Gone Direct-to-DVD: December 2008
By Robert Sims, Special to Hollywood.com
|
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
1. Dance of the Dead (Ghost House Underground collection)
Cast: Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, Justin Welborn
The Verdict: This spirited, resourceful zombie spoof gleefully splices Shaun of the Dead with American Pie. Directed with a punk-rock attitude, it emphasizes laughs over gore as horny high schoolers spend prom night battling the undead. It also features a surprisingly romantic moment that involves two lovers, a zombie-filled gym and a sweet cover of Pat Benatar’s “Shadows of the Night.”
Dance of the Dead is part of a five-DVD Ghost House Underground collection that includes a couple of other goodies. One is: The Last House in the Woods, an Italian response to French splatterfests Frontier(s) and Inside that creeps us out to no end -- and makes us throw up our microwave popcorn -- as it pits a young couple against a family of freaks with a taste for flesh. In the other, The Substitute, we get the deadliest substitute teacher since Tom Berenger. Paprika Sheen -- of Dogme 95 fame -- is smart, sassy and seductive. She also hails from a race of warring aliens who have come to Earth to learn how to love before they destroy themselves. It’s all a drolly comical and marvelously inventive sci-fi allegory that proves love can’t be taught, it can only be experienced.
DVD Features: Commentary with director Gregg Bishop and writer Joe Ballarini; Deleted and Extended Scenes; Making of; Blood Guts and Rock ’n’ Roll: Effects and Stunts; and Voodoo, a short film by director Gregg Bishop.
Stars: 4 out of 5 stars