Dance of the Dead (2008)

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.

Director:

Gregg Bishop

Writer:

Joe Ballarini

Stars:

Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jared Kusnitz	...	Jimmy Dunn
Greyson Chadwick	...	Lindsey
Chandler Darby	...	Steven
Carissa Capobianco	...	Gwen
Randy McDowell	...	Jules Reiner
Michael Mammoliti	...	George (as Michael V. Mammoliti)
Mark Lynch	...	Rod
Justin Welborn	...	Kyle Grubbin
Mark Oliver	...	Coach Keel
Blair Redford	...	Nash Rambler
Lucas Till	...	Jensen
Hunter Pierce	...	Dave The Drummer
Jonathan Spencer	...	Frank Hammond
Stephen Caudill	...	Principal Castlemoody
J. Jacob Adelman	...	Mitch (as Jeff Adelman)

Storyline

It is prom night in middle America. Tuxes have been rented and dresses have been bought. But when the dead unexpectedly rise from their graves to eat the living, it's up to the geeks, the nerds, the outcast and the losers who couldn't get dates to the dance to save the town from the undead. Unlikely heroes will rise to the challenge as they are forced to put aside their differences and band together to fight for their lives. Armed with bats, sledgehammers, garden tools and guitars, this rag-tag group of high-school teens are in for a prom night they will never forget.

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Plot Keywords:

prom | high school | student council | sci fi club | punk | 

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Taglines:

It's their night to come alive.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and gore, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dance of the dead: El baile de los muertos

Filming Locations:

Rome, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compound B, Bishop Studios LLC, Bleiberg Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unlike most zombie films, aside from the sound of sirens in a very early scene, there are no police officers or military soldiers present or seen at anytime in the film.

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Goofs

When they discover the girls hiding in the bathroom, we see George removing his football helmet. However, in the following over-his-shoulder shot, we can clearly see he still has the helmet on.

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Quotes

Jimmy: You guys... we're in a funeral home.

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Connections

Referenced in Father vs. Son (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Better Off"
Written by Shana Levy
Performed by Let's Go Sailing

User Reviews

Thoroughly charming and funny teen zombie horror comedy fun

I saw this at London's Frightfest a few days back after initially not planning to. I'm not the biggest fan of comedic teen oriented horror, especially not ones trying to pull of the difficult zombie comedy hybrid, since many trying to do that usually mess up the tone and end up being unsatisfying to me as a horror fan. I saw this after reading the rave critical response from a number of sites and am real glad that I did, since this film is a whole heap of good times. The plotting is fairly standard power plant causes zombie outbreak and only the geeks can save the town stuff but this film pulls it of with a great script, nicely drawn characters and best of all, a batch of fine, fresh faced performances from actors that are actually the age that they are playing. Jared Kusnitz handles the goofball to hero arc of the main character Jimmy Dunn well and Greyson Chadwick is sweet and funny as his more serious girlfriend who dumps him on the day of the prom. Justin Welborn plays the token jock in nicely layered, sympathetic and funny style and Mark Oliver is often funny as the hard nut gym teacher. As this shows, the characters are what you might expect from a high school film, but all are written with sympathy and a deft, knowing touch. The general course of events isn't too groundbreaking but there are lots of amusing imaginative touches and funny, splashy gore. The gore is very decent for a low budget production, with flying limbs, blasted heads and whatnot though I could have done with more zombie inflicted carnage. The zombies, though cool aren't particularly menacing and more gut munching, limb gnawing and such would not have gone amiss. Early on in the film there are a few instances of cutting away before people get taken out and the body count among the heroes could have been higher. The film is inclined more towards comedy than horror but a shade more intensity would have made things even better, especially since the characters are all pretty likable and the more suspenseful scenes work nicely. Still, these are minor complaints and I basically had a blast watching this. Every time I thought it was going to lag it rallied with a good line or some funny gore or a neat idea, the pace is fast and there's a charm about the whole affair that makes it very likable. Though hardcore zombie and gore fans may not appreciate this so much, this is well recommended for unpretentious, funny, put a smile on your face grisly good times.