Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4705 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-06
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you're not a connoisseur of graphic horror and gruesome gore, you'd better steer clear of Braindead, a wicked 1992 horror-comedy from the demented mind and delirious camera of writer-director Peter Jackson, years before he went on to mainstream success with The Lord of the Rings. However, if non-stop mayhem and extreme violence are your idea of great entertainment, you're sure to appreciate Jackson's gleefully inventive approach to a story that can judiciously be described as sick, twisted and totally outrageous. The movie's central character is a poor schmuck named Lionel who's practically enslaved to his domineering mother. But when ol' Mum gets bitten by a rare and poisonous rat monkey from Skull Island and is turned into a flesh-eating zombie, Lionel has the unfortunate task of keeping Mama happy while fending off all the other zombies that result from her voracious feeding frenzies. If you've read this far, you'll either be crying out for censorship or eagerly awaiting your first viewing (or second, or third...) of this wildly clever and audaciously uninhibited movie. While director Jackson would later achieve far greater critical and box-office successes, his talent is readily evident in this earlier effort. If you find this kind of thing even remotely appealing, consider Braindead a must-see movie. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Peter Jackson presents the story of a hapless young man whose overbearing mother gets him into a heap of trouble when she catches a bizarre zombie virus and starts turning innocent passersby into walking corpses. This grandiose splatterfest features loads of unforgettable, stomach-turning effects. Highlights include a ghoulish, bloodthirsty baby, zombie mutilation, progressive putrefaction, and an off-the-wall undead mating scene. Sick, twisted, and hilarious, BRAINDEAD (aka DEAD ALIVE) is unlike anything you have ever seen before and is definitely not for the squeamish.

Customer Reviews

ANYONE FOR CUSTARD??
I can only sum this dvd up in 1 word - MENTAL!! This has got to be the wackiest, no holds barred Gorefest i have ever seen. If you have seen any other Peter Jackson's early stuff (Bad taste for example) and thought it was pushing the boundaries of sick, this takes it to a whole new Level! Some of the most hilariously bizarre and sickest Scenes i have ever seen on dvd are contained in this film - Zombie baby (you'll understand when u see it!!) and kung fu priest "I kick ass for the Lord!!" are definitely something that you'll want to see over and over - Just for the sheer madness of it!
Better than bad taste, this film will not win any awards for great acting or script, but this is pure novelty - Really really funny, I know some comedy films these days are not funny but this is unbelievable,
Brilliant!!

A Surreal Comedy Gorefest
This film is very funny, and equally gory. Essentially it follows the story of Lionel, a young man dominated by his mother, who, when she contracts an alien disease, dies and becomes a zombie. The deasease quickly spreads, and Lionel begins to attempt to keep an ever-expanding family of zombies entertained in the cellar of his rambling mansion, whilst at the same time trying to date a beautiful Spanish girl in his village without raising any suspicions of his dark secret.

There are some truly balkworthy scenes here; the mother's ear slipping off and dropping into her custard for example being one of the first of an escalating series of gross comedy gore situations. The ingenious, bloody and imaginitive ways in which the increasing number of zombies die is testament to the skill and humour of the model-makers (no CGI here!)as well as the producers.

Despite the film being populated by a whole range of bizarre characters (living and undead)the film has both a romantic storyline and a family-feud story to provide a pretty solid and convincing backdrop to what essentially becomes a special-effects bloodbath.

Absolutely fantastic.

party's over
another one of the jackson early efforts, and one that had me squirming for the last 20 minutes of first viewing as hero lionel decides to clean up, using a lawnmower.
again it's a slow starter as jackson sets the mood with lionel's overbearing mother being bitten by a sumatran rat monkey while trying to stop a lover's tryst. after that the action gets turned up a notch as things start to go wrong as lionel realises all is not well with mum - in fact she's been...resurrected. still likes dogs, but can't eat a whole one (ahem).
highlights? obvious ones like the breakfast scene, the trip to the park (with "hyperactive" child) and the various inventive ways in which zombies are dealt with (including the aforementioned lawnmower), but keep an eye out for the hand in the food processor's final gesture. what they call a last act of defiance, i guess...