Every avid horror fan in the world will have instantly recognized the mother thing from the final chapter of Brain Dead in that picture. A perfect Freudian image of one of horrors main driving forces: The (male) fear of being sucked back in that dark place from whence we once sprang forth. Philip Jose presented us with a perfect take on this primal fear in as early as 1953 in his short story “Mother”.But as much entertainment value there is to Freud’s disturbed relation to sexuality, this is not what gave reason to me choosing this picture for this month.
Based on the movies I watched New Zealand’s film industry seems to know only three categories:
1. Boring Movies
2. Movies that show a disturbingly troubled relationship with sexuality
3. Boring movies that show a troubled relationship with sexuality
Brain Dead somewhat neatly wrapped up these three Genres in one single movie.
Funny and entertainingly violent at times, the movies humour runs itself dead towards the end, ultimately resulting in a disturbingly boring climax.
NZ likes to represent itself as the last fortress of Victorian sexual repression, direly holding on to a national pride main land Britain long since abandoned. But caught between rising teen pregnancy rates on one side, and sexualised violence as day order on the other, neither fares well with its decision.
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