Dance of the Dead

Like I already said,this is a very good horror-comedy. The only problem is that special effects aren't the best (but that is far away from spoiling you watching this movie). Film offers us enough humor and gore to keep us in the mood to the very end of it.

If I remember correctly, Bishop made his first movie with only 15000 $. The movie was nothing special, but for that budget it was more than satisfying. Almost the same thing happened with this movie (the only difference is that this one is even better than The other side). I have a feeling that with 15000 $ Bishop makes more than some directors with 15 mil. $. At least he knows how to make a very entertaining movie (I don't wanna think how good this movie would be if Bishop had a bigger budget). So I gotta say: "Dammit,will someone finally give this man the money so he can make a movie with decent special effects?!" He really deserved it.

So go,take your friends,watch this movie and you will all have a great time. Take this movie for what it is (by that I mean that this isn't some big budget movie,just the opposite) and this will be one of the best prom nights you have ever seen. In the end,I would give this movie 7 stars,but because of having so little and offering so much,I'll give it 8 for effort.

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.

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.

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!

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.