31 Days of Horror: Dance of the Dead
Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 13, 2009
Dance of the Dead (2008)
Synopsis: On the night of the prom, a group of less-than-cool kids are the only ones aware that a nuclear power plant has somehow re-animated the dead, who now must consume the living! After the zombies follow the loud noises to the prom, and attempt to devour those insides, it’s up to our nerds to kick some undead ass, with the help of a militant gym teacher of course.
Killer Scene: My favorite scene is probably when the zombies first rise from their graves. We’ve never really seen zombies come back like this before – they explode from the ground, kicking up dirt, and run off at a full sprint to get their chomp on. Definitely a cool way to see the threat start. Either that, or any scene featuring the militant gym teacher, played by Mark Oliver.
KillSheet
Violence: As a horror comedy, the violence here isn’t the kind that will make you wince. There is one pretty brutal pipe beating scene, but for the most part the kills and gore are fun. Like nine kids are killed, tons of zombies are destroyed, shovels are swung around, faces are cleaved and eaten. Good times.
Sex: Sadly, there is no sex to report here, which is bull. Some kids make out and then later some zombies make out and eat each other – literally, not figuratively.
Scares: Again, we’re talking horror comedy here, so nothing to make you tinkle your pants. There is a jump scare or two but you’re going to laugh more than cower.
Final Thoughts: Dance of the Dead is a fun little film, about as intimate as a zombie film can get without getting into necrophilia. Though as with most horror comedy hybrids, there are going to be plenty of people who don’t like it. Mixing laughs with kills can be tricky business, but Dance gave me a semi with its ability to blend humor and violence. There is a rock and roll aspect to the film which brings some camp, but I felt like it worked. If you don’t feel like getting the poo scared out of you and just want to enjoy some innocent zombie carnage, pop this one in.
As 31 Days of Horror continues, get ready to gear up for some harder stuff as we close in Halloween and focus more on classics, violence, and blood. Also, a kids movie!
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