Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Zombie-a-Go-Go: Dead Heat

This nearly ended up in 80s Trash, but it makes it here for one key reason: Piscopo! Pair this steroid-ridden comic up with Treat Williams- star of The Substitute 3 and 1941- and you have a hit on your hands. But wait, there's more! A famous horror icon makes a small appearance that immediately makes the film 100x better. Who? Read the review and find out. I bring you...
The film starts out bad enough by giving us the major cliches of cop-dom: the good cop and the eccentric/lazy cop. Wow, this is the laziest writing I have ever heard of. Oh wait, Treat's character is named Roger Mortis. I spoke too soon. They attempt to break up a robbery and shoot a man full of holes. Somehow, he refuses to go down. What is he, Rambo? Finally, they run him over with a car. That was odd. Let's investigate.
*
This leads them to a mysterious company that is doing mysterious things. I sense no subtext or foreshadowing here. Let's move on.
*
Unfortunately, another pair of zombies show up to cause more trouble for our duo. Will they find time to bicker and exchanged bad 80s dialogue? Kiss my grits, but don't call me Shirley- they do! They return to the company building after seeing the zombies melt, but not before getting a tongue lashing from their boss Commander Kolchak. During an investigation, Treat is tossed into an air-sealed room and left to die. Oh, what a shame. The End, right?
*
It turns out that one of the scientists feels bad and decides to re-animate the star of Everwood. There is one catch however: his body will break down in 12 hours or so. Thanks for bringing him back so that he can melt to death instead, lady!
*
Long story short- an evil guy is bringing people back to life as a way to stay alive forever. Wow, that is a pretty dumb plot. Can you distract me from this fact, movie? Oh, you appeared to have re-animated an entire Chinese restaurant kitchen. Touche, movie. The movie also throws lots of shoot-outs, explosions and fires to distract you. Even so, one thing is still missing from the movie. During the big 'plot reveal' scene, the evil villain finally reveals himself as...
*
VINCENT PRICE! He is the evil man, although he really doesn't have much to do. In fairness, which would you rather have- him or Piscopo? The whole thing ends rather weirdly, so I won't spoil it for you. Sufficed to say, it is simultaneously conclusive and inconclusive. Make of that what you will.
*
I have a soft spot for this movie, although I cannot truly explain why. It is stupid and silly, but very entertaining. Even in spite of Piscopo, it is a very entertaining film, which is only hampered by a refusal to show some real gore. You will either love this movie or hate it. I can just tell you that it is loads of fun and leave it at that.
*
I just can't stay away from Lucio Fulci films. Come see why I probably should. Stay tuned...

1 comment:

  1. I am a fan, I thought it was surprisingly funny and I will never forget the zombie cow carcass, very underrated little flick

    ReplyDelete