Dead Alive

Name: Dead Alive
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy
Released: February 12, 1993
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Timothy Balme

1993

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 130 Ratings

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5.8

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5.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 130 Ratings

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Dead Alive

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Movie Details & Credits

Trimark Pictures | Release Date: February 12, 1993 | Unrated

Starring: Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Timothy Balme

Summary: On a quiet street, in a small town, pure evil has come to stay. An innocent young man forced to care for his domineering mother finds the task a whole lot more demanding after she's bitten by the cursed Sumatran rat monkey. Passing the point of death, Vera sucks friends and family into her gruesome existence among the living dead and LionelOn a quiet street, in a small town, pure evil has come to stay. An innocent young man forced to care for his domineering mother finds the task a whole lot more demanding after she's bitten by the cursed Sumatran rat monkey. Passing the point of death, Vera sucks friends and family into her gruesome existence among the living dead and Lionel is sent spiraling into a ghoulish nightmare. Now a crazed zombie, she soon infects enough people to make it difficult for Lionel, still the faithful son, to keep the neighbors from suspecting that something is terribly wrong. (Lion's Gate)… Expand

Director: Peter Jackson

Genre(s): Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 104 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Marc Savlov

The "Citizen Kane" of Oedipal zombie-cannibal-right to death-comedy-love stories... So gleefully over-the-top that it's decidedly hard not to gag while you're laughing yourself incontinent... Sick. Perverse. Brilliant. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

A gonzo splatterfest from New Zealand that manages to stay breezy and good-natured even as you're watching heads get snapped off of spurting torsos. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

There is good, broad humor amid the very gross gore effects. And when the Living Impaired stalk our hero's home, it's a family reunion out of your bloodiest nightmares. [8 Feb 1993, p.83]

David Stratton

Technically, this is Jackson's best to date, with state of the art creature and gore effects by Richard Taylor and prosthetics design by Bob McCarron. There's any amount of dismemberment, disembowelling, beheading, and the like, all of it handled with bloody conviction. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Michael Gingold

An almost unrelenting barrage of gore, Dead Alive is also a constant assault on the funnybone, a film in which the graphic blood-spilling is taken so far over the top that it becomes hilarious instead of disgusting. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Ordinarily I don't care for this kind of thing at all, but something must be said for Jackson's endless reserves of giddy energy; perhaps because this is so clearly meant to be silly, he generally avoids the calculated mean-spiritedness of more prestigious directors like Spielberg and Renny Harlin. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Because all of this looks blatantly unreal, and because the timing of the shock effects is so haphazard, Dead Alive isn't especially scary or repulsive. Nor is it very funny. Long before it's over, the half-hour-plus bloodbath that is the climax of the film has become an interminable bore. [12 Feb 1993, p.C16]

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User Reviews

moofi

Feb 13, 2015

Clearly best Splattermovie I´ve seen to date (uncut already during the 90´s). Besides its fabulous (actually funny) overdriven scenes it shows a lot creativity + originality in scenery, casts, conversations, masks, etc..
The characters are distinct, well-chosen and implemented beautifully.Clearly best Splattermovie I´ve seen to date (uncut already during the 90´s). Besides its fabulous (actually funny) overdriven scenes it shows a lot creativity + originality in scenery, casts, conversations, masks, etc..
The characters are distinct, well-chosen and implemented beautifully. Quotes like "Your mother ate my dog!!! -- ...Not all of it." or "I kick ass for the Lord" are simply classics.

I´m wondering why the movie has been banned in many places, being a comedy after all.
Braindead is very much recommended if one´s in for out-of-the-usual entertainment in this genre.
At the time I heard it had been elected "Best horror-movie of the 20th century" and while this doesn´t seem to be officially true, it is here.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TheQuietGamer

Oct 20, 2012

Dead Alive, or Brain Dead as it's known in New Zealand, is basically a love story crammed with zombies, humor, and stomach-churning gore. It's absolutely hilarious, and not in the typical zombie-comedy way. It ends up coming across as more of a spoof of zombie movies, but in a good way, aDead Alive, or Brain Dead as it's known in New Zealand, is basically a love story crammed with zombies, humor, and stomach-churning gore. It's absolutely hilarious, and not in the typical zombie-comedy way. It ends up coming across as more of a spoof of zombie movies, but in a good way, a funny way. The movie is regarded as the goriest movie of all time, and for good reason. Let me put it this way if your even the least bit squeamish DON'T watch this movie you will be sick. I loved every second of it, and it's now one of my favorite movies of all time. I highly recommend this to zombie-comedy fans, or just comedy fans who can put up with all the gore.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Necromus

Dec 6, 2012

Long before Peter Jackson's King Kong or Lord of the Rings Trilogy there was this movie. Released as "Braindead" internationally but as "Dead Alive" in North America since there was already another movie called "Braindead" here (an annoying to watch but not bad movie BTW), Dead Alive is oneLong before Peter Jackson's King Kong or Lord of the Rings Trilogy there was this movie. Released as "Braindead" internationally but as "Dead Alive" in North America since there was already another movie called "Braindead" here (an annoying to watch but not bad movie BTW), Dead Alive is one of those movies that is so bad its good! This was one of the absolutely cheesiest horror movies I've ever seen, it's also the most gory horror movie I've ever seen. Bad acting, bad directing, intentionally cheesy lines by the characters and over-the-top gore make this movie one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen! It is best viewed with a bunch of your mildly drunk friends, you'll all have a riot watching this! BTW: Interesting fact: This movie along with another movie "Army of Darkness" are credited with inspiring the original gory "Doom" video game!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

owenspencer

Sep 9, 2019

Peter Jackson's underrated masterpiece. Massively entertaining, hilarious and it has the potential to make you too repulsed to eat for weeks afterward. A surprisingly re watchable, great horror flick.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Nickkan

May 19, 2023

Splatter masterpiece. This movie got gorier the longer you watched it. The practical effects are crazy, probably better than in the Evil dead movies and this movie was definetly inspired by Evil Dead. This movie absolutely escalated.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DuckySpooky02

Oct 26, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Están tan chafas los efectos especiales que la hace buena y divertida, tiene de todo un poco, pero obvio no es de miedo ni nada por el estilo… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

seifer

Jul 2, 2012

Gorier than most things you'll ever see. The movie's story is nowhere never as legendary than Friday 13th, Nightmare on elm street + 28 days. People will not remember this movie as one of the best HORROR movies of all time, but as one of the GORIEST movies of all time.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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