Braindead

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

Outrageous 'zomedy' (comedy with zombies) film, one of the most goriest motion pictures ever made, courtesy of a much younger Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings). Also totally hilarious by every count. In 1957, Lionel, a young man living under the iron rule of his old tyrant of a mother, finds himself in love with a nice Hispanic girl, but their love affair is cut short when his mum is bitten by a creepy Sumatran Rat Monkey (charming little stop motion creature), which causes a nasty infection turning her into a zombie. The same fate awaits everyone who also suffers her bite, and that ends up being quite a lot of people. Lionel hides his monstrous mother and her fellow undead in his basement, and then finds himself confronted with his greedy uncle who's after his inheritance, while he still tries to maintain his romance. The lid eventually blows open completely when his mother and her zombie minions break free and start killing everyone in their path. Features some utterly silly characters, including a priest highly skilled in karate who 'kicks ass for the Lord', a German immigrant doctor who has a secret Nazi background and a vicious zombie baby. The experience of shooting the (extremely disturbing) splatter scenes sure came in handy for shooting scenes of killing Orcs in Lord of the Rings. Fortunately, comedy triumphs over disgust, though it's no shame to feel an upset stomach and serious throat convulsions watching this grotesque flick, which remains one of the funniest horror films of all time. Released in America under the title 'Dead Alive'.

Starring: Timothy Balme, Diana Peňalver, Elizabeth Moody

Directed by Peter Jackson

New Zealand: WingNut Films, 1992