Dead Heat (1988)

Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow are cops that are chasing crooks that are dead serious about crime. Or should I say they are chasing dead crooks perpetrating serious crimes? Seems some ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Goldblatt

Writer:

Terry Black

Stars:

Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, Lindsay Frost

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Treat Williams	...	Det. Roger Mortis
Joe Piscopo	...	Det. Doug Bigelow
Lindsay Frost	...	Randi James
Darren McGavin	...	Dr. Ernest McNab
Vincent Price	...	Arthur P. Loudermilk
Clare Kirkconnell	...	Dr. Rebecca Smythers
Keye Luke	...	Mr. Thule
Robert Picardo	...	Lieutenant Herzog
Mel Stewart	...	Captain Mayberry
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Butcher
Martha Quinn	...	Newscaster
Ben Mittleman	...	Bob
Peter Kent	...	Smitty
Cate Caplin	...	Saleswoman
Monica Lewis	...	Mrs. Von Heisenberg

Storyline

Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow are cops that are chasing crooks that are dead serious about crime. Or should I say they are chasing dead crooks perpetrating serious crimes? Seems some nutcase has learned how to bring back the dead and is sending them on crime sprees. Now these indestructable goons are in the way of officers Mortis and Bigelow. To even things up, when Mortis is killed (in the line of duty, of course) he gets a jump start from the Resurrection machine and takes the fight to the zombie bad guys.

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Plot Keywords:

zombie | opening action scene | police officer shot | splatter | science | 

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Taglines:

These cops are on the biggest murder case of their lives... their own.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flic ou zombie

Filming Locations:

Japanese Garden, Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$3,588,626 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Helpern / Meltzer

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lead character is Roger Mortis. Mortis is the Latin word for "death".

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Goofs

The large man attacks Mortis with the meat cleaver. Moments before Mortis wraps it in a bandage we see the hand is clearly a prop having a thumb and two fingers on the left side of the now missing digit and two fingers on the right. He did not have six digits before.

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Quotes

[a reanimated cow walks out of the freezer]
Det. Roger Mortis: How do you fight this thing?
Det. Doug Bigelow: Maybe you can drown it in A1 sauce.

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Connections

Referenced in Zombie Cop (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Dead Heat"
Written by Patrick Read Johnson & John Huckert & Phil Settle
Performed by Phil Settle

User Reviews

Best Zombie/Cop movie EVER!

Dead Heat is one of my favourite movies. I remember seeing it opening weekend way back in 1988! I was only 12, but me & my younger brother dragged my dad to the Granville multiplex after seeing an ad on t.v. We were just expecting a good action movie with some yucks(both kinds).

Now, keep in mind, this was 1988. The whole concept of a horror movie also being funny wasn't as commonplace(or as stale) as it is now. I remember everyone in the nearly filled theater having a surprisingly fun time with this movie. We knew it was not on the same playing field as most of the major Hollywood action movies(Lethal Weapon, Die Hard)but Dead Heat managed to win over its audience with its combo of cheesy one-liners, insane(for 1988) action sequences, & truly remarkable f/x work by Steve Johnson.

A lot of people would watch Dead Heat & just shrug it off as a low-budget time waster(hey, that's part of it's charm for me) but I don't think I'm going too far to say that it deserves a 10/10 rating.

So why does it deserve a 10 out of 10 rating? Quite simply it's the only Zombie/Cop movie that I've ever seen & that means it's the best of it's kind...I think. Plus it has a kind of weird cinematic irony going for it because screenwriter Terry Black is the brother of Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black(who also makes a cameo as a cop). This film is very much a tongue-in-cheek counterpart that huge hit of a film.

I think this was one of Vincent Price's last films too, so that right there gives it a little more allure as well(even if he's only in it for about 15 minutes). I'm really surprised no one's tried to remake this material, because with today's f/x & a committed cast/crew, this is the kind of oddity that could really make a lot of money(ie,Shaun of the Dead or Freddy vs. Jason). But who wants to remake a movie that bombed at the box office first time out? IF that EVER happens I'll be first in line with my popcorn.

If you've never seen it and decide to check it out there's a chance you'll just shake your head in disbelief at how "bad" it is, but that's the whole point. It's the very definition of the term "so bad, it's good", which is a fine line to walk for any film. So don't say you weren't warned...but I mean, come on, when was the last time you saw a GOOD Zombie/Cop movie?