Dead Heat

A string of violent robberies are being committed by criminals who won't stay dead. Cops Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo) investigate, their enquiries leading them to the headquarters of Dante Pharmaceuticals, where Roger is killed, but resurrected shortly after by a machine that gives him approximately ten hours to find out who is behind the crimes.

Any film that features the contents of a butcher's shop coming to life is okay by me. As well as reanimated duck's heads, a lively pig carcass, aggressive offal, zombie chickens and a belligerent hunk of beef, this film also delivers a disfigured overweight zombie with an attitude problem, a terrific scene in which someone decays to putrid mush in seconds (kudos to FX man Steve Johnson), lots and lots of shootouts with plenty of juicy bullet squibs, and genre legend Vincent Price in one of his last screen roles. Fans of film-noir will note the similarities with classic D.O.A. (1949), a snippet of which appears in this film on a TV screen; fans of bad 80s fashion will enjoy Joe Piscopo's mullet and leather blouson jacket; and fans of aquariums will be delighted by the film's many fish tanks.

7/10. From the opening bloody shootout, to the mid movie shootout, to the final shootout, Dead Heat is a lot of fun.

One of Joe Piscopo better movies, Dead Heat is a fun ride that is filled with action and wild comedy. Treat Williams stars in this interesting story about the walking dead. Not a horror movie about zombies, but the living dead committing crimes. Williams and Piscopo do justice to this low budget movie. The story itself holds its own as the limited special effects can only take the audience too far. The comic relief of Piscopo fills in the gaps where the gun fights and walking dead miss. Treat Williams shows his leading man qualities in Dead Heat while he has failed to do so in other movies. In the end, the movie produces an enjoyable ride for action fans. One of Vincent Prices' last movies, he is the icing on the cake of the b-movie that Dead Heat is.

I saw the first monster and I thought my TV was out of focus. He had like three noses, and a mouth that stretched all across his face. This ain't your daddy's buddy cop flick.

But nothing prepared me for the butcher shop. That was a riot! And two zombies with machine guns trying to kill each other was a hoot! Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo were great as the buddy cops.

The show even had Vincent Price. Darren McGavin was excellent as the bad guy who was resurrecting zombies to do his bidding.

A funny zombie cop movie that was well worth the time, even though it could have used some gratuitous nudity.

I saw this movie back in 1988 when it came out, and recently we bought the DVD on a whim. Neither Chandra or I remembered much about it, but we both enjoyed it more than we expected. The FX hold up well, even 16 years later, and it's just an enjoyable film.

There are some gross bits (which makes it better!), but there were some good scenes deleted - make sure you check the DVD for the extra scenes, The "death day dream" really ties in some of the disjointed bits in the movie.

True, some of the film is very dated 80's, but it still makes me grin. Take a chance and you might enjoy it too.

Perhaps the only time zombies, cops, and a generous dose of humour have been infused together on film. Dead Heat is a fun, drive-in type feature with Treat William and Joe Piscapo starring as two cops in the style of something seen in Lethal Weapon. These cops have not done everything by the book and are in the middle of a crime wave where a different pair of armed thugs have been robbing jewelry stores and banks in broad daylight with no fear of being shot down(or having the weakness of being killed with any ease at all). Well, through some investigation, our two protagonists discover that a machine exists that can bring back the dead for twelve hours - and one of the cops gets his and is placed on the machine. Now, we have zombie cop against zombie criminals and one silly, fun, action-packed film on hand. Director Mark Goldblatt never tries to make this film anything more than what it is supposed to be. The actors don't try either, which is good when you have a script that only has so much elasticity. Williams is good in his role, and Piscapo definitely has limited range, but I really thought he did a much better job than his lack of acting gigs since would suggest. One major plus is the core of veteran screen actors with Darren Mcgavin, venerable Keye Luke, and the elder statesman of horror Vincent Price in attendance. Price has a small role but is still able to keep your attention. This was one of his last films. The same for Luke who I always felt was very underrated. Lindsay Frost is aboard as major eye candy. The special effects are interesting to say the least. The make-up used on the criminal zombies has a fake feel like big puppets at some points and at others is pretty good. The scene in a Chinese restaurant is a hoot - a very ridiculous hoot. Dead Heat again is nothing grand or thought-provoking or even scary, but it is a very fun film and should illicit a few laughs.