"Dance of the Dead" Destined to be Cult Classic

Dance of the Dead, (2008) a straight-to-DVD release, is a zombie comedy, and delivers laughs and zombie scares in plentiful amounts. The film takes place in a middle-class suburban town where an ominous nuclear power plant raises the dead, who decide to raid the high school prom. Director Gregg Bishop has a flair for comedy, action, and horror, and the energy of his camerawork successfully masks the low budget as well as the blatant lifting of gags from the great zombie flicks of yore. Aside from the potent scares and pulsating intestines, the film is perhaps most notable for the quality of the characters. Joe Ballarini’s witty script and the well-cast, appealing young actors inject new life into familiar high school stereotypes. For instance, the popular cheerleader is depicted not as a callous bitch or inert bimbo, but as a sweet-natured, athletic jock, who can kick some zombie ass while doing a cartwheel. The overachieving president of the class is not quite Tracy Flick-ish but rather a realistic combination of stressed-out unctuousness and endearing maturity. Meanwhile, the uncharismatic sci-fi geek unsuccessfully jockeys for authority, yet gains the audience’s respect when he hilariously puts his foot down during an excessively Christian pep talk. Most pivotally, the heroic main character, Jimmy embodies about 90% of the boys I was friends with in high school: an appealing, good-hearted slacker, who can also be a thoroughly hurtful jerk. While zombies may only exist as metaphors, Dance of the Dead strikes a chord that is realistic and true; in other words, the rare high school film that actually resembles, you know, high school.