Braindead (1992) is a cheerfully extreme zombie horror-comedy directed by Peter Jackson. Fans of the film consider it to be the goriest movie ever. It is in the same vein as Jackson's early works Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles but Braindead is a rather more polished work with a budget of around $3 million. Although it starts with the capture of the zombie-creating creature, the opening half of the film is a low-key period piece before spiraling crazily to the unbelievable final scenes when over 300 litres of special effects blood is sprayed.

This "splatter" film was received in very different ways in different countries. Those censors who recognised that the film was a cheerful farce, such as those in Australia and Britain, allowed the 104 minute film to be shown in full. In countries where the censors were unable to see beyond the extreme gore the film was initially banned or left unrated before being heavily cut; the US R-Rated version (released as Dead Alive, because of another film with rights to the title Braindead) is only 85 minutes. In Germany a 94 minute was seen. An "Uncut" US edition runs at 97 minutes which Peter Jackson has stated is his preferred cut.

Plot

In 1950s Wellington, Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme ) lives with his dreadful mother (Elizabeth Moody ) at her beck and call. To his mother's dismay Lionel falls for a local shopkeeper Paquita (Diana Peñalver ). She follows the two on a visit to the zoo and is bitten by a Sumatran rat monkey. The bite slowly turns the mother into a zombie; Lionel is horrified, but determined not to lose her.

He cares for her even as she starts infecting other townspeople and he is blackmailed by his disgusting Uncle Les (Ian Watkin ). Lionel keeps his zombie mother placated with enormous doses of veterinary anaesthetic, and also tries to maintain his relationship with Paquita.

The mother zombie is run over, and Lionel tranquilises her for her funeral. He recovers his mother from the grave, but not before several more people are made zombies, including a priest (Stuart Devenie ) who attempts to fight his attackers off using kung-fu. As the number of zombies remains small, Lionel keeps them in his home. There is a revoltingly funny zombie meal scene; the Nurse McTavish (Brenda Kendall ) zombie even gives birth to a dreadful zombie baby which Lionel actually takes to the park on one violent-surreal occasion. Uncle Les discovers the 'corpses' and threatens Lionel, forcing him to give up his mother's estate. Lionel acquires some poison and dispatches the zombies just before Uncle Les and a crowd of his friends 'invade' Lionel's home for a party. The poison turns out to be a animal stimulant and the zombies burst from the ground to attack the household in bizarre and gory ways.

The movie climax has Lionel fighting dozens of zombies as well as animated intestines and other body parts. Most memorable is Lionel's charge into the zombies with a lawn mower, before facing down his mother with an over the top Freudian 'rebirth' as he cuts his way out of her grotesquely changed form.