You could lose your lunch while watching Peter Jackson’s “Dead-Alive,” and I’m not talking about leaving it on the school bus or handing it over to the school bully. I’m talking about tossing your cookies. This is the second time I’ve seen Jackson’s film. You’d think some of the impact would wane after the first viewing. Wrong!

“Dead-Alive” still manages to send me into giddy laughs of nervousness. Don’t get me wrong. I love gross-out movies, and “Dead-Alive” ranks as one of the best. It’s also a lot of fun, in a weird, twisted sort of way. Jackson and his co-writers fill “Dead-Alive” was just as much sick humor as sick puppy moments. You’ll laugh and cringe at the same time. Shot in Jackson’s native New Zealand, “Dead-Alive” plays like a cross between “Psycho” and “Night of the Living Dead.” Timothy Balme is excellent as the hen-pecked Lionel, who lives at home with his overbearing mother since his father mysteriously died.

Lionel is a good mommy’s boy, but he also wants a life of his own. Then he meets Paquita (the lovely Diana Penalver), who works at the local market. It’s love at first sight, but there’s that nasty, clinging mother problem. When Lionel and Paquita sneak off to the zoo, mother follows, and is bitten by a rare Sumatran Rat Monkey. That’s bad. It doesn’t take long before dear old mom begins to turn into a zombie, much to Lionel’s dismay.

His efforts to get rid of her only lead to more zombies, and pretty soon, it’s a party. Literally. As the body count grows, Lionel tries to keep the secret locked in his basement, but a conniving uncle looking for money puts a crimp on his plans. Then the foolish uncle invites over all of his friends, and then all hell breaks loose. Working with some of the best special and prosthetic effects ever used in a horror film, Jackson creates a wonderful world of Grand Guignol. Before the film is done, he has assaulted us with every sort of dismemberment imaginable.

“Dead-Alive” piles on the gore until it’s hilarious. Then the real sick humor begins. Some scenes seem invented just to show off the special effects, like when Lionel takes a mutant offspring to the park to play with the other children. There isn’t a bad performance in the lot, and that really helps level out the outlandishness. Like when one zombie’s intestinal tract decides to leave its host and attack Lionel on its own. Jackson has created a horror classic that’s tough to stomach, but a blast to watch.

COMPLETE CHECK-UP

VISION: [ X ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Is it possible to get wet from watching a movie, and I’m not talking about watching an adult movie. The colors are so vivid on the digital transfer of “Dead-Alive” they literally spring off the screen. Great use of reds, but the whole color spectrum gets great representation here. Sharp 1.85:1 Widescreen transfer (enhanced at 16:9 for widescreen televisions) makes the gore come to life. Flesh tones are vital in this film, and they are superior. So are the blacks, which are indelible. Some speckles, but they look like they came from the original print. There’s also one or two reel change marks.

HEARING: [ X ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Things get chaotic halfway through “Dead-Alive,” and that chaos is well defined in the Dolby Digital Stereo tracks. Peter Dasent’s thumping music gives the basses plenty to do, while the sound mix is outstanding. The dialogue is strong without being overbearing. When Lionel starts up the lawn mower in the final scene, you’ll swear someone was cutting the grass outside.

ORAL: [ ] EXCELLENT [ X ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Subtitles in French and Spanish.

COORDINATION: [ ] EXCELLENT [ X ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Great, splashy interactive menus, plus the original theatrical trailer. No production notes or cast & crew bios.

PROGNOSIS: [ ] EXCELLENT [ X ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

They may be dead, but they’re alive on DVD in full, glorious widescreen color.

VITALS: $29.99/Unrated/97 Min./Color/24 Chapter Stops/Keepcase/#VM6841D

ATTENDING RESIDENT: John Larsen

PATIENT: DEAD-ALIVE

BIRTH DATE: 1997

HMO: Trimark Home Video

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 7th, 2002 at 5:07 am and is filed under Film Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.