Braindead (film)

Braindead
Release poster
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Produced by	Jim Booth
Screenplay by	Stephen Sinclair Peter Jackson Fran Walsh
Story by	Stephen Sinclair
Starring	Timothy Balme Diana Peñalver Elizabeth Moody Ian Watkin
Music by	Peter Dasent
Cinematography	Murray Milne
Edited by	Jamie Selkirk
Production company	WingNut Films Avalon Studios Limited The New Zealand Film Commission
Distributed by	Trimark Pictures (US/Canada) PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (UK)
Release dates	13 August 1992 (1992-08-13) (New Zealand) 12 February 1993 (1993-02-12) (United States)
Running time	103 minutes[1]
Country	New Zealand
Language	English
Budget	$3 million[2]
Box office	$242,623 (US)[2]

Braindead (also known as Dead Alive in North America) is a 1992 New Zealand splatstick zombie film directed by Peter Jackson, produced by John Booth, and written by Jackson, along with Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair

The film follows Lionel, a man living with his mother Vera, and constantly being in trouble for his relationship with Paquita. A rabid rat-monkey, however, bites his mother, which in turn, makes the entire town more or less a zombie hoarde.

Since its release, Braindead has received acclaim from contemporary critics, with many filmmakers and critics calling it the goriest "splatter film" in history. Although a bomb financially at the time of its release, the film since gained a cult following, with more attention after Jackson's success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Plot

In 1957, The "Sumatran Rat-Monkey" is a hybrid creature that, "according to legend", resulted from the rape of tree monkeys on Skull Island by plague-carrying rats. Stewart McAlden (Bill Ralston), an explorer returning from the depths of the island with his team, is carrying a rat-monkey in a cage and is stopped by fierce warrior natives that demand the return of the monkey. They escape to a waiting jeep, but Stewart gets bitten by the Rat-Monkey. Seeing the mark of the monkey's bite on his right hand, Stewart's men hold down the explorer and amputate it. A bite mark is then seen on his left arm, which results in the removal of that limb. Finally, they see a set of bloody scratches on Stewart's forehead and kill him. The captured rat-monkey is shipped to Wellington Zoo in New Zealand.

Sometime later, Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme) lives with his domineering mother, Vera (Elizabeth Moody). To Vera's dismay, Lionel falls in love with a shopkeeper's daughter, Paquita María Sánchez (Diana Peñalver). While snooping on the two during a visit to the zoo, Vera is bitten by the rat-monkey. The animal's bite turns her into a ravenous zombie. Lionel tries keeping her locked in the basement while simultaneously trying to maintain his relationship with the oblivious Paquita. Vera escapes and is hit by a tram.

As the townspeople assume she is dead, Lionel tranquilizes the zombie for her funeral. After she is buried, he returns to the graveyard to administer more anesthetic, but is accosted by a gang of hoodlums. Vera bursts from her grave, resulting in more deaths and zombies. As their numbers grow, Lionel manages to keep the zombies under relative control with repeated injections, and tries keeping them concealed in his home. However, Lionel's uncle Les (Ian Watkin) arrives to wrangle with Lionel over Vera's estate. Les discovers the "corpses" and blackmails his nephew into giving up his inheritance in return for his silence.

Lionel reluctantly administers poison to the zombies ("killing" them), and buries them just as Les and his friends arrive for a housewarming party. However, the poison turns out to be an animal stimulant; and since the zombies came from the bite of an animal, it gives them more energy. The zombies burst from the ground to attack the party guests. Lionel goes into a room where he saw Paquita fighting with Les, and informs them of the zombie outbreak. Les escapes through a window while Lionel pulls out a large hanger with clothes, which distracts the zombies and gives Paquita a chance to escape. Les later goes into the basement, where he encounters Vera, who has turned into a giant zombie. She kills Les.

Lionel kills most of the zombies with a running lawnmower. The group are now fighting with dozens of zombies, animated intestines and spinal cords, severed heads and disembodied legs. During the conflict an open gas pipe ignites, setting the house ablaze. Lionel manages to kill all of the zombies, until Vera, who has become a hyper-estrogenized gargantuan monster with a grossly distorted head and spine and huge breasts, pursues Lionel and Paquita to the rooftop. Paquita is left hanging onto the edge of the roof while Lionel confronts his mother.

Lionel declares that he is no longer afraid of Vera and confronts her about his father's death, revealing Vera drowned both him and the woman he had an affair with young Lionel walking in on the murder, she then slams her fist on the roof causing him to fall and slide downwards towards her as she opens her womb, engulfing Lionel, declaring that he is "such a good boy" and that "none will ever love you as much as your mother". Vera then tries to kill Paquita by removing her hands from the roof. Lionel cuts his way out of his mother's body, causing her to fall into the burning house. Lionel and Paquita escape the building and walk away arm-in-arm as the fire department arrives.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place over eleven weeks on location in and around Wellington, New Zealand on a reputed budget of around $3 million. The nighttime cemetery scene was filmed at the Karori Cemetery in the Karori neighbourhood of Wellington.

Jackson reused the song played on the organ as the mourners wait to enter the church prior to the embalming scene. It is Sodomy from his previous film Meet the Feebles (1989).

The first scene to be shot and the opening scene, filmed on "Skull Island", was filmed at Putangirua Pinnacles, the same location he would later use for the Paths of the Dead in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Bob McCarron, recently known for his on-screen appearances as Dr Bob from the UK television show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and its German version Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, designed the special prosthetic makeup. He was awarded at Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival and nominated for Saturn Award (see below for all awards).

The final scene to be shot was the section in the park with Lionel and the zombie baby Selwyn. The film was finished one week ahead of schedule and with NZ$45,000 remaining, so Jackson used all this remaining budget to film the park scene over the course of two days. He has gone on to say that this is his favourite scene and the funniest in the whole film.

Lawsuit

The film was subject to a lawsuit: In Bradley v WingNut Films Ltd [1993] 1 NZLR 415, it was alleged that the comedy horror film 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.^[3]

Release

The film was released in a number of different versions:

• In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the 103-minute film was shown in full.
• 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 is banned in Germany, though it is still widely available, also under the American title Dead Alive.
• In the United States, where the film was released as Dead Alive (because of another film with rights to the practically identical title Brain Dead), the R-rated version is only 85 minutes with most of the gore scenes removed, while the unrated cut is 97 minutes with the gore scenes mostly intact. The USA 97-minute version is Jackson's preferred version, as he was given the opportunity to "apply some additional spit and polish" to it.

Critical reception

Although Braindead did not receive much critical attention at the time of its release, Jackson's fame with The Lord of the Rings led to more interest in his earlier films. The contemporary response to the film was positive: the film received an 86% rating of positive reviews based on 28 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's consensus is: "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."^[4] Metacritic rated it 54 out of 100 based on 7 reviews.^[5]

At the time of its release, David Stratton of 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."^[6]

In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films.^[7] Braindead placed at number 99 on their top 100 list.^[8]

Accolades

• Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival – Silver Scream Award (1993)
• Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival – Grand Prize (1993)
• Fantasporto – International Fantasy Film Award, Best Film and Best Special Effects (1993)
• New Zealand Film and TV Awards – Film Award, Best Contribution to Design, Best Director, Best Film, Best Male Dramatic Performance and Best Screenplay (1993)
• Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spanien – Best Special Effects (1992)
• Fantafestival – Best Actor and Best Special Effects (1992)

Home media

The film has had several releases on VHS and DVD around the world. It was released on Blu-ray with the US 97-minute cut for the first time on 4 October 2011 by Lions Gate Entertainment.^[9]

Legacy

• Simon Pegg, actor, comedian, and friend of Jackson, wrote in his 2012 book Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid that the film Braindead is one of the main influences on his 2004 zombie film Shaun of the Dead.
• In Jackson's 2005 version of King Kong, the cargo hold of the ship contains a box reading Sumatran Rat Monkey—Beware the bite!, in reference to the eponymous animal from Braindead.^[10]
• The Sumatran Rat-Monkey appears in the tunnels in the 2007 PC game Hellgate: London released by Electronic Arts.^[11]

See also

• Giant Rat of Sumatra

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Braindead

• Braindead (Dead Alive) at the Internet Movie Database
• Braindead (Dead Alive) at the TCM Movie Database
• Braindead (Dead Alive) at Box Office Mojo
• Braindead (Dead Alive) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Braindead (Dead Alive) at Metacritic
• Braindead at Anything Oz or New Zealand Films site