Dance of the Dead

Director:  Gregg Bishop

“Who To Go With… What To Wear… How To Survive.”

I’ll be damned, a good zombie movie! 

Though the horror landscape has recently become overrun with zombies, there are really only two kinds of good zombie movies- the really scary (ala “28 Days Later” or the original “Night of the Living Dead”) or the fun thrill rides filled with both laughs and scares (in the vein of “Return of the Living Dead” or “Shaun of the Dead”).  This film was very successfully one of the latter.

The dead rise, as they tend to do, the reason established here simply and effectively in the opening scene by the three enormous nuclear power plant towers looming over the town.  They rise on prom night and the only ones aware of it in time to stop them from eating everyone at the tasty buffet of the prom, are the kids who couldn’t find a date.  The heroes are slackers, science geeks, bullies, overachievers, and rockers, each an interesting character that grows on you.  The dialogue is fresh and funny.  And the script is just simply tight and well written, making this movie exactly what you would want it to be when you sit in the seat and the lights go down.  The audience cheered, squealed, laughed, screamed, and basically had a blast. 

With the movie filmed on location in Rome, Georgia, it appears the filmmakers were able to spend a good portion of their budget on top notch makeup, special effects, and stunt work which made the action portions of the movie gripping and kept the effects and makeup above the cheesy level of many a low budget horror movie.  This movie even brought new things to the genre.  As a horror movie lover, I have seen many a zombie movie, but I have never seen zombies literally vaulted out of their graves. Nor have I seen a zombie frog attack the biology teacher at the end of dissection day, though I imagine if I were that frog it’s what I would do.

Dance of the Dead is funny, thrilling, suspenseful, at times even intense, thoughtful, and scary, and really just simply fun to watch.  I hope this film gets theatrical distribution as I can vouch for it being a fun way to spend a Friday night, but if not it’s definitely worth a rental.  The prom from hell.  Check it out. 

Lucy Cruell