Do you like movies with goofy, over-the-top gore? Do you like movies with lots of goofy, over-the-top gore? Do you like movies with tons of goofy, over-the-top gore? Then you’re in luck, because on Wednesday, October 17, at Avalon Theater, we’re screening Peter Jackson’s 1992 comedy horror classic Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead). Tickets to the 7 p.m. show are $5. Kick ass for the Lord and buy yours here.
Roughly a decade before Jackson would helm the landmark Lord Of The Rings trilogy, the New Zealand filmmaker was gleefully shocking audiences with his tale of star-crossed lovers, rabid rat-monkeys, unquenchable zombies, some series mother-son issues, ass-kicking priests (“Stand back boy! This calls for divine intervention!”), and enough practical gore effects to make the Evil Dead movies look like a season of The Golden Girls. Similar to the Evil Dead franchise, Dead Alive has its tongue firmly in cheek; scenes of our hero Lionel wrestling with his mother’s zombified corpse, beating up a zombified baby, and mowing down dozens of zombies with a literal lawn mower are so outrageous that it’s impossible not to scream and laugh. Jackson is having a ton of fun here, and watching him cheerily throw all sense of good taste out the window (and then inject it with poison in hopes of killing it but oh god it’s only made it stronger!) is equally fun.
Again, get your tickets here. Our friends at Lakefront Brewery will have their coffee-flavored Fuel Cafe stout on tap for the occasion (“Rich and creamy, just the way I like it!”), and since the screening is close to Halloween, dressing up might be fun, too. See you at the party!