Zombie Cops From Hell
Added 9/11/2009
Alright, that title may already be taken. This is a B-movie, on a good day. It is cheesy, but it is good cheese. There are quite a few lines in here that gave me a good laugh. A good enough laugh that I remembered those lines years later. When I saw this come out on DVD I had to have it. Surprisingly, I still laughed while watching this.
If you like zombie movies, like "Return of the Living Dead", then you'll get a kick out of this. Just remember, this movie could never be called a blockbuster, but it is a fun movie.
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"Take it easy, mister. You're not well."
Added 8/29/2009
There's a certain offbeat awesomeness to this 1988 hybrid movie which just compels me to pop it in the player every few years. DEAD HEAT baffles straightforward attempts at genre pigeonholing. There's a bit of that buddy cop LETHAL WEAPON flavor going on, a bit of D.O.A., and some A NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. And then it carries on with its own mad vibe. Joe Piscopo is Joe Piscopo, and that's not an endorsement. DEAD HEAT certainly won't win accolades in acting or screenplay or cinematography, but, damn, if there isn't something about it that keeps your eyes glued and keeps you wondering what kind of crazy is going to drop next.
Maverick LAPD detectives Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Piscopo) look into a spate of armed robberies in the posh district, the twist being that these masked robbers prove to be really, really, really hard to kill. Because they're already dead. The investigation leads the detectives to a pharmaceutical firm where they get in a shoot-out with more really hard to kill weirdos (as Bigelow would later comment: "Remember the good old days when guns killed people?"). When Roger Mortis becomes a casualty, he's revived by a resurrection device and comes back without a heartbeat but with a sort of invulnerability. He has ten to twelve hours before his corpse dissolves into organic goo, time enough, he hopes, to catch his murderer.
I haven't seen too much of Treat Williams's cinematic stuff, but I've seen DEEP RISING and DEAD HEAT plenty of times, and dude is terrific in these two movies. His performance bolsters DEAD HEAT's oddball premise, exuding as he does this essence of understated cool. His character Det. Roger Mortis has always demonstrated a sense of reckless bravado, but it's fun watching him let loose and show even more disregard for personal safety the more he accepts his zombie state. I guess there's a certain release that comes with gross skin deterioration and an assortment of gashes and gory bullet wounds. In the final half hour, zombie Detective Mortis can't seem to help but smile and smile.
No brains were eaten in the making of this movie, but there's still ample gross-out moments for ghoulish-minded sorts like me. The out-of-left-field sensibility, that twist of the surreal, is never more palpable than in the frenetic and kinda sick butcher shop sequence, in which slaughtered meat come to life and jump on our characters. Somewhere, Sam Raimi is giving a fist pump. DEAD HEAT makes a half-hearted effort at a romance with not one, but two, hotties (Lindsay Frost is smoking hot), but it's really more about the weirdness and the horror and the tongue-in-cheek stuff and the undead cop getting his vengeance on even as bits of him get sliced at, shot off, burnt up, or rotted off.
The most charitable thing I can say about Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo is that, as the muscle-bound, dim-witted cop partner, he's less annoying in this one than in other things he's been in. Meanwhile, old horror vets Vincent Price and Darren McGavin lend the picture a kind of dubious prestige. And, to apply the Kevin Bacon game on DEAD HEAT and LETHAL WEAPON, not only did Terry Black - brother of LETHAL WEAPON writer Shane Black - write the screenplay to DEAD HEAT, but Shane Black himself makes a cameo appearance as a patrol cop in DEAD HEAT. His scene coincides with my favorite line in the movie. Right before Shane shows up, a severely scorched Roger Mortis unzips himself from a body bag and starts pulling burnt pieces of his face off, at which point a paramedic cautions him: "Take it easy, mister. You're not well." (Heh.)
Even though this guilty pleasure was released in 1988, the special effects hold up well; the zombie make-up stil looks pretty decent. This DVD is the "Divimax Special Edition," and it's got okay bonus features, all things considered: an audio commentary with Director Mark Goldblatt, Producers David Helpern & Michael Meltzer, and Writer Terry Black; 8 deleted scenes, most of which merely expand on already existing scenes; the original electronic press kit, which is a brief behind-the-scenes look at the film; the theatrical trailer; MIFED Promo (which is sort of like a trailer); poster and still gallery; original storyboard art; and the original screenplay set in PDF format on DVD-ROM.
DEAD HEAT isn't going to wow you with its smarts or wit or deep character arcs or its big budget. And it certainly wallows in its share of 1980s cheesiness. But what DEAD HEAT is, is a fun train wreck. Treat Williams puts on a good show.
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VERY GOOD
Added 9/28/2008
It's alovely film from my new age..anyway very good dvd but i prefer to had english subs.so my ears worked vary nice and i listen the movie in english!!!pls write in your page site what subs have the dvd's or the blu-ray 's my only wish..
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Best Movie Ever Made???? Yes!
Added 7/15/2008
This movie is stunningly and shockingly good. This movie is genius because it works on so many levels; a side-splitting comedy, a chilling psychological thriller, and mullets, and a haunting warning to mankind not to dabble in the science of resurrection (or any science for that matter because its just too risky). Hey, who would win in a fight between a Cylon and Dead Heat?? Seriously though, I thought the love story between the poor russian peasant girl and the Earl of Devonshire seemed overwraught and somewhat hackneyed, like it was tacked on at the last minute. But overlooking that minor love story element- this is a must see if you like movies, or just good old-fashioned storytelling. Like the Black Hole, which is even better than this movie. Except for Old Bob- he is kind of gay!! So is Vincent for that matter, I think there was some kind of homoerotic element there between these two robots, but I was too young to pick up on that. Kind of like that episode of Different Strokes where Arnold and Dudley have to take off their shirts for the bicycle shop owner and pose like Tarzan.But I digress- so if you like Treat Williams and Russian Peasants, and the Earl of Devonshire- see this flick NOW!!!!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Buddy Cops Vs. Zombie Hoodlums!
Added 6/8/2008
I had no idea this movie even existed until a few months before its release on DVD. I never saw it in theaters when it came out in 1988, and by the looks of its box office receipts I wasn't the only one that missed it (ahem). I was only 11 back then and it was an R-rated film after all, so there's my excuse. How it escaped my keen horror radar in the following 16 years is a complete mystery, however. You'd think that I would have caught it some late night on television or on video at least once in all those years, but DEAD HEAT proved as elusive for me as a successful movie career did to Joe Piscopo.
While Joe Piscopo may not have had a stellar career in movies, as soon as I found out that he was in DEAD HEAT and that the film is billed as half "buddy cop comedy" and half "zombie horror", that's all I needed to hear. I was sold. In a rare move for me, I bought the DVD without even having seen the movie. My instincts proved correct once again as I found out that zombies plus Joe Piscopo equals comedy gold! Actually, gold might be overstating it. Comedy silver? Maybe. At the very least, DEAD HEAT is pure comedy bronze!
It doesn't take long before it strays from your normal buddy cop formula in a big way. When Roger (Treat Williams) bites the big one in a doggie euthanasia room while fighting a hefty undead two-faced biker (don't ask me about the two faces, I don't get it either) and is resurrected shortly thereafter, it becomes a race against time as he and Doug (Joe Piscopo) try to find Roger's killer. Can they find his killer before his body decomposes and he turns into worm food? Can Doug keep from becoming a walking corpse himself? Who's behind this zombie crime wave? Did Joe Piscopo's career tank after SNL or what?
Piscopo's character Doug is a veritable one-liner factory, churning them out fast and furious. It's probably because we're too busy trying to absorb them all that the audience essentially ignores Treat's character, Roger. Joe Piscopo delivers the lines with ease, some being real gems and some are just plain bad. The bad ones don't linger too long because there are enough good ones to get you through. These one-line jokes make up essentially all of the comedy, and in that respect the script is a little weak.
Like a lot of horror movies, the special effects and makeup are almost a character in themselves. Dead Heat is no exception. I was highly impressed in the job that Steve Johnson (SPECIES) did. With no CGI, all the effects withstand the test of time, even after all these years. There's a particularly nice scene of a woman who fast-forward decomposes right before your eyes. Even better than the decomposition scene is the Chinese restaurant scene. In one of the most phenomenal scenes in all of movie history, you can see all manner of animal get resurrected and get very ornery. From a pig on a platter and a flying liver of unknown origin to, best of all, a completely skinned undead steer on the attack. It's so utterly ridiculous, it's brilliant, and I doubt anything quite like it will ever be seen again on celluloid.
Director Mark Goldblatt's vision for DEAD HEAT was for it to be a legitimate comedy/horror crossover. If you hold it up to that standard it definitely falls short, especially if you compare it to the 80s film that was the most successful at it, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Where ROTLD was funny, yet still very much a horror film, DEAD HEAT doesn't nearly compare. There's just no horror to speak of. All of the scenes that are supposed to scare just don't work very well. Zombies attacking with Uzis in broad daylight are more laughable than horrific. They would have been better served to just concentrate on the comedy.
Simply put, despite its shortcomings, DEAD HEAT is a fun piece of cheese that is distinctly 80s. Vincent Price has a small, but important role, and what his presence adds to a film you just can't quantify. This is one of his last films, and it's worth seeing almost for that fact alone.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Zombie Cops From Hell
Added 9/11/2009
Alright, that title may already be taken. This is a B-movie, on a good day. It is cheesy, but it is good cheese. There are quite a few lines in here that gave me a good laugh. A good enough laugh that I remembered those lines years later. When I saw this come out on DVD I had to have it. Surprisingly, I still laughed while watching this.
If you like zombie movies, like "Return of the Living Dead", then you'll get a kick out of this. Just remember, this movie could never be called a blockbuster, but it is a fun movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
"Take it easy, mister. You're not well."
Added 8/29/2009
There's a certain offbeat awesomeness to this 1988 hybrid movie which just compels me to pop it in the player every few years. DEAD HEAT baffles straightforward attempts at genre pigeonholing. There's a bit of that buddy cop LETHAL WEAPON flavor going on, a bit of D.O.A., and some A NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. And then it carries on with its own mad vibe. Joe Piscopo is Joe Piscopo, and that's not an endorsement. DEAD HEAT certainly won't win accolades in acting or screenplay or cinematography, but, damn, if there isn't something about it that keeps your eyes glued and keeps you wondering what kind of crazy is going to drop next.
Maverick LAPD detectives Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Piscopo) look into a spate of armed robberies in the posh district, the twist being that these masked robbers prove to be really, really, really hard to kill. Because they're already dead. The investigation leads the detectives to a pharmaceutical firm where they get in a shoot-out with more really hard to kill weirdos (as Bigelow would later comment: "Remember the good old days when guns killed people?"). When Roger Mortis becomes a casualty, he's revived by a resurrection device and comes back without a heartbeat but with a sort of invulnerability. He has ten to twelve hours before his corpse dissolves into organic goo, time enough, he hopes, to catch his murderer.
I haven't seen too much of Treat Williams's cinematic stuff, but I've seen DEEP RISING and DEAD HEAT plenty of times, and dude is terrific in these two movies. His performance bolsters DEAD HEAT's oddball premise, exuding as he does this essence of understated cool. His character Det. Roger Mortis has always demonstrated a sense of reckless bravado, but it's fun watching him let loose and show even more disregard for personal safety the more he accepts his zombie state. I guess there's a certain release that comes with gross skin deterioration and an assortment of gashes and gory bullet wounds. In the final half hour, zombie Detective Mortis can't seem to help but smile and smile.
No brains were eaten in the making of this movie, but there's still ample gross-out moments for ghoulish-minded sorts like me. The out-of-left-field sensibility, that twist of the surreal, is never more palpable than in the frenetic and kinda sick butcher shop sequence, in which slaughtered meat come to life and jump on our characters. Somewhere, Sam Raimi is giving a fist pump. DEAD HEAT makes a half-hearted effort at a romance with not one, but two, hotties (Lindsay Frost is smoking hot), but it's really more about the weirdness and the horror and the tongue-in-cheek stuff and the undead cop getting his vengeance on even as bits of him get sliced at, shot off, burnt up, or rotted off.
The most charitable thing I can say about Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo is that, as the muscle-bound, dim-witted cop partner, he's less annoying in this one than in other things he's been in. Meanwhile, old horror vets Vincent Price and Darren McGavin lend the picture a kind of dubious prestige. And, to apply the Kevin Bacon game on DEAD HEAT and LETHAL WEAPON, not only did Terry Black - brother of LETHAL WEAPON writer Shane Black - write the screenplay to DEAD HEAT, but Shane Black himself makes a cameo appearance as a patrol cop in DEAD HEAT. His scene coincides with my favorite line in the movie. Right before Shane shows up, a severely scorched Roger Mortis unzips himself from a body bag and starts pulling burnt pieces of his face off, at which point a paramedic cautions him: "Take it easy, mister. You're not well." (Heh.)
Even though this guilty pleasure was released in 1988, the special effects hold up well; the zombie make-up stil looks pretty decent. This DVD is the "Divimax Special Edition," and it's got okay bonus features, all things considered: an audio commentary with Director Mark Goldblatt, Producers David Helpern & Michael Meltzer, and Writer Terry Black; 8 deleted scenes, most of which merely expand on already existing scenes; the original electronic press kit, which is a brief behind-the-scenes look at the film; the theatrical trailer; MIFED Promo (which is sort of like a trailer); poster and still gallery; original storyboard art; and the original screenplay set in PDF format on DVD-ROM.
DEAD HEAT isn't going to wow you with its smarts or wit or deep character arcs or its big budget. And it certainly wallows in its share of 1980s cheesiness. But what DEAD HEAT is, is a fun train wreck. Treat Williams puts on a good show.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
VERY GOOD
Added 9/28/2008
It's alovely film from my new age..anyway very good dvd but i prefer to had english subs.so my ears worked vary nice and i listen the movie in english!!!pls write in your page site what subs have the dvd's or the blu-ray 's my only wish..
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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