Maybe I've just grown out of it...

I remember renting this as a kid and thinking I'd died and gone to heaven. Zombie heaven.

But something strange has happened. The further I get into my adulthood, the more I find myself going back to the classics of the genre, Dawn of the Dead being an example.

Don't get me wrong. The gore and gags in DEAD ALIVE (or the strangely titled 'Braindead' as it is known outside the U.S.) will always stick with me and still pack a punch. But the wantonly schlocky and bloody battle at the end of the film and other excesses are just sort of--and I hate to say it--boring to me now. I admit I've always thought Peter Jackson a tad overrated (I can feel the flames now), but what worked for me as a twelve year old kid doesn't seem to have carried over to adulthood.

And, yes, DEAD ALIVE is technically a zombie film, but I cringe whenever I see it placed in "Ten Best Zombie Films" lists. It plays the living dead for laughs so far beyond a point of absurdity that it kind of doesn't feel like a zombie movie anymore. The comic approach worked with near perfection in films like Return of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, and to some degree, Zombieland. But in this film, it's just kind of heavy handed (now, I'm not saying it doesn't make me laugh).

Ultimately, Dead Alive feels like another sophomoric, zany gorefest inspired by Sam Raimi. It will always hold a place in my heart, but I just don't think I need it anymore.