Dead Heat is a criminally underrated horror comedy from 1988, which seems to have either flown under most folks' radar or been largely misunderstood for the past two and a half decades. Riding the wake of Lethal Weapon, it's part cop/buddy movie, part zombie flick.
Doug Bigelow (
Joe Piscopo - who I knew of previously only from a couple of Simpsons references) and the magnificently monikered Roger Mortis (
Treat Williams - the unlikely action hero of the underrated sequels in
The Subsitute series) are a pair of classic play-by-their-own-rules detectives who stumble upon a criminal masterplan to achieve eternal life through the resurrection of the dead!
Thing's kick off nicely with an enjoyable cameo from the master of the '80s cameos,
Robert Picardo (as a detective chief), when the two cops foil a jewellery store robbery by a couple of hoods, who take scores of bullets but refuse to die. Having resolved the situation via unconventional means, Doug and Roger get chewed out back at the station by the Chief, who does not approve of unconventional means but DOES approve of the results. They follow up on a lead, which takes them to a suspicious laboratory that has been working on a 'resurrection machine' to bring back the dead, and it's no spoiler to reveal that Roger is killed in the line of duty. He is subsequently reanimated, and it's up to the pair to track down Roger's murderer and uncover the truth behind the resurrection machine.
Dead Heat also features a sprightly appearance from
Vincent Price in one of his final roles (behind only Edward Scissorhands and a couple of TV movies) as rich tycoon, Arthur P Laudermilk.
Dead Heat is total fun, and it's a complete mystery as to why this movie isn't better known or well loved. It's surprisingly violent in places, so perhaps this odd tone is what puts people off. If that is the case, then Dead Heat was certainly ahead of its time, as the same mix of broad comedy and zombie-based violence was put to expert use sixteen years later in
Shaun of the Dead. If Dead Heat came out ten years later things might well be different - Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo would be huge! It's true that some of the dialogue is pretty corny in places, with some truly dreadful one-liners, but it works somehow. It's an ingenious concept and, despite appearing to operate within the boundaries of genre cliche, it actually does something fun and interesting with it.
The other star of the show are the excellent special effects. One of the unparalleled highlights is a gloriously inventive set piece in a butcher's shop, where Doug and Roger are attacked by the chopped up, reanimated meat products littering the counter.
So, let's recap - it's a violent, mad scientist, cop buddy horror comedy with reanimated, malevolent butcher's meat, a few surprises up its sleeve and Vincent Price. What more do you need? It's essential viewing.
Format note: The US Blu Ray version that I own is not much better than DVD quality, with nothing by way of extra features, whereas previous US DVD releases included deleted scenes, the script and director commentary. The DVD might be the option to go for if you're keen on tracking this down.
IMDB:
Dead Heat
In 1997 a movie about a stricken ocean liner set the box office alight. Titanic, James Cameron’s historical fiction starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet romped to Oscar glory and monumental box office, changing the face of cinema forever. The following year, another imperilled ocean liner movie emerged… and it was better. It incorporated many elements that were sorely lacking in Titanic – namely sea monsters and lots of guns. And that movie was Deep Rising.
