Customer Reviews

Dance of the Dead

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Dance of the Dead was released by Ghost House Underground, which is sort of their take on the 8 Films to Die For and I suppose the Dimension Extreme label as well. From what I have heard Dance of the Dead was hand picked by Sam Raimi for Ghost House Underground and bottom line is this; you'll either really enjoy Dance of the Dead or hate the movie, while most reviews have been more positive this is the type of movie I can see why many loved it and some hated it. I for one really enjoyed Dance of the Dead and it was exactly what I expected.

Dance of the Dead however is as flawed as it is entertaining and quite honestly not everything works here. There are moments where it's too over the top and seems too forced, but other times certain aspects work and it's highly enjoyable. Despite any flaws in my opinion Dance of the Dead has far more good going for than against it. Think of this movie as a John Hughes movie meets Night of the Living Dead or more like The Return of the Living Dead since Dance of the Dead has a lot more of Return of the Living Dead rather than Night of the Living Dead. Dance of the Dead starts off as more of a teen comedy and like I said something in the style of John Hughes, but than the horror kicks in and it becomes something like a John Hughes movie that meets a zombie flick.

The screenplay written by Joe Ballarini and overall it was quite well done, but not everything he does works well. As stated there are moments that are too over the top and moments that seem a bit forced as if Joe Ballarini was trying a bit too hard. But once the middle sections come his script while already good gets better. The characters aren't the best developed characters we've ever come across, but most of them are likeable. Honestly I actually grew fond of a few of the characters and was hoping they would survive. The characters were a lot of fun and Joe Ballarini does very well with the characters he created. Again despite any flaws with the script it does work well overall.

Director Greg Bishop does a bang up job, but like the script there were moments in his directing where certain aspects just didn't work, but for the most part he does well and crafts a very enjoyable and funny movie. Most of the scenes in Dance of the Dead are played light with little suspense, but more of a comedy. Though with that said there are some fairly suspenseful moments in Dance of the Dead, but most of the scenes are played light and it works great. The pacing is solid and there really aren't any moments where the movie is slow. It pretty much always moves forward and always has the fun level working.

The zombies are cool looking and this one has a mixture of running zombies and slow moving zombies. The zombies are pretty much inspired by those from Return of the Living Dead in many ways you can see Dance of the Dead as a modern day version of Return of the Living Dead. Like I said about aspects not working one in particular was a zombie frog; it was only one brief scene, but that's what I mean about things not working, but thankfully it was only one brief scene and that was the end of it.

The cast was solid and all the actors put in good performances with the highlight for me was seeing Mark Oliver as Coach Keel; Mark Oliver starred in Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland as Tony DeRaro. Mark Oliver pretty much steals the show with his intentional over the top performance as a former military man who goes on a zombie killing spree. James Jarrett as the Gravedigger is a brief role, but very memorable. Again as I stated before the characters were really fun and I was hoping quite a few of them would survive.

The gore level is good and it's a mixture of special make up F/X and CGI, but don't worry any CGI used looks pretty good. It wasn't over used and it was mixed with make up F/X so most of the time you won't really notice the CGI and the way it was shot and edited makes it tougher to notice. I hate CG used in horror flicks, but if used right it could work and it was used right in Dance of the Dead

Dance of the Dead is a movie you'll either love or hate; certain aspects fall a bit flat, but overall in my opinion it was a fun ride, but as I stated before I can easily understand why it's also disliked by some people. But I highly enjoyed this movie and it delivered just what I expected. Don't go into Dance of the Dead expecting to see something totally different; it follows the basic zombie movie formula, but still works well in my opinion and was a fun ride.

That title may go a bit far, but this one is a hoot. While the tongue is never even slightly out of cheek, and once quite literally, the requisite gore and shock value just add to the fun.
I recommend this movie highly to newcomers and aficionados of the genre.
Two green, twitching, decaying thumbs up!

This was a fun movie that did not take itself so seriously as to be over the top. They knew they wanted it to be funny and a little crazy and that's what they made. I liked it and have bought it to add to my collection of comedic horror!

Prom was never like this!!


1) ACTING: I found the acting to be very well done. While the characters were the usual high school stereotypes that we have all come to know, each actor took their role and made everything that could be done out of it, without going over the top and becoming a caricature. And, luckily, none of the teen actors look like they are in their 30's.

2) PRODUCTION: After viewing a number of less than stellar zombie movies, I am happy to state that the people involved in the production of this movie knew what they were doing and show a love for genre. No soundtrack or lighting issues. A couple of very minor continuity goofs appear, but most likely will not be an issue to the general viewer. The zombie make up is really good, with some of the lesser made up zombies relegated to the dark and to the background. The blood and gore is plentiful and usually surrounded by humor.

3) ZOMBIES: The zombies in Dance of the Dead are a mixture of many different kinds that we have seen in various movies and a few new ones. We have the slow Romero shamblers, the fast moving Snyder runners, and ones that can still drive cars!

4) THE CAUSE: nuclear power plant emissions.

5) NUDITY: None.

FINAL: What a wonderful, fun movie! I was disappointed that this did not go to theaters nationwide, as I think, as Shaun of the Dead has proven, "zomedies" do work, when done correctly. Think of this movie as a collaboration between the zombie master, George Romero, and the teen movie master, John Hughes. I can't wait to see what comes next from the creators of this movie. This is one Dance everyone should attend!

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

It is prom night at Cosa High School and charming slacker Jimmy (Jared Kusnitz) has struck out trying to get a date to the dance, but that proves to be the least of his problems when the dead start rising from their graves. Fortunately, Jimmy is not the only dateless geek on prom night. There is the fetching Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick), the vice-president of the student body, Gwen (Carissa Capobianco), the cheerleader who needs to be saved, Steven (Charlton Derby), the nerd who would like to save her, Nash (Blair Redord), the angry leader of a local band, and the tag-team of Jules (Randy McDowell) and George (Michael V. Mammoliti), who belong to the school's Science Fiction Club. You might ask: Why do the dead starting exploding out of their graves? Well, because this is a zombie movie, which means it might be the town's nuclear reactor or it could just be because the script says that they rise from the dead. So do not ask wherefore art their zombies, or why the only adult authority figure left standing once the zombies run amuck is Coach Keel (Mark Oliver), who has watched way too many action films. Just enjoy one of the best tongue-in-cheek zombie comedies to come down the pike in recent years.

When it comes to zombie movies I still prefer the original "Night of the Living Dead" with the traditional slow moving Old School zombies over the new and impoved frantic flesh eaters of the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, "28 Days Later," et al. More to the point, I liked "Dead and Breakfast" more than "Shaun of the Dead," and I really liked "Shaun of the Dead." Given that particular set of predilections it is probably not surprising that I am willing to round up on "Dance of the Dead," when most people will not (and, yes, I am looking forward to "Zombie Strippers"). There might be a correlation between these two principles simply because it is hard to do a zombie comedy if they are running and you are running. When it is more "The zombies are coming! Walk away! Walk away!" there is way more time to make with the smart aleck remarks (and to go out for pancakes).

"Dance of the Dead" is apparently a movie that was a decade in the making, since the writer and diretor met up in film school at USC, which might explain in part why it works so well, because the script by Joe Ballarini exhibits evidence of fine tuning. The same can be said for the special effects put together by director Gregg Bishop "The Other Side," who manages not to over indulge in the handheld camera work that so often distracts me (or threatens to make my head explode) in contemporary horror films (i.e., "Cloverfield"). But I think a big part of the success for this 2008 release is that this film follows the Franco Zefferelli approach of going out and hiring actual teenagers to play teenagers, which is why so many people make John Hughes references when talking about this film. The young cast, many from Georgia since that is where "Dance of the Dead" was filmed, give it a certain charm (e.g., when Lindsey leads the group in prayer before the ensemble has its requisite "Buffy The Vampire Slayer movement of striding purposely down the hallway with their array of weaponry, a moment that serves as the backdrop for the DVD's menu). That also means this film has the advantage of featuring unfamiliar faces instead of twentysomethings from television shows slumming in splatter flicks.

I have no idea what "Dance of the Dead" is doing in the Ghost House Underground series of horror films that Lionsgate has put out to distract horror fans from the fact that this year's Horrorfest has been delayed until January (they still only have 5 and not 8 films 2 die 4). This is far and away the best of the six of eight films I have seen so far, and if there is something better than "Dance of the Dead" still out there, that would be really sweet, but I doubt it is going to happen. This DVD also sets the standard for special features in this series, with audio commentary by Bishop and Ballarini, a featurette on the making of the film, a special look at "Blood, Guts, and Rock 'n' Roll: Effects and Stunts of Dance of the Dead," a handful of deleted and extended scenes (with optional commentary by the director), Bishop's short film "Voodoo" (also when commentary, because apparently you cannot stop Bishop from commenting, you can only choose not to listen), and the trailer (which contains the film's one flaw: which is that the best line in the trailer is actually two lines cobbled together, in reverse, from the end of the film).

is a great movie. if you like the
Ghost House Movies, this one is no
disappointment. I highly recommend
it!

I am elated to find that this movie is available for purchase. On a whim, we went to see it at the Atlanta Film Festival and being a zombie movie aficionado I was ready for this to not thrill me. How good could the effects be for an indie film, right?

I was wrong. So very, very wrong. This was by far one of the best zombie movies I've ever seen, you get what you are expecting and/or hoping for and then a whole lot more. I was lost for words when the zombies exploded from their graves. The humorous moments our cast finds themselves in, the biting one liners- it was funny, it was gross, it was grossly funny. I recommend this to anyone as the perfect date movie (I watched parts of it from behind my sweater so you know it has to be good!)

there have been alot of zombie movies in the last 29 years.
tons of them. among them were many films shot on video tape by inexperienced filmakers and their friends. Some were good and many were bad. This isn't one of those it's shot on good film with a higher quality of acting. It is a direct salute to the films of romero and even the revenge of the living dead movies. It's alot of fun and even features zombies leaping from the grave. It has humor and is a worth a look for zombie and horror fans. At this point no zombie movie can go to new places except outer space! but it doesn't matter: zombie movies still give a thrill to those that like them. And it's good to see a good quality one that reminded me of 'night of the creeps' from 1986 even if there were no slugs around. I watched this and then rewatched the classic bloody zombie flick: 'grapes of death" from Jean Rollin and this made for a enjoyable halloween horror treat. cheers to the makers of this fun little flick. And this once again proves how much better film is than video tape.

I thought the that movie was great. I enjoyed the fact that it was more original then most of the horror dreck that has been released lately. The acting was solid and the special effects were good. I would recommend this film if you like the Dead.

When pollution from the local power plant causes the dead to rise on Prom Night, it's up to a group of dateless losers (and others) to save the town from the undead flesheaters.

From the Voodoo zombies of White Zombie to the flesh-eating ghouls of Night of the Living Dead, the zombie subgenre has always been one of the major pillars of the horror industry. Within that subgenre lies a subsubgenre that contains some of the most entertaining horrors ever made: Zombie-Comedies. While there have been some spectacular zom-coms (like Shaun of the Dead), there have also been more than a few that could barely be considered, at best, enjoyable (like Undead or Alive). Luckily, Dance of the Dead belongs in the first class. Just about every element a fan has come to expect from not only zombie-comedies but zombie films in general can be found in this film. While it's not a big-budget affair with any name actors or filmmakers, it is very well made for what it had. From a horror standpoint, there is some gross-out gore, some really fun creature effects, and some genuinely jump-worthy scares (particularly the mausoleum scene towards the beginning). As a comedy, there's a very nice blend of typical teen humour and some more mature laughs. The acting, though full of newcomers, is relatively good for a teen horror-comedy, as is the direction. It's the writing, however, that really helps the film along. While it's nothing spectacularly new or original, the dialogue is crisp and likable, and the plot flows evenly throughout with a nice blend of horror violence and genuine laughs. In the end, Dance of the Dead is sure to be a treat to fans looking for a interesting and entertaining horror-comedy. Check it out!

Final verdict: 8/10

-AP3-