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Dance of the Dead (2008)
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:00 |
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DVDs -
Reviews
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Reviewed by Carol Sullivan
Genre: Horror
Release Date: October 14th, 2008
Rating: R for horror violence and gore, language and some drug use
Director: Gregg Bishop
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Starring: Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby
Studio: Ghosthouse Underground
On DVD: October 14th, 2008
DVD Features
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- Audio commentary with director Gregg Bishop and writer Joe Ballarini
- Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary with director Gregg Bishop and writer Joe Ballarini
- Making of Dance of the Dead featurette
- Voodoo: Short Film by Gregg Bishop with optional commentary
- Blood, Guts and Rock n' Roll featurette - A Look at the Special Effects and Stunts
- Trailer Gallery
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If you love your zombie flicks with a side of silly teen-humor, then does director Gregg Bishop (The Other Side) have the movie for you. Dance of The Dead thoroughly surprised and entertained me; the movie is fun, fast paced and definitely belies its budget...
The movie begins in an average all-American town on the day of the local high-school prom. The beautiful and popular teen crowd are planning the Hawaiian-themed dance and getting gussied-up for the big night, but, as we all know, there's a group that won't be going to the dance of the year; the nerds, losers and stoners. (As a life-long nerd, I know the feeling.)
This herd-o-nerd, known as the Sci-Fi Club, head off to the local cemetery to do a little ghost-hunting. They will discover that green goo from a leaky nuclear power plant has disinterred the buried residents and turned them into fast, flesh-eating zombies!
As the prom queen is crowned in the nearby school gymnasium, their cranky Biology teacher is having a problem of his own: dissected amphibians are leaping from from their formaldehyde baths and soon he becomes a zombie as well. That part is so funny, folks!
When the teachers, dance chaperons and the rest of the town are being bitten, it will be up to the nerds to save the day. Nerd Power !!
I really got a kick out of watching Dance of The Dead; remembering the awkwardness of my senior year in high school. Of course I wouldn't have wished zombies on that bitchy group of cheerleaders back then, but the thought that something nasty would come along and neatly remove them from the high-school permanently would have made me giggle.
Dance of The Dead really reminded me of Return of the Living dead with its gore and laughs, and clearly pays homage to films like Sean of the Dead, Clerks and Night of the Living Dead. The young cast does a great job, balancing humor and teen love with everything horrible that's happening to them. Another nice addition was the comical Coach Keel character, played by Mark Oliver. The overly zealous coach is also a veteran and survivalist and helps the teens get Rambo-ed up for the battle with the gymnasium full of zombies.
Watching the end-credits, I was shocked to see just how many extras they had for zombies; there had to be a thousand names, at least. It must have been a handful for the filmmakers, but Toby Sells Creature Make-up Effects Shop did a terrific job making each zombie gruesome and unique.
While Dance of The Dead may not be a good choice for the hard-core horror purist, it is a fun and fast ride with some great zombie effects! All in all, it's a bloody, silly film well worth your time...
Overall Rating: 3
VIDEO | Red Band Trailer
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