Plot:
On the night of the big High-School Prom, the dead rise to eat the living, and the only people who can stop them are the losers who couldn't get dates to the dance.
Our thoughts:
I love horror comedies, I know a lot of people don't like them because they feel that comedy has no place in a horror movies but I feel the exact opposite. Horror and comedy goes hand and hand; like a big mac and fries or a hooker and a blow job. Another great thing about horror comedies is when they are also zombie movies! In the vain of movies like "Return of the Living Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead" comes the newest Horror Zomedy, "Dance of the Dead".
Dance of the Dead is a simple enough story, the dead arise on prom night and it's up to a group of teenagers to save the day. The best explanation for why the dead arise from the local graveyard and start feeding is that the town is located right next to a nuclear power plant. Really though, who cares about how the dead come back? The point is they come flying out of their graves (literally) and start destroying everything in site.
Our heroes arn't a bunch of macho mid 20 year olds acting like they are teenagers but rather a group of misfits who don't have dates to the prom (and also look like real teens). In this aspect the film really pays homage to "Return of the Living Dead" in which a group of misfits fight off the living dead. Unlike "Return of the Living Dead", which mostly focuses on the group running away and trying to stay alive, "Dance of the Dead" shows the main characters kicking the zombies asses and taking names. With that being said the gore in this movie is fantastic. There is enough multiple decapitations, torsos being ripped off, heads smashed and arms being crammed down zombies throats to keep any gore hound at bay. Also like I said this is a horror COMEDY and there is some great gags throughout the movie. I don't want to spoil too much but I will say there is nothing greater than teenage zombie love.
However (yes there is always a however) some of the characters just feel way to dull. In the group there is 1 or 2 kids who just don't have the same on-screen power as the others do. Another thing is that there is a random mist that turns certain people into zombies and has no effect on others. It just seemed weird that a mist would come out of no where and then re-animate a corpse when the mist is never fully explained. Oh well I'm just nit-picking a little bit.
In a time where horror movies seem to be getting more and more stale, "Dance of the Dead" is a breath of fresh air. It's the same old zombie movie we have all seen before but from a bunch of kick ass teenagers points of view. I guess it could also have some deep meaning to it like, most of teenagers todays are about as brain dead as zombies but I'm not looking into this movie too deep. To me it's just one awesome ride. I know you have probably heard it before but to me, "Dance of the Dead" is the "Return of the Living Dead" for the 00's. |
