Dance of the Dead digs up home-grown zombies

Georgia seems intent on staking a claim on the idea of musical zombies. Inman Park's Dad's Garage Theatre staged the world premiere of the stage musical Song of the Living Dead in June, while the horror comedy Dance of the Dead, filmed in Rome, Ga., has come out on DVD in time for Halloween. In Dance, director Gregg Bishop stitches equal parts of of a John Hughes-style high school comedy to a George Romero cannibal zombie uprising. As luck would have it, the dead rise on the night of the high school prom, so the first line of defense are the plucky teens who don't have dates for one reason or another. Justin Welborn, an Atlanta actor who played the sensitive leading role in Atlanata's sort-of zombie-themed The Signal, gets a meaty role as a high-strung bully. ("And Justin Welborn" announces the credits: that "And" is nearly as god as having top billing.

Dance of the Dead played this year's Atlanta Film Festival and pushes the comical sides of the story. Amusing bits include the undead hypnotized by a garage band's righteous chops (as long as the amps are plugged in), as well as a pair of zombies driving off in a pizza delivery car. The coolest scene features zombies bursting from their graves at a run, but otherwise it's not very imaginative conceptually. The zombies lurch around moaning for "braaaaains" like perfect cliches. (At least, say, the McCain Zombie Images offer some fresh perspectives.) The Onion A.V. Club's review of recent straight-to-DVD horror films gives it a 5 in its "Potential classic rating:"

"Bishop combines EC Comics and The Breakfast Club in a way that's breezy and good-natured, but not especially deep. Dance Of The Dead is easy to like, but there's not much here to love."

In general, if you've ever seen Shaun of the Dead's treatment of the lighter side of a zombie holocaust, or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer's" occult metaphors for the high school experience, Dance of the Dead doesn't offer much new, but it leaves you eager to see what the filmmakers will do next.

Dance of the Dead can be purchased as a stand-alone film or as part of the Ghost House Underground Eight-Film Collection.