Braindead (DVD) Reviews

Released in 1992, Peter Jackons's slapstick horror comedy 'Braindead' is generally considered to be one of the goriest films ever made. The story begins with a rare 'Sumatran Rat Monkey' that bites main protagonist Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme)'s authoritarian mother when she gets too close to it at the local zoo, at which point she slowly turns ...  Read the complete review

"Brain Dead" was Jackson's third film and he improves on the homemade "Bad Taste" formula considerably. It is true that the film reaches overkill with the gore and it is only on this point that "Bad Taste" is its superior. However, the characters are better, the story is funnier, the special effects more ambitious and ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room Although most people will know auteur Peter Jackson for his overwhelmingly successful adaptation of the Lord of the Rings films, he also made a film some time before that which, in my opinion, remains his most purely entertaining film, despite being a lot more crudely made than ...  Read the complete review

Long before his big blockbuster debut in Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson was working on much more humble projects, in this case a load of stomach churning zombie madness with about as much storyline as the back of a cereal box. So, it should suck, right? Wrong. Despite the fact that Brain Dead is horribly low budget, awfully acted, and makes ...  Read the complete review

Having recently watched Heavenly Creatures, another early Peter Jackson movie (Yes, he who made Lord Of The Rings), I was encouraged to dig out this 90's schlock horror cult b-movie classic that was his second ever film and give it a repeat view. It has certainly not aged a bit and only gets better with repeated viewings. A non-stop gore-fest from ...  Read the complete review

Most people, like me, knew nothing about director Peter Jackson before he burst onto the scene with the beautiful, elegant and spectacular Lord Of The Rings trilogy. However, if you go right back to the start of his career, at the late 80s, you’ll find films which could hardly be more different, such as this one; Braindead (also known in America ...  Read the complete review

They say “never judge a book by its cover” (yeah I’m sure I’m not the only one that does) and as I have never heard the same said about DVD’s (or maybe I just don’t want to hear it) I pretty much picked this up for the cover; aw come on surely you’d be intrigued by a mans face nailed to a board on the front and pictures of awake people having ...  Read the complete review

A poisionous 'rat monkey' is stolen from a remote Island the locals are none to happy but the two men after it manage to catch it and take it to a New Zealand zoo. In the town where the zoo is situated lives Lionel(Timothy Balme), he is a complete mothers boy and does everything for her. One day he is on his way to collect his shopping ...  Read the complete review

It is going to come as something of a shock for the fans of the new Lord Of The Rings movies should they decide to take a wander through director Peter Jackson’s back catalogue. Far from being full of blockbusters of the same calibre they are going to find some of the classic gross-out movies of the horror genre and even one to rival Sam ...  Read the complete review

I saw this movie on its initial theatrical release in the UK, back in the summer of '93. I haven't enjoyed a movie so much before or since. Braindead is a zombie film. People die, get up, kill more people, lose appendages, spray blood, etc etc. Here's what makes it better than most of it's kin: 1) It is set ...  Read the complete review

Where the hell did this movie come from?! Braindead is so 'over-the-top' gory, disgusting and sick that I was either laughing my a**e off or sitting in front of the TV in disbelief!. The acting in this film is so bad that it actually makes the movie more of a comedy than a horror! Everything that could possibly be dismembered was and ...  Read the complete review

When I first saw this film I watched about half of the film and wasn't really paying attention so I turned it off. I then watched it again and discovered the mistake I had made by shunning this film intially. This film is one of the best horror/comedy films there is and also one of the best Peter Jackson films there is as well. This film ...  Read the complete review

Theres never been a film with so much gore. The story with a researcher and his guides on a strange island capturing a rat monkey for the zoo. (Apparently giant rats raped some monkeys and the rat monkey was born.) When the researcher gets scratched on the hand the guides pin him down and chop it off, when they spot a scratch on his arm, thats ...  Read the complete review

I was settling down for a romantic night in with my boyfriend.. the popcorn was popped, tortilla chips to hand, and he wanted me to watch this film with him, he'd already seen it so i thought why not.... Little did i know this was going to be the funniest yet bloodiest film i had ever seen. I'm not one to shy away from blood but this ...  Read the complete review

This film is Peter Jackson's masterpiece. Peter Jackson is a director from New Zealand, and has established himself as one of the best horror/comedy filmmakers ever. He has produced films like Bad Taste, The Frighteners, Brain Dead and Heavenly Creatures. If you have seen his films, you will know he is slightly abnormal. Come on how ...  Read the complete review

Braindead carries on from films like the evil dead, on much the same format. The main characters mum gets the zombie bug, then after some hilarious zombie rutting, and much biting, suddenly we have a house filled with rather a hell of a lot of zombies. We then wet ourselves laughing while 2 guys try to rectify the 'problem'. ...  Read the complete review

This is another effort from Kiwi director Peter Jackson , and in the same splattergore-humour vein as his first film - the excellent Bad Taste. This film is set in New Zealand, 1957. The hero's mother gets bitten by a rabid animal. She eventually dies, but comes back as a flesh-eating zombie. This is much to the dismay of some Teddy Boys ...  Read the complete review

Remember Evil Dead. Banned. Evil Dead 2. Banned. The Texas Chainsaw Masacre. Banned. Braindead. Released uncut in the UK? Yes it is a fact. Braindead, which was released under the title of 'Dead Alive' in the US and severely censored, slipped past the British censors. Why should this goretastic, and not to mention hilariously funny film do ...  Read the complete review

Braindead is not your average spoof. It does not employ the background humor of the Hot Shots films, nor does it have the hilarious suttlety of Leslie Nielson in Naked Gun, but what it does have is a lot of gore. Braindead is a spoof of the zombie genre, and, as i am told, is along the lines of evil dead. The zombies are not scary, and ...  Read the complete review

Braindead is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. It is a comedy horror, and manages to be one of a select few in this genre that is any good. It is about a guy, Lionel, who's mother is bitter by a rat monkey, a rare breed of monkey from Aisa, which causes her to become a zombie. He is sick of her possessive ways and ...  Read the complete review