History Film / Braindead

* MyBelovedSmother: Vera, Lionel's mother. Full stop.

* ChurchMilitant: "I kick arse for the Lord!"

** it seems to be in the blood. Lionel's mother gets bitten by the sumatran rat-monkey...her response? smack the thing with her purse and then pulp its head under her heel!
* BadassPreacher: [[TooCoolToLive Father McGruder the Kung Fu Priest]], with the immortal line "I kick arse for the Lord!" Subverted in that [[spoiler:his badass causes his downfall]].

* DisappearedDad: Lionel's dad dropped at sea to save him [[spoiler: the truth is that his mother murdered him for having an affair]]

* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: These zombies seem ''Franchise/EvilDead'' level of demonic.

* HelpingHands: when you chop up a zombie, the severed parts still move and attack you, including a complete set of ''bowels''.

* {{Jerkass}}: Lionel's uncle, Les and Lionel's mother

* LudicrousGibs: The last third of the film is a total carnage, and the zombies' severed parts even have a "life" of their own!
* MadeOfIron: Selwyn takes a lot of punishment for a zombie over the course of the film and never comes out any worse for wear.

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Lionel's mom after she received the animal stimulant.]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "''The party's over!''"

* RefugeInAudacity: [[Film/BadTaste Almost]] [[Film/MeetTheFeebles everything]]. However, zombie nurse making love with zombie priest and then having a zombie baby is wrong on ''so many'' levels.
* RuleOfFunny: Peter Jackson finished this film greatly under-budget and ahead of time. He used the extra resources to go back and extend the scene where Lionel takes Selwyn to the park, for the sake of this trope.

* ScareChord: The music makes a noticeable jump when [[spoiler:Lionel accidentally injects the zombies with stimulant]].

* VomitIndiscretionShot: When Paquita tries to dispose of the zombie baby with a blender; she almost hesitates and then the baby vomits bright-green puke on her face.
* [[WouldNotHurtAChild Would Not Hurt a Zombie Child]]: At first, Paquita hesitates to kill the zombie baby as it wails pathetically in the zombie blender...until [[VomitIndiscretionShot the above trope]] happens and it laughs about it. Then she purées that little bitch (or at least tries to) right then and there.

* FanDisservice: [[spoiler: That... THING that Lionel's mom turns into is completley naked, disfigured, mutated and bloated.]] If the gore killed your apetite for the next few days, then the image of [[spoiler: her]] will kill your sex drive for the next few weeks.

* NamesTheSame: There was already a film in America called ''Braindead'' when it came time for this film to be brought over to the states, so it was dubbed ''Dead Alive''.

* ShoutOut: In addition to the reference to [[Film/KingKong Skull Island]], there's a SherlockHolmes story that mentions "[[NoodleIncident the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared]].

* WickedStepmother: [[spoiler: It is implied that the "mistress" is Lionel's real mother]]

* RefugeInAudacity: [[BadTaste Almost]] [[Film/MeetTheFeebles everything]]. However, zombie nurse making love with zombie priest and then having a zombie baby is wrong on ''so many'' levels.

* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to every other film. This one holds the record for ''goriest film ever''.

** He may be a {{Jerkass}}, but let's face it, Uncle Les proves to be this when he carves up dozens of zombies singlehandedly with only a pair of knives. Also Father [=McGruder.=]

* GagDub: the Italian dub adds all kinds of silly puns by having the zombies "talk" and not only make meaningless grunts and noises.

!!''Braindead'' provides examples of:

* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: These zombies seem EvilDead level of demonic.

* FinalBoss: Lionel's Mother

* ShallowLoveInterest: Paquita's first boyfriend, Roger. Her relationship with Lionel starts like this as well, but then they both develop genuine interest for each other.

** ShoutOut: Jackson later gives a ShoutOut to ''Braindead'' in his "King Kong" remake: one of the crates coming back from Skull Island on the expedition ship is labeled "Sumatran Rat Monkey". And below that, the words "BEWARE THE BITE".