Braindead

An ordinary day in New Zealand takes a brutal turn when Lionel Cosgrove's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat monkey. The bite changes her into a relentless zombie who begins preying on the town, sparking a fast moving outbreak and panic. Lionel, an awkward, well meaning guy, tries to stop the carnage while keeping his family and friends from falling apart. The movie mixes crude, practical effects with buoyant humor as the town descends into chaos and a weary hero faces an almost absurd threat. The tone swings between farce and horror, delivering shocks and laughs without losing focus on the characters. As the outbreak unfolds, small town tensions flare and friends rally. The humor lands with bite.

Directed by Peter Jackson, Braindead arrived in 1992 as an offbeat horror comedy from New Zealand. It used an original screenplay by Jackson, Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair and carried a budget of three million dollars.

Braindead has become a cult favorite within the splatstick subgenre, known for its unrestrained gore and low budget charm. Fans praise the practical effects and the movie's capability to mix outrageous shocks with humor, especially memorable sequences like the lawnmower scene. Its rough charm invites repeat viewings.

Critical response was mixed yet affectionate toward its audacious tone. Viewers and some critics appreciated how it blends suburban mundanity with sudden nightmare and body horror, using humor to deflate fear while still delivering nasty surprises. Its humor remains surprisingly sharp about awkward adolescence and the lure of conformity today.

Awards: No major awards are documented for Braindead. The film nonetheless earned a devoted following and is widely regarded as a milestone in splatstick horror, helping to establish Peter Jackson as a director capable of bold risky humor and inventive gore that influenced future projects for its audacious humor.