Braindead (1992)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers:

Stephen Sinclair (story)
Stephen Sinclair (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Some things won't stay down... even after they die.

Plot:

A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.

Plot Keywords:

Monkey | Zombie | Love | Zoo | New Zealand

Awards:

13 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Timothy Balme	...	Lionel Cosgrove
Diana Peñalver	...	Paquita Maria Sanchez
Elizabeth Moody	...	Mum (Vera Cosgrove)
Ian Watkin	...	Uncle Les
Brenda Kendall	...	Nurse McTavish
Stuart Devenie	...	Father McGruder
Jed Brophy	...	Void
Stephen Papps	...	Zombie McGruder
Murray Keane	...	Scroat
Glenis Levestam	...	Nora Matheson
Lewis Rowe	...	Mr. Matheson
Elizabeth Mulfaxe	...	Rita
Harry Sinclair	...	Roger
Davina Whitehouse	...	Paquita's Grandmother
Silvio Famularo	...	Paquita's Father

Also Known As:

Dead Alive (USA)
Dead-Alive (USA) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for an abundance of outrageous gore.

Runtime:

104 min | Argentina:99 min | Germany:94 min | USA:85 min (R-rated version) | USA:97 min (unrated version) | Germany:80 min (FSK 16 version) | Finland:92 min (cut version) (1992) (1993) | South Korea:85 min (heavily cut) | Spain:99 min (DVD edition)

Country:

New Zealand

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 (DVD version) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1993) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1997) | Singapore:(Banned) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Italy:VM14 | Austria:18 | Germany:Not Rated | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | France:-16 | Germany:(Banned) | Germany:16 (heavily cut) | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (heavily cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | USA:R (heavily cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Karori Cemetery, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand

Company:

WingNut Films

Trivia:

The movie was finished under budget with NZ$45,000 remaining. Peter Jackson used it to spend two days shooting the park scene with Lionel and the baby Selwyn. He has gone on to say that it is his favorite scene.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: On several short shots of the tramways, the carriages appear clearly as models pulled by strings.

Quotes:

Undertaker: [as Vera's eyes pop out and green slime sprays out] Cranium blowout!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Frighteners' (1998) (V)

Soundtrack:

Maori Battalion

Oh, God, I Love This Movie!

This film is truly the finest hour of the young, aggressive, full-speed-ahead Peter Jackson. Check your squeamishness at the door and get ready for proof that splatter can be played for laughs.

Not all the laughs are splatter-based. The opening scene shows a zookeeper waving a permit to a tribe of hostile natives about to kill him, shouting out "per-mit! Per-mit!" From there, the film descends into the inspired, amused lunacy of the splatstick. Look for the cameo of a young, thin Peter Jackson as a mortician's assistant. Also look for the minor hilarious characters- the Nazi vet, the idiot football player, and most famous of all, Father MacGruder, he of the film's best one-liner.

Timothy Balme is excellent as the nebbishy mama's boy who ends up taking on the whole undead world by himself, with a couple of mechanical aids. He out-Ashes Ash! Like any good zombie film, the end features waves of zombies, but many with unique and twisted personalities of their own. The best is, of course, zombie baby. It is shocking and yet hilarious to see what zombie baby endures, and yet survives (perhaps to live on in the long awaited sequel?) Ten stars, and five out of five blood splats thrown up against the wall (during the last half hour).