Braindead/Dead Alive Appreciation Thread! (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Chmiel]

I thought Trimark had US rights? I'd be delighted with a new disc (with hopefully the extended cut as well) but I'm a bit surprised.

Julie, Lions Gate bought Trimark a few years ago.

 

[Julie K]

Ok, I'm behind the times :b

I hope they do it right and include a PJ commentary.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Thanks, Matthew. But I can be impatient. So, Julie, I'm ordering the bloomin' disc from DVD Empire today. Should arrive by Friday--and my "late-night" movie screening has thus been booked.

*squish, squish, squish*

 

[Julie K]

Yay Jack! You are about to witness a true cinematic masterpiece. Forget LOTR, Jackson should have won an Oscar for this one.
I think I'll do a Friday night double feature of Bad Taste and Dead Alive.
(BTW, I think it's Ok if we also want to appreciate Bad Taste here too )

 

[Jack Briggs]

What I wanted to discuss was that Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead. Know why I am so persistent about it? Some perspective: I love these kinds of movies you're upholding and celebrating here. Like you and the others in this thread, there are times when I can't get enough of them. I take the flicks on their own terms, and let them entertain the gory hell outta me.

But with Savini's remake of the Romero classic, the director has crafted a film that, despite the subject matter, has a thread of--dunno how to put it--believability about it. We are thrust into a world just like the one you and I live in, but one where something has gone terribly wrong. Unlike the Romero original, there's no space probe to Venus upon which to blame these bizarre occurrences. But, for some awful reason, the dead are becoming reanimated, and they have an appetite that is not healthy for living humans.

Too, the makeup in the 1990 version is more "realistic" (I know, I know). But, as with Robert Wise's 1963 classic The Haunting and the matter of ghosts, with the 1990 Night I can, for two hours, "believe" in zombies!

Ooops. Shoulda posted this in that other thread. But you see what I mean? Zombies are serious business. We should respect zombies. They deserve it.

But I love to watch the blood and entrails flow. In the mood for some of that now. Dead Alive it is! This Friday evening. Going to DVD Empire right this moment.

 

[Ross Williams]

Dead-Alive is definitely the best zombie movie of all time. I'd put it 3rd in my favorite of PJ's films though, after Rings and Heavenly Creatures. The man is a filmmaking genius. The Frightners is highly underrated.

Bad Taste is the film that blows me away though. That fact that he made this highly inventive, kick ass film with a couple of friends and virtually no budget is an amazing accomplishment.

 

[JasenP]

Speaking of Tom Savini:
I will be seeing him at the Motor-City Comicon this weekend along with a few other honored guests: http://www.motorcityconventions.com/...ity_comic_con/
Maybe I'll get my copy of NOTLD:1990 signed while I'm there.
I'm with you Jack, I liked the 1990 version too!
and just to sort-of stay on topic: Anyone dig Meet The Feebles? Another early PJ classic IMHO!

 

[Julie K]

I enjoy all of PJ's films, from Bad Taste (my favorite) all the way through to LOTR (my least favorite).

Listen carefully in Braindead to the music playing in the church during the services for Lionel's mother. It's a slowed down version of a very special song from Meet the Feebles.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Just ordered the disc. So I am helping to get this thread back on track. Never mind, of course, that I'm the one who threw it off track. So, feed me to the damn zombies!

 

[MickeS]

Jack, which version did you order? Make sure it has the lawnmower scene intact!
/Mike

 

[Max Leung]

I thought there was no "intact" version of Brain Dead/Dead Alive in region one.

Is the Night of the Living Dead (1990) the same as the Return of the Living Dead?

Inquiring brains want to know!

 

[Jefferson Morris]

So, we're talking about the Citizen Kane of zombie films here?

One critic put it best, in describing this film: "Zombie slapstick has seen its Intolerance."

I only have a well-worn VHS dub of a laserdisc, but at least it's the original version. This was Jackson at the peak of what may later be described by film historians as his "red period."

I must admit I prefer his later, more "respectable" work, in the same way I prefer a good filet mignon to a good (bloody) hamburger, but I first became a PJ fan on the basis of this intestine-strewn extravaganza.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[RyanF]

Is there a special edition of Brain Dead?

 

[Jean-Michel]

I thought there was no "intact" version of Brain Dead/Dead Alive in region one.

The problem is that people assume the 104-minute original cut, by virtue of being longer, is the "director's cut." It's not; it's one of the director's cuts. There was a delay between the film's premiere and its North American debut (at the Toronto Film Festival) and Jackson used that time to make some adjustments to the film, resulting in the 97-minute version known to most North American viewers. The 97-minute version is, in fact, Jackson's preferred cut of the film, and having seen both I actually agree with his judgement. The 104-minute version is still great viewing (and, yes, it is gorier than the 97-minute cut), but I feel the 97-minute cut has better pacing.

 

[Ross Williams]

Is the Night of the Living Dead (1990) the same as the Return of the Living Dead?

No. NotLD (1990) is Tom Savini's remake of the original of the same name. A decent take off, with gorier footage and a new ending.

"Return" is a film in the same spirit as "Night", but not related directly. It's a great satire of the "Night" series. Also my 2nd favorite zombie flick after Dead-Alive.

Both are recommended for, which I assume you are, zombie film fans.

 

[MickeS]

Pacing schmacing. I want gore, dammit.
Seriously, even if the 97 minute cut is the "director's cut", that's not the one I saw in the theater in Sweden, and there are scenes missing from the "DC" as described by IMDB that I feel were very deserving of being in the movie.
The movie should be released with seamless branching, and all problems would be solved...

 

[Julie K]

Both gore and character development have been cut in the 97 minute version. I would prefer a hybrid cut which includes all the gore (there are several cut scenes which are required viewing IMO) but leaves out the cut character development for the sake of pacing.

 

[Jack Briggs]

BTW, I'm afraid my copy won't arrive until tomorrow, as I ordered a little too late in the day for DVD Empire to ship on the same day.

So, how about this for a substitute late-Friday-evening program: The Evil Dead, followed by The Brain From Planet Arous?

Sounds like a winner double-bill to me. Gore combined with vintage '50s schlock.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Oh, Julie: If I'm hijacking your thread, please report it to an administrator. But I figured you wouldn't mind. JB

 

[Julie K]

I don't mind Jack, but I worry that your rowdy behavior will bring the Admins down on you
If we are looking at classic gore films, I'd suggest in addition to Dead Alive and Evil Dead, that you schedule the next several Fridays with gems like Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, and Bad Taste.