Supposedly, Eli Roth (maker of torture/gore films like Hostel) is on record as saying that Dead Alive is the first film he ever saw that satisfied his lust for on screen blood. And boy does the blood flow. But the whole thing is played for tremendous laughs which come as fast and free-flowing as the gore.
There’s a bizarre, manic creativity on display here that showed early on, just how brilliant Peter Jackson’s director’s eye is. Although, he’s gone on to do much more main stream films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, part of me wishes we could get more Dead Alive type films from him. The insanity on display is such a blast.
Dead Alive was originally titled Brain Dead when first released. It’s part zombie picture, part creature / monster flick, and all comedy. There’s an especially great standout scene with the protagonist chasing a demon baby through a park that is all kinds of crazy brilliance. If you like comedy horror mash-ups like The Evil Dead 2, Dead Alive is just as good (and in some ways even better). So much fun.