| | | | Dead Heat
(1988) |
t's L.A. in the late 1980's. While Gordon Gecko's "greed is good" philosophy has been taken to heart, the rich soon find that the rewards their greed gets them can be taken away just like that.
Detectives Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo) are your standard buddy-cop team: Mortis is a plainclothes, by-the-book officer, while Bigelow is a wild card and jokester. However, we join them at the point where a little of each other's personality has rubbed off on the other. The two are investigating jewelry store robberies where the robbers cannot be killed (at least with bullets, as Mortis demonstrates by running his superior's car into one of the robbers). Mortis' coroner girlfriend finds a drug in the corpse of one of the robbers that belongs to a pharmaceutical giant, sending Mortis and Bigelow on the biggest adventure of their lives.
Once there, Doug finds a weird machine and a horrific biker that attack him. During the confusion, Roger is thrown into a clean room and the air is sucked out by someone unknown. Doug is too late to save his friend, and Roger suffocates.
Roger's girlfreind and Doug find that the strange machine can bring back the dead, and Roger is re-animated. He and Doug start investigating the company, but they have one problem: Roger has only 12 hours to find out who killed him before he decomposes. They find ties to a deceased millionaire (Vincent Price) and the head coroner (Darren McGavin), but will they be able to find who killed Roger in time?
From the director of the '89 version of THE PUNISHER, this horror-comedy hybrid should be seen by almost everyone. Treat Williams, trying to break out of doing dramas, accepted the comedic role of Roger Mortis (you may snicker now, if you wish). He does a really good job with it, making a buddy-cop staple a truly human character. The fact that he's backed up with an able cast is nothing to sneeze at, either.
Joe Piscopo, former second banana to Eddie Murphy on SNL, is in top form as Doug Bigelow. The one-liners he spouts throughout the film are actually quite funny, and he plays nicely off of Williams.
McGavin is great, as usual, as coroner Ernest McNab. Vincent Price, a welcome prescence in any movie, does great as the late Arthur Loudermilk. Lindsay Frost is merely OK as a woman tied to the pharmaceutcial company, and may be hiding a secret of her own (and this does truly come out of left field).
The writing, while it could've been improved in some spots, is great, providing a good story and some memorable action scenes, including a scene set at a butcher shop where the animals are re-animated.
Mark Goldblatt, a former editor, does just as good a job as he did with THE PUNISHER, directing actors and action scenes with great aplomb.
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While the gore and some dark humor may not appeal it to everyone, those who like action films and horror/comedies will enjoy DEAD HEAT.
The good cast and story make it a good rental, and t's reputation as a cult film is truly deserved.
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You can now correct/update any item of trivia by clicking the "Update" button next to it...
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Dead Heat was one of Vincent Price's last films before his death in October 1993 of lung cancer.  -Thanks to Kara Petty
Look for the legendary Professor Toru Tanaka as the butcher in the butcher shop scene. -Thanks to Kyle Palkowski
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Dead Heat DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Dead Heat or 80's Action classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Angel ..... Raiders of the Lost Ark ..... Beverly Hills Cop ..... Die Hard ..... Predator ..... Terminator ..... Black Rain ..... 48 HRS ..... Untouchables ..... Lethal Weapon ..... Rocky IV ..... Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior ..... Top Gun ..... Highlander ..... Streets Of Fire ..... Commando .....[More]
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The film suffered numerous cuts to the gore in order to receive an "R" rating instead of an "X". -Thanks to Kyle Palkowski
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|  |  |  | | Dead Heat
Locations |
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Dead Heat was filmed at locations in Los Angeles, S. California.
Can you help? Do you know any of the Los Angeles, S. California filming locations used for Dead Heat? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, Notes, OutTakes |
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Comments: DIVIMAX Series title |
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The score, by Ernest Troost, was released on the Varese Sarabande label. If you own it, hang on to it: it's a collector's piece.
The end credits song, "Dead Heat" by Phil Settle, was sadly not released. Track listing:
1. Titles
2. Resurrection Room Fight
3. The Robbery
4. The Resurrection Room
5. Dead Meat
6. The Tomb
7. Zombie Attack
8. Roger's Ride To Freedom
9. Roger's Resurrection
10. Breaking The Code
11. I'm Not Bleeding
12. The Butcher Shop
13. Finding Bigelow
14. The Library
15. Roger Storms Dante Labs
16. The Jewelry Robbers
17. Roger Emerges
18. Resurrection Room Showdown
19. The Shoot Out
20. We Need Your Help
21. End Titles
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Soundtrack Available:
Used Vinyl LP / Tape
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