Okay, this one certainly won't ever go down in history as one of the greatest film classics in any of its genres (pick one! We have horror, comedy and action), but "Dead Heat" is a light-headed and fairly engaging spitfire of gags and grotesque action sequences, and I have yet to meet someone who regrets watching it. The idea of blending a buddy-cop movie with a gooey zombie flick is more obvious than you'd think, as both concepts easily lend themselves to fast & witty dialogs and ridiculously over the top spectacle. Writer Terry Black and director Mark Goldblatt grab the opportunity with both hands and they cheerfully combine all the clichéd situations and stereotypes both genres have to offer. Roger Mortis (incredibly clever choice of name) and Doug Bigelow (I really wonder if the character inspired the later Rob Schneider gigolo films) are two crime-fighting partners who're about to dig into a life-altering case
literally. After a couple of encounters with criminals that just won't die no matter how many bullets are fired at them, Roger and Doug discover a link with a pharmaceutical company. Somehow they invented a machine capable to bring the dead back to life for a limited period of twelve hours, and they use them to commit crimes. There's also a much bigger scheme going on behind the walls of the conference rooms, featuring the one and only Vincent Price as the company's top guy aiming for immortality. Vincent Price living forever? It would have been awesome, but alas. Anyway, Roger is accidentally killed in action, but promptly brought back by his partner and the lovely Lindsay Frost. They have twelve hours to set things right and to make sure the dead remain dead, Roger included. "Dead Heat" is pretty stupid, completely lacking suspense and occasionally tedious
but it sustains an irresistibly charming atmosphere from start to finish. The make-up effects (courtesy of Steve Johnson) are top notch and often outrageous, but the script should have cut back a little on Joe Piscopo's forced one-liners because they do become quite irritating after a while. "Dead Heat" is also a prototype product of the eighties, with crazy haircuts, colorful outfits, macho conversations held in a convertible car and awful synthesizer music. Recommended stuff to watch during a movie night among friends, when there are beers and pizzas within reach.
