Dance of the Dead (2008) Poster

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7/10
A Genuinely Pleasant Surprise
kmavity20 April 2008
I walked into this film at it's last showing in The Atlanta Film Festival, not expecting much. It had gotten a little hype, and the Atlanta Journal seemed to like it, so I figured I'd give it a chance. What I got was a delightfully corny zombie film, on par with Shaun of the dead, except even more low-budget. Some of the characters were actually reasonably likable, a fair amount of witty dialogue, and slapstick violence, plus Large amounts of gore to satisfy true Zombie Film junkies. The film is exceedingly low budget, but in many parts that actually works to it's advantage, such as the nuclear power plants conveniently placed directly behind the cemetery, looking as though they were pasted in there with photoshop, and fairly corny zombies. Through much of it, the audience cackled and cheered, and it was greeted with much applause at it's finally, plus I recognized some of the locations, and many of the stars were in the theater. It has many unexpected touches, such as zombie frogs in the science lab, and some deaths twists. Overall, I really enjoyed this film, and if it ever gets wide release, I recommend seeing it.
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7/10
Unexpectedly enjoyable film
terrencepatrix10 October 2008
Really zombie movies are such a hit and miss genre that you can't ever honestly watch one with high hopes. Which is why when one turns out to be pretty damn good you are more than pleasantly surprised.

This was just a well put together movie. I thought the direction, script, and acting were all very well executed...especially for a bunch of relative unknowns. It had gore, humor, story...and what I really appreciated was they gave you just enough insight and character build up that when someone did finally kick the bucket...you know who it was and cared. The dialog was also pretty fun to listen to. I'm a fan of horribly foul language...which this movie did not have...but the dialog kept me interested enough that I didn't even notice the lack thereof.

Plot summary. It's prom time in this town, and all the teens are scurrying to find their dates. All teen categories are featured here, there's the nerds (sci-fi club), the misfits, the punk rockers, and the in-crowd (tools). While this minor school drama that everyone can relate to is going on, a menace is looming. The town power plant has been leaking toxic waste into it's surrounding town causing the dead to return to life. While the prom is in full swing, the dead arise and start wreaking havoc. Naturally the first to notice are those who are without dates and it is up to them to not only protect and save themselves...but to save the obvious buffet that is the teen prom.

If you like fun zombie movies, with good lines, and gore...watch it.
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7/10
Surprisingly good small budget horror
slake093 December 2008
A high school prom is disrupted by an influx of zombies with the usual mayhem resulting. The school nerds gather to fight the zombies and save the prom. Sort of a cross between Night of the Living Dead and Revenge of the Nerds, with better jokes.

This small budget horror film has the usual zombies with the usual lurching, slobbering, flesh-eating behavior, and an undercurrent of good humor. Various sub-plots, mostly involving unlikely romances between nerds and cheerleaders, are responsible for most of the jokes. The gore is standard-level horror fare, not especially bloody but with enough dismembered bodies for enthusiasts. If there was any nudity it must have been quick because I didn't see it.

This is an enjoyable horror film to watch with friends, there is enough humor and romance for both genders to enjoy. I'd watch it again.
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7/10
Gotta love the classic zombie flick w/ a slightly new twist
Cre8iveone18 June 2008
Not being a huge zombie flick fan, but being surrounded by MANY, I was surprised to have really enjoyed the classic zombie feel this movie had, but with the musical twist. It was one of my favorites in the Atlanta Film Festival this year and most everyone I have talked to loved it, both here in Atlanta and at SXSW. I think that Gregg Bishop really has an amazing talent and I'm hoping for more from him and his crew in the future and will go back and check out the ones I've missed.

You can tell at times that this was a low-budget flick and pretty indie, but had a good story line and really had you rooting for these kids all the way through. Of course the classic "ready for war" walk down the hall is always a great addition and there were some great lines.

There were issues with editing that I caught all along, but the director was also the editor and producer and I'm quite sure had his hands full, maybe having someone a little more removed would be helpful, but budget is budget :). Can't wait to get this one home and have folks over for a movie party!
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6/10
Where's Carrie when you need her?
Coventry12 July 2012
My first and obvious reaction when I saw "Dance of the Dead" standing on the shelves of my local video store a couple of years ago was: "Yet another highly acclaimed and supposedly hilarious zombie comedy? I think I'll pass…" Zombie comedies (also referred to as 'zom-coms' or even 'zomedies') exist since many years, as in the 80's and 90's we already had cult classics like "Night of the Creeps", "Return of the Living Dead" and "Braindead", but particularly since 2004 and the release of "Shaun of the Dead" we can speak of a genuine epidemic. A selected few of them actually manage to be original and funny (like "Zombieland", "Dead Snow" and "Fido") but the vast majority of them are just dumb, derivative and downright pathetic. Automatically assuming that "Dance of the Dead" would fit right into the latter category, I always refrained from watching until now I could pick up an ex-rental DVD copy for the bargain price of $1. Now I'm pleased to announce that "Dance of the Dead" is a lot better than I thought it would be, merely because it's a 200% unpretentious, straightforward and rejoicing little flick. Nearly all the characters are stereotypes and the gags/situations are hugely predictable, but at least the movie is never boring and doesn't waste any time on wannabe intellectual dialogs or far-fetched plot twists. The film opens with a quirky cemetery caretaker having enormous difficulties to keep his cadavers underneath the ground. As the camera zooms out, we perceive that the cemetery lies right next to an overactive nuclear power plant; so there's your explanation. In this same sleepy nuclear energy town, the popular kids prepare themselves for the annual high school prom, whereas the outcasts carry on with their Sci-Fi club meetings, rock band activities and pizza deliveries. As the zombies adrift from their regular cemetery boundaries and head towards the prom, it's up to the freaks and geeks to rescue the rest of the school. Personally, I wouldn't refer to "Dance of the Dead" as one of the best zombie comedies ever made, and I would definitely not label it as an instant cult classic, but it's undeniably a fun and unhinged little gem. The clichés and stereotypes are amusingly enlarged and the make-up effects are often gloriously over-the-top. The pacing remains fast throughout the entire running time and the movie doesn't contain any redundant sequences or padding footage whatsoever. The acting performances are more than adequate, as you can clearly tell that everyone truly enjoyed starring in this one. Recommended to watch in group, or on a lazy and rainy Sunday afternoon.
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4/10
I think I'm about to spoil the party.
Darkweasel10 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The story: High school kids vs zombies.

I'd never heard of this film before today so after watching it I checked out the reviews section here at the IMDb and had a look what other people thought of it. Well, it was quite surprising to find more gushing in here than the result of any zombie neck munching contained within the film.

Very sorry, but it's not groundbreaking, it's not the best horror film in years and it's definitely not reminiscent of John Carpenter or George Romero. In fact it's not much of anything really other than a fairly standard, low budget horror film with a standard, low budget horror film script with standard, low budget horror film acting.

As much as I respect the amount of work that goes into making movies, I'm afraid I don't actually care about the trials and tribulations of making of the film when I write anything about it. I reserve my judgement purely for what's on the screen. There has obviously been a lot of hard work put into making this film but there's a lot of hard work put into every movie. What you have here is a competent little comedy/horror film that isn't that scary, isn't really laugh out loud funny and just about manages to keep the attention.

Still, this certainly doesn't fall into the dreaded "worst film ever" category that IMDb reviewers seem to love so much. It's just not "Best film ever" material either.
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7/10
The Prom of the Living Dead
claudio_carvalho17 February 2011
On the day of the Hawaiian Hula Prom, the high-school students are excited with the party. The immature pizza-boy Jimmy Dunn (Jared Kusnitz) has an argument with his girlfriend Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick), who is the vice-president of the student council and wants to wear a corsage, and she calls off their date. The outcast Steven (Chandler Darby), who is one of the members of the mocked Sci-Fi Club, invites the cheerleader Gwen (Carissa Capobianco) to go to the prom with him, but she prefers to invite the leader of the band Quarter Punks Nash Rambler (Blair Redford) to have a date with her, but he rejects her invitation. During the night, Lindsey dates the snobbish Mitch Cutter (Jeff Adelman), who is the president of the student council, and he heads his car to the local cemetery nearby a power plant to make out with Lindsey. Meanwhile the members of the Sci-Fi Club – the president Jules Reiner (Randy McDowell), Steven, George (Michael V. Mammoliti) and Rod (Mark Lynch) – decide to spend the night investigating the cemetery using a MIT device that Jules borrowed from his brother. Out of the blue, Rod is attacked by a zombie and the trio of survivors runs away from a legion of living dead. Meanwhile, Mitch is beheaded by a living dead and Lindsey drives his car to escape of zombies. She rescues Jules, Steven and George and break in the funeral house. Meanwhile, Jimmy is delivering a pizza and is attacked by the dead. He flees and sooner he meets the badass Kyle Grubbin (Justin Welborn) and Gwen that is jogging on the street. The Quarter Punks is rehearsing in Nash's garage and they discover that the zombies like their music. The three groups team-up under the leadership of Coach Keel (Mark Oliver) and together they decide to help the teenagers in the prom. But it may be too late.

"Dance of the Dead" is an entertaining and gore horror comedy with a huge potential of cult-movie. The plot is not original, actually it is a combination of "Carrie" and "Night of the Living Dead", but the story is hilarious and I laughed a lot. The special effects are another plus of this delightful film. The resemblance of Greyson Chadwick with the sweet Julianne Moore is impressive. I really enjoyed this funny film and laughed a lot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available
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4/10
You may not want to bite on Dance of the Dead
sirseef4 March 2009
I always bite on B-horror films like this (and Black Sheep) and so far, the same results - disappointment. Dance of the Dead has absolutely no suspense whatsoever, and the pacing of the movie, along with comedic timing, is a bit off at all times. Then there's the acting which ranges from acceptable to down-right BAD (I guess that's what you get when you cast real High School-aged actors). All in all, it's no better than a b-film. I wouldn't even rank it a B+. But that's not to say it lacks any redeeming value. The character development is weak, but not non-existent. There's some serious lack of creativity (Power Plant for example) and there are moments of complete cliché (I understand what kind of movie it is but let's face it), but there's also some good gory laughs thrown in during later scenes if you can bare with it a while. The gore is here and there, and the special effects are good enough. My main problem was the amateurish aspects of it. The pacing, the timing, etc. The movie just seemed to skip too quickly without building up scenes or parts of the plot. It does get better as it goes though.

I'm no disgruntled employee, but I do think the movie is way over-hyped. It's by no means anything comparable to the likes of Shaun of the Dead or Evil Dead for that matter, but it does have a few things going for it. Only recommended for zombie fanatics that have an affinity for b-quality films. If you like polished production values, you might want to avoid it. A good test is watching the intro sequence.
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7/10
Just watched it last night
rblade96316 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I've got to give this film high points, for it's content and script. Very good work the characters are very interesting the high school coach is very funny. The mysterious grave yard keeper very intriguing you have to wonder who is this guy working for. I was anticipating a really bad "b" flick but got a real gem of a film. I love Zombie films it's always a treat finding a film like this. One that can go proudly into the collection and take a place in time as one of the cult classics it will surely become. It's one of those zombie films like Shawn of the Dead that will be praised as a great film ten years from now.

If you like zombie films with a little light hearted fun this film is excellent.
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3/10
Rick Rolled Of The Dead
Stevie_Pearson16 October 2008
Dance of the Dead Like a great number of people into Zombie horror films I had heard nothing but great reviews and criticism about this film, so when I brought a copy of Amazon I was excited to see this film reading reviews that compared it to the now legendary Shaun of the dead which is some kind of feat in and of itself, though sadly this appraisal seems to be both its downfall as much as its main selling point.

The cast, Greyson Chadwick is a fine looking young lass who I would happily knock bones with and a reasonable actress though she is given little beyond generic teen fodder lines to work with, Jared Kusnitz is also a reasonable physical actor at best however not one line is remotely memorable seconds after being said, other than that acting wise no one else really stands out, there's a "tough kid" drop-out who provides the only moderately amusing moment of delivering a weak head but to one of the nerdy kids who's name escapes me, but again he like many is just playing a stock generic run of the mill character like they all are, also there's a young blond girl who's easy on the eye, but with so many of these characters on TV and film these days she's easily forgotten about as are most, a cemetery man who's delivery is so bad and wooden that your so grateful he's only in it for a handful of scenes, and the high school coach who although looks the part over-acts more than anyone else including the zombies in the film, Oh and some lame high school band that play a song that even a elephant would have trouble remembering. Oh and a load of zombies of which none stand out, take a look at Dawn of the Dead, you had nurse zombie, football helmet wearing zombie, Zombie holding riffle the wrong way etc they all had there own unique idiosyncrasies and movements here not one leaves an impression and that's a shame as the Zombie's usually stand out nicely.

Secondly, the story, its been done before time and time again, monsters attack the school and unlikely people save the day, you know the nerds, the freaks, the romantics, the drop-outs, the pizza delivery kid , it's brain-dead horror film making 101 that's not to say that the plot is bad or anything just the same old same old we have seen a million times before, there's beheading and biting and such however it's the same old thing that we have all seen before a million times, the script was bland and feels like a binned script from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, albeit with even less originality than Buffy, and the main gripe being the one thing parody films need is good comic actors, people who are genuinely funny people and can deliver the lines with perfection, however this film doesn't have that at all, it has people on it who don't seem like very likable people once you strip the film down to its core they just seem like the shallow rich teenagers who have invested more in self marketing in trying to make the film go "Cult" than they have on making the film itself.

The Director, the director did the usual thing with contemporary indie genre stuff of making things overly dark as to hide the fact that the film has an obvious low budget, clearly thinking that it makes the film more atmospheric and intense when actually all it does is make you re-tune the brightness of your TV and sit closer to the TV to try and comprehend just what is going on 90% of the time.

And finally we come to the marketing… If you do a good search for reviews of this film you'll find endless praise for the film, citing its greatness as an independent film and as a zombie comedy, hey if you go on IMDb you'll find people throwing reviews and hype for this film like no other however and here comes the shocking and hilarious truth of it.

Nearly every review has been submitted, written, or inspired by either film festival goers or the cast and crew of this film and there respected families and friends, bear in mind how many people work on an indie film these days you can imagine the numbers for that being very high indeed, nearly every review is laced with some back slapping high five slapping ass kissing praise or worse so name dropping of the actors involved, seriously imagine the worst film ever having its cast and crew defending it and making a fake buzz about the film in a vein effort to get your cash and get higher sales than its worth, then the defence for such a laudable act according to some of the people involved in the film is "I'm sure you've seen worse films, get over it." Granted we all probably have but rarely have I been duped into seeing something this bad in my life.

Dance of the Dead is a lot like being "Rick Rolled" You know your on a forum or a message board and someone promises something cool and interesting, yet when you click on the said link you get the same old tired joke that only a complete moron would make and only an even bigger moron would find amusing yet the rest of us just click backspace and ignore the person who did it, only to find something better to invest our time in, of course being Rick Rolled takes less time and money and if I'm being honest isn't half as bad as this film.

3/10
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10/10
John Hughes meets John Carpenter meets George Romero
larry-41115 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Every once in awhile a film comes along which breaks new ground. Not to say that I'm a better judge than anyone else, but just in the past year I attended over a dozen festivals at which I saw over 200 films, so the bar is set pretty high for me and it takes a lot to make my jaw drop. Gregg Bishop's "Dance of the Dead" did that and more.

The line stretched around the block here for the World Premiere at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival -- the buzz had already made its way around Austin, Texas. The premise is fairly straightforward. As festival director Matt Dentler pointed out in his intro to the screening, "this film combines my two favorite genres: teens trying to get laid and zombies." That's a simplification, of course, but it's not inaccurate. What's new here is not just the most successful marriage of the two genres I've ever seen but the combination taking both to a new level.

It's prom night, and the local kids are looking for dates and praying they'll get lucky at the end of the night. Meanwhile, something is up at the local cemetery. It will be up to a group of would-be heroes to save the day and keep the high school gym from becoming a teenage zombie buffet. On the face of it, the idea doesn't seem all that original. We've seen some of these elements before, to be sure. But this is a genre film, after all, and assuming one likes zombie movies and teen sex slash coming-of-age films (emphasis on the slash) it would be enjoyable regardless. For this viewer, what sets one film apart from another is originality. "Is there anything new here?" I ask myself as the film unspools. The answer is a resounding "yes." "Dance of the Dead" breaks new ground, literally.

Much of the strength of this film lies in the believability and authenticity of the cast. Typically, one finds 20-somethings playing high school seniors and the audience sees right through it. In this case, there is no "25 playing 18" -- it's "18 playing 18." These are real teens playing teens. That, and the freshness these kids bring to their roles, is at the heart of the success of this film. It's always hard to single anyone out in a brilliant ensemble cast but the plot clearly revolves around Lindsey and Jimmy (Greyson Chadwick and Jared Kusnitz). He thinks he's all that. She wonders why he takes her for granted and thinks of wandering off elsewhere to get what she needs. We know where this is going but how it gets there will require some major zombie butt-kicking and Kusnitz, who was able to do his own stunts by spending interminably long days on martial arts and choreography, is clearly up to the task. Doing some damage of their own are the other kids, all of whom have bright futures in cinema: Justin Welborn, Chandler Darby, Carissa Capobianco, Michael V. Mammoliti, Mark Lynch, Blair Redford, and Lucas Till, along with Mark Oliver as Coach Keel, who would make Stallone and Schwarzenegger proud.

There is so much more that sets this film above others. Joe Ballarini's script is intelligent and respectful, never patronizing in an "I may be an adult but I know how kids talk" kind of way.' It's a big reason why Gregg Bishop is able to keep the film from straying into "Porky's" territory, which likely would have been easy to do in the hands of a lesser director. Most good horror films have a killer soundtrack, and "Dance of the Dead" is no exception. "Shadows of the Night," made famous by Pat Benatar in the 80s, is given a new treatment here which gave me goosebumps. Most of all, though, the stunning visuals are what will stay with you long after the credits roll. Here is where "Dance of the Dead" truly shines. The scene which sealed the deal for me was groundbreaking, literally. To find out that what you see on screen was all done in-camera, with no post-production special effects or CGI added, was the icing on the cake. Kudos to the entire production team for giving this film the look of a big budget Hollywood movie.

Most of the cast and crew were present for an extended Q&A during which the audience was treated to some eye-opening details about what went into the making of "Dance of the Dead." For example, it was a very long shoot -- one fight scene took twelve hours -- and the kids worked themselves to the bone but it paid off and helped make this one of the most exciting films I've seen in the past year. "Dance of the Dead" truly blew me away. It's a groundbreaking combination of high school mayhem and zombies -- think John Hughes meets John Carpenter meets George Romero. This is why I attend film festivals and sit through hundreds of screenings -- somewhere among them is an undiscovered gem, and "Dance of the Dead" shimmers.
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6/10
Dead Funny at times
awareofvacuity18 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Having grown up with the suspense and claustrophobia of George A Romero's Zombies & the comedy of Sam Raimis and enjoyed the some of the better modern movies like 28 Days Later I wasn't expecting much from this movie and so was not disappointed.

The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and the acting and direction are quite good in places. There were some very good comedy moments but sometimes annoying compromises on the speed of zombies at different times and whether they attack en masse or not.

Overall an enjoyable hour and a half if you've fuff all else to do - I gave it a 7 immediately after viewing which I'm going to change to a 6 now on reflection.
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1/10
where do i line up to get my wasted time back
luke_brock22 October 2008
First of all, for the record, i love zombies, i have at least 12 dvds and 6 books on them. i cant get enough of them... however, this movie is CRAP. Basically, remember the original Buffy movie? its that with zombies on a miday movie budget. The Story was lame, the acting was lame, the directing was lame. THIS MOVIE IS LAME even for something that was supposed to(probably) be B grade. the only good thing was the make up, . PLEASE do not waste your money buying this movie. for those of you who compare it to Shaun of the dead. No!!! BAD!! it is nothing like Shaun of the dead. Zombie movies either need to have vast amounts of heads being splatted with organs flying left right and center (dead alive for example) or make a point about human behavior when all society goes to heck (any George a Romero "of the dead" movies) with some splattering.All this movie provides, is a look at how "another teen movie" would look like if the jokes were taken out and replaced by tedium and zombies. and while this movie is probably supposed to be funny. its not. the characters are very 2D, you never really get to know them enough to give a darn. The confederate teacher for example, is especially lame. i guess if i wanted to express how i felt when i watched it i would say it was like... Hanna Montana... with zombies. don't waste your time people. seriously.

And one last note. to the people who compare it to john carpenter and gorge HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN A JOHN CARPENTER OR A GEORGE ROMERO MOVIE?? i honestly think you haven't. don't soil good directors name with this dreck
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7/10
Way better than you would expect!
mike_anderson8126 October 2008
I've long been into the habit of watching every single zombie-horror flick that I can find and, of course, wouldn't wanna miss this one.

I would rather watch this film than anything George A. Romero has made the last couple of decades which has been nothing short of horrific - in the bad way.

I must say that it was way better than I expected! It actually captured some of that 80-90's horror feel that I thought died a while back. The only thing keeping it from feeling like watching Child's Play or any other horror classic was the teen aspect, which, although working quite OK, isn't really my thing - but that's my opinion.

The acting was definitely believable also! What a surprise!

ps. To the people complaining about being "tricked" into seeing this by voters who may be personally biased. What's the harm? It's a cheap way to do a little promotion and hype when you don't have a Bruckheimer budged backing your production. You also complain about being tricked into watching mainstream crap with million-dollar campaigns?
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7/10
guilt by association
lee_eisenberg27 June 2009
When I first read about "Dance of the Dead", I thought that it sounded like "Night of the Creeps". It is a little bit like that one. Basically an excuse to be silly a la "Army of Darkness" - with a warning about nuclear energy - it certainly pleased me. The opening reminded me of the end of "Carrie". Once the zombies come and start going after people, then it really gets good. There's plenty of gore, but not too much to make the movie gross. I'm sure that the movie was intended as pure fun. Probably the best scenes are the musical scenes, and any remark from the coach. They must have fun making these movies!

Anyway, a really nice romp. Am I the only one who thought that Lindsey looked like Amy Adams?
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4/10
Saved by the Bell...with Zombies
Rathko11 March 2010
Even at just 80 minutes, this one is tough to get through. I guess some people might be able to enjoy it as an homage to cheesy comedy-horror of the eighties but I'm not one of them. 'Dance of the Dead' features the most tired clichés masquerading as characters; all played by third rate actors speaking badly written dialogue. The whole mess plays like a 'Saved by the Bell' Halloween special, complete with a ten year old's sense of humor and a faux-rock soundtrack. The film lacks a single scare, even of the cheap cat-in-the-closet variety. The zombie make-up looks like the product of a kid's face painting party, and the gore, usually the highlight of zombie movies, is virtually non-existent. I suspect the writer thought he was creating a 'Shaun of the Dead' for teens; but the reality is comedy that isn't funny, horror that isn't scary, and action with all the energy of a retirement home fun day. Don't bother.
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6/10
Dance of the Dead
Scarecrow-8831 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The dead are bursting(..more like exploding)from their graves thanks in part to a series of power plants nearby and the community is in for a whole heap of trouble. The film centers on a group of teenagers who couldn't quite make it to the prom and must fend for themselves against an army of zombies..those who have already died and the recently infected. It seems that the zombies know where a special feeding ground will indeed be..at the prom! Our teen heroes must first ward off a large group of zombies that have barricaded them in a funeral home(ha ha!)and then make it to the prom to hopefully save their fellow classmates and teachers with the help of their trusty militaristic coach and his garage of weaponry. This teen group includes geeky sci-fi club members, a pizza delivery boy, a rejected cheerleader whose date got food poisoning from spinach, the student body president, a very unstable bully, and camera-obsessed nerd who's in love with the cheerleader.

Zombie horror comedy aimed at fans of John Hughes' films regarding those kids who were considered unpopular outcasts(..for the exception of the cute cheerleader played by Carissa Capobianco)or nerds. There's not a lot of build-up before the undead invasion commences although we do share in some high school hi-jinx, teen angst and satiric shenanigans regarding teenagers and their unhealthy relationships with their teachers and each other. The cast is so infectious, ingratiatingly charming, and enthusiastic, I couldn't help but embrace them because somehow these kids rise past their obvious stereotypical characteristics. As expected with this type of movie, there are lots of outrageously violent sequences between humans and zombies, such as flesh-eating, heads being bashed in(..and split apart), limbs removed, brains blasting from the skulls by gun-fire, etc. Lots of crazy comedy bits include a garage rock band's unique ability to halt zombie attacks through their music(..and pizza boy Jared Kusnitz and his student president girlfriend Greyson Chadwick have a cute slow-dance to a Pat Benitar song while zombies remain in a trance!)and the combat coach who really seems to be enjoying himself in using his vast array of weaponry to kill the undead. Since RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, movies like this have been welcome to a whole breed of zombie fans, and I think "Dance of the Dead" will find a home with an audience always hungry for more. Don't look for any real meaning or depth, because this simply aims to entertain.
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5/10
An earnest effort that didn't quite measure up...
MrGKB24 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
...to the undead competition, "Dance of the Dead" marks the full-length feature debuts of a number of relative unknowns who may (or may not) be going anywhere. In a genre dominated by any number of standout efforts like "Return of the Living Dead," "Shaun of the Dead," "Fido," and "Zombieland," it really takes something special to transcend mere competence in film-making. Sadly, "Dance..." doesn't quite do that, although I give it a few points for the attempt.

As is usually the case, it's the tyro script that keeps this one in the realm of the mundane. After a somewhat promising opening, way too much time is spent introducing the principal characters, none of whom are overly interesting (with the possible exception of the criminally underused Gravedigger), and establishing the tone of the proceedings, which promises comedy but fails to consistently deliver. The slim plot that ensues is distressingly banal, centering on the usual hijinks of recognizing the situation, surviving it, and the eventual efforts to save a prom from zombiedom. None of it is unique or terribly entertaining, sorry to say. Perhaps the greatest fault is the hodgepodge of zombie tropes that refuse to mesh throughout the film: sometimes they're slow, sometimes they're fast, sometimes they literally vault from the grave! And then there's just pure silliness like zombies that can drive cars, or carry their severed head around, or are pacified by music. The make-up and fx range from good to slipshod, but nothing stands out as memorable; set pieces veer from the slapstick of a bodiless pair of zombie legs staggering away to straight-up Romero-style grue and disembowelment, but none of it is scary or suspenseful or even particularly disturbing. There's no tension in the film at all, mostly due to characters painted in broad strokes, leaving the viewer no reason to care about them.

Basically, "Dance..." brings nothing new to the table, and that condemns it to the disease of boredom. One positive note I have to give it is that the young cast, by and large, actually appears to be the right age for their high school characters. That's just about the only unusual thing in the whole film.

Ho-hum DVD viewing that I'm glad I copped at the library. A short piece done by the director in college shows more promise than the feature film can live up to.
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7/10
Lovable zombie comedy horror
Leofwine_draca3 May 2015
Now, I know low budget zombie films are ten a penny these days; they're the bane of the B-movie genre, a sub-genre which keeps on coming and turning out one piece of trash after another. However, I'm pleased to report that DANCE OF THE DEAD, despite the off-putting title, is actually a gem of a B-movie, and that rarity too: a comedy that's funny.

One thing that DANCE OF THE DEAD is, is unoriginal. The general thrust of the plot borrows heavily from RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, while a zombie-fighting gravedigger has been borrowed from DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE. There are various nods to other movies along the way too. Nevertheless, the film works, thanks to a witty script and some engaging characters like the redneck thug who becomes a hero.

For a low budget production the splattery gore effects are surprisingly decent, and there are some fun goofy moments like when a guy plays baseball with a zombie head. The scriptwriter can't resist including some more original spins on the mythos either, like having the zombies become hypnotised by music or the cool scene where they come shooting out of their graves. The acting works for the genre and many of the one-liners are funny, particularly from the gun-toting P.E. teacher. I liked DANCE OF THE DEAD a lot.
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2/10
Sub-par zombie movies are now more annoying than sequels and remakes combined.
Jacques982 January 2009
I remember a time—maybe five years ago—when zombies were actually, you know, pretty cool. Sadly, that fact became too well-known with Hollywood and now it's an unspoken law that every major studio and indie producers alike must release at least five zombie movies a year. If a studio is having hard times financially, no problem! Just release a sub-par zombie movie and all the zombie geeks will have you swimming in cash before you have even written the script. Furthermore, I think "Yahtzee" Croshaw summed up my thoughts on the subject when he said: "It's my observation that zombies are second only to ninjas, pirates, and monkeys in the list of things nerds like and need to shut up about." The zombie genre has become more overbearing and overdone it makes the amount of remakes and pointless sequels look downright conservative. And what bothers me even more than that is the fact that 99% of the zombie movies I'm talking about are EXACTLY the same. If you think Dance of the Dead is any exception to the paragraph I just wrote, you have less intelligence than a zombie itself. (Forgive the terrible analogy.) People site Dance of the Dead as some sort of shining pillar of originality in the carbon-copy genre just because the movie revolves around a prom. This may be true for the setting, but aside from that, Dance of the Dead repeated every single zombie cliché known to man. The jokes are all stereotypical clichés (example: the gym teacher). The situations are all cliché (example: the romantic subplots). And if the movie was oh-so-original, couldn't at least think of ANYTHING more creative than a power plant as the source of the zombies? I mean, for once, in a "horror-comedy", can't zombies become zombies from eating bad soup or something? As I said, beyond the setting, Dance of the Dead has no originality, or even creativity.

The overall film also lacks polish to an unbearable degree. It's filmed like a made-for-TV movie (for one of the kid's channels) and the acting ranges from decent to downright painful to watch. I'd go as far as to say the acting is harder to watch than the gore. Why? Because another thing Dance of the Dead lacked was gore. While a kill happens on screen, the camera is off staring at the wall, or some flowers, or a passing car, but never on the gore itself. Never. When a kill does (rarely) happen on screen, there is no blood. This happens more than once. A zombie's head in cleaved in two, yet there is NO blood. What is up with the conservative use of gore? This is a zombie movie. I want gore. Not the camera looking at cars.

But the biggest problem I had with Dance of the Dead was the lack of entertainment value. I give it credit for being at least slightly more energetic and fast-paced than the average zombie movie, which are almost all synonymous with: "Let's slow down for grandpa; he just had hip surgery." But other than the slight energy, the action scenes are few and far between. The movie had me so bored I had to watch it in two separate viewings, desperate for anything to start happening whatsoever. 75% of the run-time is nothing but teenagers being forced to act like fake, politically correct, cliché teenagers. What is the point of a zombie movie if it's not entertaining . . .? I once loved zombie movies, and though this new sweep of pathetic zombie movies can't make real zombie movies any less enjoyable, it's sad to see zombies treated so poorly and uncreatively.

Overall, while Dance of the Dead isn't a completely bad movie, it's the one thing I despise more than anything else: FORGETTABLE. You know, I was told prom was going to be the night I was never going to forget: so I stayed home and watched Kill Bill and ate left overs. That was a night I never forgot. But everyone who did go to prom in my class completely forgot about it by a week later. I was so glad I didn't waste my time. I think that's a lot like Dance of the Dead. People told me it would be the most awesome zombie movie in years, yet when I watched it I saw a waste of time. Take my advice: don't watch Dance of the Dead. Like prom, it isn't memorable. At all. It's a waste of time and money.

2/10
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8/10
Worth a Look
streaker197620 November 2008
Definitely worth a look. Good laughs (good cheesy one liners), good horror, good gore. I was pleased to see a lower budget come out high on my list of zombie picks. Zombie films are a hit and a miss. This one with the humor was a hit. More flicks like this need to be made. I don't want to explain the plot except its a Prom Dance with Zombies. How do you survive? From beginning to end the film keeps you involved. There wasn't a dull moment or too heavy of a character build up. It was a film that doesn't go out for shock value yet creating the B style horror. The CGI was fantastic with ample amounts of gore to please any horror fan.
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6/10
Pretty funny. It would be a really fun group-watch
korythacher29 July 2021
Dance of the Dead has it all:
  • Jumping zombies exploding out of their graves
  • A punk rock band
  • A crazy war veteran with a penchant for explosions
  • Nerds who get the girl
It was campy and funny and loaded with tropes.

It didn't take itself seriously, it didn't care about having any "rules" (at all) with the zombies, and it mostly worked out. The over the top makeup was a blast for me as well.

Its not amazing, and the schtick got a little old towards the end, but it was a good time.

Its definitely the kind of movie that would be very fun in a group to laugh at all the things going on, and not the kind of movie to go out of your way to watch.
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6/10
A decent attempt
Sergiodave1 September 2021
I do love Zombie films, trouble is that most are very similar and average. Dance of the dead isn't ground-breaking (pardon the pun), but it did have a couple of novel ideas that earned it an extra star. Worth a watch.
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Undeniably silly, but entertaining and expertly constructed zom-com madness.
Otoboke24 December 2008
The Horror Comedy, or, more appropriate in this example, 'Zom-Com' is a subgenre that can go in either one of two extremely polarising ways; the stupidly funny or the stupidly dumb; Dance of the Dead, a low budget production from director Gregg Bishop and first time feature-length writer Joe Ballarini, plays out in all the ways that such a film should, sticking closely to the former category. Undoubtedly hammy but intelligent, well crafted and heart-felt all the same, Dance of the Dead is a fine and fitting spoof of the zombie movie that provides character, laughs and enough blood and guts to keep the goreheads satisfied. Of course, such fare won't go down quite as easily with the widest of audiences, but for those with a distinct love for horror movies, there's a lot of fun to be had here; and it's not at the expense of a good story either.

Transpiring over one night -prom night that is-, the story here, like all good zombie movies is routinely simple; the dead have began to rise and eat people. Their reasoning or motive? Unknown. Of course multiple hints are dropped to blame the nearby power-plant, but it's all just mild exposition to keep the details in the bag. The truth is that much like the many movies that it spoofs, Dance of the Dead is as simple as it gets; survive or be eaten. The main focus then lies on the characters who inhabit this rotting world to carry the story, and Ballarini has quite a formidable ensemble here. Featuring such all time classics as the redneck hard-ass who everybody learns to love because he protects them, to the ditzy prom-queens and nerdy sci-fi dorks, Dance of the Dead is all about caricature stereotypes, but at least makes them amusing to watch. Throughout the feature, one isn't likely to feel much for anybody running around from the dead (although, one can't ignore the surprisingly touching climax), but you'll more than likely be able to enjoy spending time with them.

One of the movies few flaws however lies within the performances of the rather large ensemble cast. Featuring mostly small-time unknowns and first-timers, Dance of the Dead certainly can't make claim to having the most convincing palette of performances, but it at least retains a small sense of charm and fun as a result. Such is key to the movie's biggest attraction; Bishop knows how to keep things flowing and fun whilst avoiding taking itself too seriously, but enough so to keep the feature within the realms of entertainment to anyone not directly involved. It's undeniably a hard balance to maintain, and there are moments where the director looses his footing, if only momentarily. These instances where the awkwardness derived from a clashing of the writer's style and the actors vision of their character can be a little overwhelming, but such instances are far and few between greater scenes where the young thespians show great levels of natural talent.

If there is one thing that propels Dance of the Dead league ahead of its immediate competitors however, it lies within its impressive aesthetic design. From the sleek, atmospheric photography of George Feucht to the dynamic and varied score penned by Kristopher Carter, the people behind the scenes always make sure to make those on screen look as good as they can get. Particularly striking is the impressive amount of detail within the special effects, gore and production design, resulting in a movie that feels just as fleshed out as it should be; after all, what is a zombie movie without decapitations, blood and guts? In direct contrast to the bloated Machine Girl however, Dance of the Dead is a walk in the park. Yet where this movie lacks the somewhat overdone gore and violence of Evil Dead and Braindead however, it more than makes up for in storytelling, character and overall quality; gore should always be second batter to such elements, and Dance of the Dead -unlike Machine Girl- is all the better because of it.

In conclusion, I will close off this review with the acknowledgement that there really isn't much to say for Dance of the Dead outside of the fact that it serves as an extremely simple way to chill out and have fun. Sure, it helps if you're prone to laughing at horror movies rather than be scared by them, but it's hard to see the average audience member leaving a viewing of the movie completely unfulfilled. Lovers of heart-driven movies with innovative ideas and vision will love this; it's got all the concise character comedy you could want plus plenty of other charms that build up as it goes along. Of course, it does have its fair share of flaws, but many are easily overlooked in favour of simply enjoying ninety minutes of undeniably silly, but entertaining and expertly constructed zom-com madness.

  • A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)
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