Hilarious and Nasty--AND Stay Away from the "R" version

When I first rented "Dead Alive," I got it from a Blockbuster store. A critic on the front of the box was quoted as saying "This is the goriest and funniest film I've ever seen!" I watched the movie, and wondered how anyone could have found the film "gory" OR "funny." To me, it just didn't make sense, and it seemed just plain stupid and boring. Of course, what I didn't know then was that the movie had been cut, and almost 10 minutes of additional gore was missing. If you think about that, that's a LOT of gore (a death scene takes what, 5 seconds?). SO, since I couldn't find the unrated version anywhere, I ordered it and watched it last night. NOW I see what the critic was talking about. Ironically, by taking out all the gore, Blockbuster simply made the movie more disturbing and strange. WITH all the gore, it's nothing short of hysterical. Here's a small comparison between the R and unrated versions:
1) right away, the first man to be bitten is practically mutilated in the unrated version. He right hand and left arm are seen chopped off. In the R version, neither scene is shown, just him screaming.
2) the "lunch" scene is MUCH funnier in the unrated version. Lionel's mother squirts blood into the guests pudding. We watch him eat the pudding. Then her ear falls off into her own pudding, and she eats that, too, sending another guest running to the bathroom. In the R version, we have to imply that she has squirted blood into the pudding, and the ear never falls off (which makes for much confusion later when it's quite apparently missing).
3) when the nurse comes to check on Lionel's mother in the unrated version, the zombie grabs her face. Mother's fingers meld into the nurse's face, and eventually put it backward at a 90 degree angle. This makes for some hysterically disturbing scenes later where she just can't seem to keep her head on straight. In the R version, we see the Mother pop up behind the nurse, but see nothing of the gore. By cutting that violence, though, any future reference to the nurse's head problem is therefore not funny--just confusing.
4) The Party at the end: Where to start? In the R version I saw, the party is a totally confusing, strange, and illogical event. Zombies suddenly pop to life, people run, people fall, and then suddenly Lionel shows up with a lawnmower and everyone dies. In the UNRATED version, I watched in horror and amusement at some of the most grisly, but way over-the-top death scenes I've ever seen. People are beheaded, disembowled, and mutilated. One man's ribs are pulled out while he watches. Another woman is punched so hard from behind that the hand comes through the back of her head and out of her mouth. It's powerful stuff--but much funnier when shown.

Bottom line: UNRATED VERSION: 5 stars R Version: 1 star Stay away from the Rated R version!

simply amazing

This is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen...it has it all! A love story, a story of a man overcoming his fears, martial arts priests, and zombies... This movie is well known for both it's dark humor, and slapstick humor, but it's most known for it's gore factor...I honestly don't think there's ever been a gorier movie...unfortunately, Dead Alive, in it's purest form, is edited, even the Unrated version...there's basically 3 films: the R version of Dead Alive (EXTREMELY cut, but still good enough to make my friends scream at how sick it is); the unrated version; and Braindead, THE uncut version...unfortunately, Braindead is not sold in America, but you can get copies for a decent price on Ebay...you might be saying, "BUT VIC, HOW COULD BRAINDEAD POSSIBLY BE GORIER THAN DEAD ALIVE?!" watch the lawnmower scene on Braindead compared to the one on Dead Alive, you'll instantly notice a difference...buy this and then buy Braindead so you can compare and contrast ;D but seriously, THIS IS AN AWESOME MOVIE, IT'S BEST TO GET IT UNEDITED, BUT BUY IT ANYWAY YOU CAN

Hyperactive

This has got to be one of my all time favorite movies. Camp, blood, ass kicking priests (who turn into lecherous zombies) and hyperative monster babies. It's just awesome. My only complaint is that it's edited all to hell, compared to the original New Zealand release, titled "Braindead."