Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead (DVD)

Last year on Showtime, the foremost names in the horror film genre joined forces for Masters of Horror, a series consisting of 13 one-hour films. Tobe Hooper's Dance of the Dead got mixed reviews — some good, some bad, and some (like mine) a mix of both. One thing nearly everyone agreed upon was the fact that the episode was a complete departure for Hooper and it was fun to see him try his hand at something different.

Based on a short story by the renown writer Richard Matheson, and adapted for the screen by the author's son Richard Christian Matheson, Dance of the Dead is the story of what happens after a nuclear holocaust that causes a "zombie rain" to fall. Some people live, others grow horribly sick, and some die yet live on as animated corpses pumped with drugs and made to dance as nightclub entertainment for the leather-n-liquor crowd.

The story centers on Peggy (Jessica Lowndes), her overprotective mother Kate (Sharon Heath), and the young criminal Peggy falls for, Jak (Jonathan Tucker). One night, when Peggy sneaks out into the big, bad, dangerous post-apocalyptic world with a drug-fueled Jak, she finds herself at the Doom Room. The no-holds-barred nightclub is a brutal hole where the dead are made to dance for a bloodthirsty crowd. Hosting the nightly spectacle is The MC (Robert Englund), a macabre character with a predilection for theatrics.

DVD Additional Release Material:

Primal Screams — begins with Tobe Hooper talking about the need to scream, for everyone. This featurette has a top notch look and feel, and great editing; as always from Anchor Bay on these Masters of Horror disks. Hooper talks about his childhood in Texas, and how his babysitter was the movies. One of his favorite matinee movies was Scaramouche, and I'll be darned if the DVD producers didn't find some film clips to go with the story. A very nice touch. Hooper then outlines his career, beginning with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, then Eaten Alive, Salem's Lot, Poltergeist, and more, including my personal Hooper faves, The Fun House and Lifeforce. The director wraps up the featurette with a lot of good information about Dance of the Dead.

Working With A Master — Richard C. Matheson starts the accolades talking about being on the set of The Doom Room and watching Hooper at work. Gunnar Hansen weighs in on his experiences as Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bill Moseley, one of my favorite actors in the genre, talks about playing Chop-Top in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2. He has an interesting story about how his own short parody film, The Texas Chainsaw Manicure, drew the attention of Hooper (film clips are thankfully added; I have been eager to see Moseley's short). Steve Railsback, who starred in Lifeforce, shares memories from that film and talks about some of Hooper's other works as well. Nearly everyone cites Hooper's childlike enthusiasm while working, his ever-ready smiles, and macabre giggles when a gory scene is going particularly well. At the end, scenes from Dance of the Dead are shown as Matheson talks about adapting his father's work, and how Hooper ran with the screenplay.

Commentary — Hooper, with DVD Producer Terry Martin moderating, talks about everything to do with this "post-apocalyptic cabaret" from how the local junkies tried to ruin shots as they were filming, to the stunning visual effects employed for Dance of the Dead. These consist of many overlaid images, doubled and tripled, accompanied by jarring cuts. It still didn't work for me (that was my major complaint about the episode in my original TV review) but it was interesting to learn the methodology behind it. I would have liked to have learned something about Billy Corgan's score, and captions would have been appreciated so as to follow the story along with the spoken commentary, but overall it's a great track.

Also:

• Commentary by screenwriter Richard Christian Matheson
• "The Written Word: An Interview with Richard Matheson" featurette
• "Behind The Scenes: The Making of Dance of the Dead" featurette
• On Set: An Interview with Robert Englund
• On Set: An Interview with Jessica Lowndes
• On Set: An Interview with Jonathan Tucker
• Trailers
• Still Gallery
• Storyboard Gallery
• Tobe Hooper Bio
• Screenplay (DVD-ROM)
• Screensaver (DVD-ROM)

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson