitai in a Victorian mansion with his domineering mother Vera. When he was a child, Lionel's father drowned trying to save him at the beach, and the incident has haunted him into adulthood. To Vera's dismay, Lionel falls in love with a
Spanish Romani shopkeeper's daughter, Paquita María Sánchez, who is convinced the two are destined to be together. When the two visit the Wellington zoo together on a date, Vera follows them and is bitten by the rat-monkey, killing the animal in the process. Over the following days, she grows increasingly more decrepit; her skin begins to peel and her ear falls off during lunch with friends. She appears to die before reanimating as a ravenous
zombie and killing the attending nurse Mrs. McTavish, who also returns as a zombie, before Lionel locks them both in the basement and keeps them sedated with animal tranquilizers. While visiting Paquita, Lionel is given a pendant for luck by her grandmother. Vera is able to break out of the basement and is ran over into Paquita's shop by a
tram, but Lionel tranquilizes Vera before she attacks them.
At her funeral, Lionel tranquilizes Vera to keep her from attacking the mourners. Later, while returning to the graveyard to administer more of it, he is accosted and beaten by a group of
hoodlums who presume him to be a
necrophilia
Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...
c. Vera suddenly bursts from her grave and attacks the hoodlums. In the ensuing commotion, the gang leader "Void", as well as the local priest Father McGruder, are bitten and become zombies, so Lionel has to keep them locked in the basement too. After the nurse and priest copulate and produce a zombie baby, Lionel breaks up with Paquita to keep her safe. Shortly afterward, Lionel's uncle Les arrives to wrangle with Lionel over Vera's estate. Discovering the zombies, which he believes to be dead bodies, in the basement, Les blackmails his nephew into giving up the house and his inheritance and invites his friends over for a housewarming party despite Lionel's objections.
During the party, Paquita arrives to try to make amends with Lionel. She discovers the zombies in the basement, and Lionel explains to her all that has occurred. She is able to convince Lionel to administer poison to the zombies to finally kill them, but after injecting the zombies with it, he discovers the poison is animal stimulants, which revives them. They narrowly escape the now-enhanced zombies, who burst into the house upstairs and slaughter the party guests. The guests subsequently reanimate and begin to attack the survivors. Lionel enters the house with a lawnmower and proceeds to mow through a horde of zombies, while Paquita tries to dispose of zombie body parts in the blender. Les enters the basement, where he is beheaded by Vera, who has now grown to monstrous proportions. Vera erupts from the basement and pursues them both to the rooftop as the house catches fire from a burst gas pipe.
As Vera corners them on the roof, Lionel confronts his mother and reveals that he witnessed Vera drowning his father and his lover in the bathtub as a child, and proclaims that he is no longer afraid of her. Vera becomes enraged and swallows Lionel with an opening in her stomach before trying to kill Paquita. Lionel cuts his way out of his mother's body with the good luck pendant, causing Vera to fall back into the burning house. Lionel and Paquita escape the burning rooftop as the fire brigade arrives. They kiss and then walk away arm-in-arm.
Cast
Production
Principal photography took place over eleven weeks on location in and around
Wellington on a reported budget of around $3 million. The film had its origins while Jackson was filming his feature film debut, ''
Bad Taste'' (1987). He met with writers
Fran Walsh and
Stephen Sinclair
Stephen Sinclair is a New Zealand playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the co-author of stage comedy '' Ladies Night''. In 2001, the French version won the Molière Award for stage comedy of the year. Other plays include ''The Bellbird'' a ...
, who were also interested in creating a zombie film, and the three spent the next several years conceiving the project.
The film was shot on
Super 16mm
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
, as opposed to 35mm, so that more of the budget could be spent on effects. The film's special effects were crafted by
Bob McCarron
Robert "Bob" McCarron OAM (born July 1950 in London, England) is an Australian medic and special effects prosthetic makeup artist who has worked on many international movies and television shows. He is most recognisable from his on-screen appe ...
and
Richard Taylor, with some miniature models being created by Jackson himself.
For the film's climactic scene, wherein Lionel massacres a horde of zombies with a lawnmower, a reputed 300 litres (79.2 gallons) of fake blood was used.
The film's music was composed by
Peter Dasent.
The film was subject to a
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
after release. In ''Bradley v WingNut Films Ltd''
9931 NZLR 415, it was alleged that ''Braindead'' had infringed the privacy of the plaintiffs by containing pictures of the plaintiff's family tombstone. After reviewing the New Zealand judicial authorities on privacy, Gallen
J stated: "the present situation in New Zealand ... is that there are three strong statements in the High Court in favour of the existence of such a
tort in this country and an acceptance by the Court of Appeal that the concept is at least arguable." This case became one of a series of cases which contributed to the introduction of
tort invasions of privacy in New Zealand.
Filming locations
The film was mostly shot in and around Wellington's southern and western suburbs. Some filming locations include:
*
Putangirua Pinnacles acts as
Skull Island in the film.
*
Wellington Zoo,
Newtown.
* No. 12 Hinau Road, Hataitai, Wellington is Lionel's house in the movie.
*
Karori Cemetery, Wellington.
* The store where Lionel and Paquita first meet at 29 Sutherland Rd, Melrose, Wellington, on the corner of Rodrigo Road and Sutherland Road.
* The park used in the scene with Lionel and Selwyn was filmed in the children's play area of the
Wellington Botanical Gardens
The Wellington Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand covers 25 hectares of land on the side of the hill between Thorndon and Kelburn, near central Wellington.
The garden features 25 hectares of protected native forest, conifers, plant c ...
.
* A Fieldair Freight DC-3 lands at
Wellington International Airport.
* Queens Drive, Lyall Bay, Wellington.
* Lionel goes to the veterinary clinic on located on 20 Standen St, Karori, Wellington.
Release
''Braindead'' released on 13 August 1992 in New Zealand. It was subsequently released in the United States on 12 February 1993 under the title ''Dead Alive'' and grossed $23,765 in its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $242,623 in the country. The soundtrack was released in 1992 by
Mana Music.
The film has had several releases on
VHS,
Laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
, and
DVD around the world. It was first released on
Blu-ray as ''Dead Alive'' by
Lionsgate in October 2011, with the US 97-minute cut.
In December 2018, Peter Jackson announced that he plans to restore ''Braindead'', along with his previous films ''
Bad Taste'' and ''
Meet the Feebles'' for a possible
4K release.
Alternate versions
The film was released in a number of different versions. In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the 104-minute film was shown in full. In fact, the UK's
British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) found the film's gory content so light-hearted and comical that there was consideration on giving the film a 15 certificate, which would have granted it to be seen by a much younger audience. They ultimately decided to give the film an
18 rating because the amount of gore confounded the expectations of a 15 rating.
In countries where the censors balked at the extreme gore, the film was initially banned or left unrated before being heavily cut. In Germany, a 94-minute version was seen with major cuts to some of the film's grislier scenes but was widely ignored. A
FSK 16 rated version was released in Germany under the American title ''Dead Alive'', omitting almost the entirety of the violence. The uncut version, as well as several cut versions, are banned in Germany. It is also illegal to publicly exhibit the film in Germany. The gory violence has also caused the film to be banned in South Korea, Singapore and Finland.
However, the film was unbanned and released uncut in the latter country in 2001.
In the United States, the film was released as ''Dead Alive'', because of another film with rights to the practically identical title ''
Brain Dead''. There were two versions released in the country; the unrated cut is 97 minutes, and the
R-rated version is only 85 minutes with many of the gore scenes removed.
Critical reception
On
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on , with a
weighted average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The delightfully gonzo tale of a lovestruck teen and his zombified mother, ''Dead Alive'' is extremely gory and exceedingly good fun, thanks to Peter Jackson's affection for the tastelessly sublime."
Metacritic rated it 54 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
At the time of its release,
David Stratton, writing for ''
Variety'', gave a positive review, calling it "Jackson's best film to date" and praising its humour, acting, and technical qualities (gore effects, makeup). He stated "Kiwi gore specialist Peter Jackson, who goes for broke with an orgy of bad taste and splatter humor. Some will recoil from the gore, but ''Braindead'' wasn't made for them." Peter Rainer of the ''
Los Angeles Times'' enjoyed the film, stating that it "is the most hilariously disgusting movie ever made. It makes something like ''
Re-Animator'' seem like a
UNESCO documentary about
Mother Teresa." The film received a negative review from ''
The Independent'' writer Quentin Curtis, who complained that "it never decides whether to make you tremble with laughter or fear, and has outstayed its welcome long before the last limb has been severed and entrail spilled." For ''
Entertainment Weekly'',
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
wrote that the film was "breezy and good-natured", giving praise to the gore special effects.
Retrospective reception was also positive. ''Braindead'' placed at number 91 in a top 100 list produced by ''
Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an enginee ...
'' magazine after conducting a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre.
Simon Pegg, actor, comedian, and friend of Jackson, wrote in his autobiography ''Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid'' that ''Braindead'' is one of the main influences on his 2004 zombie film ''
Shaun of the Dead''.
Accolades
See also
*
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant film releases.
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 1992 by worldwide gross are as follows:
Events
* August 24 – Production begins on '' Jurassic Park''.
Awards
1992 wide-rel ...
*
Giant Rat of Sumatra
References
External links
*
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Braindead (Film)
1992 films
1990s New Zealand films
1992 horror films
1990s black comedy films
1990s comedy horror films
New Zealand black comedy films
New Zealand zombie films
1990s English-language films
1990s Spanish-language films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films set in 1957
Films set in Indonesia
Films shot in New Zealand
New Zealand slapstick films
New Zealand splatter films
Splatterpunk
1990s monster movies
Films using stop-motion animation
WingNut Films films
Films directed by Peter Jackson
Films with screenplays by Peter Jackson
Films with screenplays by Fran Walsh
Films with screenplays by Stephen Sinclair
Trimark Pictures films
Zombie comedy films
New Zealand comedy horror films
1992 comedy films
1990s exploitation films
Film censorship in Germany
Film censorship in the United Kingdom
Film controversies in Germany
Film controversies in the United Kingdom
Rating controversies in film