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In the nearby town, a punctual, well dressed young man named Lionel (Timothy Balme) lives with his horrible, awful, spiteful, controlling mother Vera (Elizabeth Moody). Vera is that kind of mother who would tolerate her relatives only because without them, she’d have nobody to victimize and control. And she’s fine-tuned her particular brand of rage and guilt on poor Lionel, who probably has no idea he can just move out, get an apartment and spend all his time unemployed, drinking beer, playing Super Nintendo and disappointing his girlfriend like all the normal guys his age.

Lionel’s first inkling of this comes on a trip into town to buy groceries, where he meets the lovely Paquita Maria Sanchez (Diana Penalver), whose deeply ingrained superstitions quickly lead her to perceive Lionel as the man of her dreams. Smitten, she more or less stalks Lionel in ways that would be creepy if she weren’t so pretty - but she is, so it’s totally okay. She finally corners Lionel in front of his house and convinces him to take her out on a date - to the zoo. Their adorably awkward conversation is observed by Vera, who of course will not stand for Lionel being happy without her, which basically means she will not stand for Lionel being happy. So, when the couple embarks on their date, she follows them.

To the zoo. Yes, THAT zoo. The one with the Murder Monkey. While snooping on her son, Vera is bitten by the monkey - which would be sad except that she kind deserves it. Soon after that, she begins to zombify, and Lionel does his best to treat it, contain it, and then hide it from the community at large. Dead Alive relies a great deal on dark, gory humor and a lot of that revolves around Lionel’s attempts to keep anyone from finding out what’s going on. Vera’s antics inevitably infect other people, leading to a minor outbreak. Lionel captures the infected, stows them in his basement, and tries his best to keep everyone sedated and under wraps.

While this is going on, Paquita continues to kindle their romance, oblivious to the obvious signs that something involving flesh eating freaks is happening over at her boyfriend’s house. To his credit, Lionel does his best to keep the zombie apocalypse from spreading while trying not to disappoint Pacquita, but it ends up being more than he can handle. In fact, the primary reason he seems reluctant to seek help seems to be his embarrassment at being unable to solve the problem on his own. This leads to some really morbid, disturbing incidents that are equal parts funny and revolting. Dead Alive is a comedy, but first and foremost it’s a horror flick, and an incredibly splattery one at that.

No matter how hard you look, it’s difficult to see the Peter Jackson we will all eventually come to know and love. Dead Alive is a largely amateurish looking film, its style defined by lots of unnecessary close ups and awkwardly staged scenes that suggest not so much artistic choices but a young filmmaker still mastering his craft. But parts of it are genuinely funny, albeit in a macabre way that requires you to really be invested in this brand of horror. The gore starts early and builds quickly, culminating in one of the most chaotic, blood spattered, disturbingly slapstick climaxes you’re ever likely to see in a movie. Perhaps more important is the fact that the story ends up being less about zombies than it is about an incredibly meek person learning how to be his own man and make his own choices. It’s a fascinating movie but it’s hard to give a blanket recommendation because you’re either going to be able to handle it, or not.

Despite the undeniable family allegory, the big sell here is going to be the ungodly amount of bloody humor. If this is your thing, and you haven’t seen Dead Alive yet, then you’re really missing out. There’s enough interspecies molestation, mutilation, cannibalism, dismemberment and kung-fu fighting clergy to keep you in stitches hours after the movie ends. If you’re anybody else, you might want to skip the bloodbath and stick to the never ending flood of super sanitary PG-13 flicks inundating theaters these days. And if you’re into landscaping, I can assure you that after Dead Alive, you’ll probably never again be able to mow your lawn without thinking some very, very dark thoughts.

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