Dead Alive

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Dead Alive ★★ Braindead 1993

This outrageously over-the-top horror flick from New Zealand is a gore aficionado's delight (think “Evil Dead” movies for comparison). Set in 1957 and satirizing the bland times, the “plot” has the mom of a nerdy son getting bitten by an exotic monkey, which promptly turns her into a particularly nasty ghoul. This condition is apparently contagious (except for her son who tries to hide the fact mom is literally a monster) and calls for lots of spurting blood and body parts which take on lives of their own. For those with strong stomachs and senses of humor. Also available in an 85-minute R-rated version. 97m/C VHS, DVD . NZ Timothy Balme, Elizabeth Moody, Diana Penalver, Ian Watkin, Breanda Kendall, Stuart Devenie, Peter Jackson, Forrest J Ackerman; D: Peter Jackson; W: Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson; C: Murray Milne; M: Peter Dasent.