Braindead (5 Stars)

Before there was "Lord of the Rings" there was "Braindead". This film shows Peter Jackson's brilliance as a director, and it was certainly a deciding factor in choosing him for a project as important as "Lord of the Rings". It's a horror film. It's a comedy. It's a love story. It has it all.

Of all the zombie films I've seen, this is the most successful. It lives from the richness of its characters against the background of 1950's New Zealand. The film could have been set in the modern day -- it was made in 1992 -- but the year 1957 was chosen for no apparent reason, apart from Peter Jackson's love of the past. I'm sure that this choice increased the film's costs.

The film has a surprisingly detailed plot for the zombie genre. A shopkeeper called Paquita receives a prophecy that she will soon meet her one true love, but he will be surrounded by death. Minutes later the clumsy mommy's boy Lionel walks into the shop, she recognises him immediately as the man foretold, and invites him on a date to the zoo. Lionel's mother spies on them, resulting in her being bitten by a Sumatran Rat Monkey, a species that has descended from monkeys that were raped by rats. This turns her into a zombie, who can infect others by biting them. Lionel loves his mother, so he keeps her and her victims in his cellar.

The special effects are low budget and comical rather than horrifying. If anything they are 1970's quality, on a level with Dario Argento's films. But you know what? It doesn't matter! The film is perfect just as it is. A masterpiece that everyone should watch, even if they hate zombie films.

P.S. In America this film was released as "Dead Alive" for copyright reasons.