Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo star as a pair of Los Angeles Police detectives in editor Mark Goldblatt’s 1988 directorial debut, Dead Heat, a mash-up of genres, including horror, comedy, action, and buddy films. Previously available on DVD from Anchor Bay (in a DiviMax Special Edition), Image Entertainment’s new Blu-ray ports over none of the special features.
Dead Heat
Studio: Image Entertainment
US DVD Release Date: September 20, 2011
Original Release Year: 1988
Rated: R
Running Time: 86 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: PCM 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles: None
Movie: 2.5 out of 5
Detectives Roger Mortis (Treat Williams, Everwood) and Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo, Saturday Night Live) are investigating a rash of burglaries by criminals previously thought to be dead. Apparently, someone at Dante Pharmaceuticals has been resurrecting recently deceased criminals and letting them loose on crime sprees. After a mishap at Dante Pharmaceuticals leading to Mortis’ death, Bigelow and pathologist Rebecca Smythers (Clare Kirkconnell) use the resurrection machine to bring Mortis back to life and solve the case. But there’s a catch: the resurrection only lasts 12 hours. After that, all that will be left of Mortis is a pile of goo.
Buddy films were all the rage in the mid to late 1980s, thanks to the success of films like 48 Hrs and Lethal Weapon. And that may be how Terry Black (brother of Lethal Weapon scribe Shane) got his script produced by New World Pictures. The screenplay is filled with buddy cop cliches, especially the opening jewelry store heist where Mortis and Bigelow take the robbers down single-handed, much to the chagrin of ranking Lt. Herzog (Robert Picardo in a fun cameo). Treat Williams plays Detective Mortis straight, with a large dose of charm, even after he’s been turned into a zombie. Piscopo is on the verge of annoying as his wisecracking partner. Lindsay Frost is a would-be love interest as the head of public relations at Dante Pharmaceuticals and the key to solving the case. Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) turns in a deliciously evil turn as Chief Coroner Dr. Ernest McNab, while Vincent Price and Keye Luke turn in scene-stealing cameos.
As for the direction, Mark Goldblatt is first and foremost a terrific film editor and got his start (as did Joe Dante and several others) working for Roger Corman when he was running the studio, cutting such classics as Piranha and Humanoids of the Deep. He had graduated to editing other films, including The Howling, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Pearl Harbor. In that respect, Goldblatt knows what shots he needs to make a story flow, and his direction almost saves the picture, but cannot overcome the cookie-cutter story with gaping plot holes. Goldblatt would only direct one other film, also for New World, the very first version of The Punisher, starring Dolph Lundgren and based on the Marvel comic book character (Marvel was owned by New World at the time). He would return to editing, and is currently on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ editors branch.
Dead Heat has a definite 1980s feel to it, with its non-graphical DOS computer screens, pop art direction, Piscopo’s tight t-shirt, Steve Johnson’s over the top make-up effects, all the way down to its theme song performed by Phil Settle.
Video: 3 out of 5
Image Entertainment brings Dead Heat to Blu-ray in a 1080/24p transfer using the AVC codec that delivers the film fairly close to how it must have looked in theaters during its original, brief run. Film grain is obviously apparent, while colors are mostly consistent but contrast varies from scene to scene. Detail is adequate for a film of this vintage and budget. Although I never saw this film in a theater, I do remember most movies from New World and Cannon during this time period having a similar presentation.
Audio: 3 out of 5
Originally released in theaters in Dolby Stereo, the uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack does a decent job of replicating the theatrical experience of 1988. Fidelity is good, not great, with decent stereo separation and good use of the matrixed surround channel, but don’t expect much activity from your subwoofer. Dialogue is centered and intelligible. Anchor Bay’s previous DVD release included a Dolby Digital 5.1 remixed soundtrack which was not ported over, but 5.1 remixes do not always sound better than the original 2.0 matrixed surround mix, and having not heard (or seen) the Anchor Bay release, I’m on the fence regarding the exclusion.
Special Features: 1 out of 5
Anchor Bay’s previous DiviMax DVD release was a feature-laden special edition, including deleted scenes and a commentary by director Mark Goldblatt. Sadly, none of those have been ported over on the new Image Blu-ray.
The disc begins with skippable trailers (all in SD) for Lethal Attraction (aka Heathers), The Stuff, and Vamp. The only special feature on this disc is the original theatrical trailer (again, in SD). All of the trailers are obviously taken from an analog tape source.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5
While definitely not a highlight in the careers of most involved, Dead Heat does have a few inspired moments, making it a fun candidate as a midnight showing for a Halloween Horror Festival. It is unfortunate that none of the special features from the previous DVD release could be ported over, but fans should be happy the film has been released in high definition.
Original Release Year: 1988
Rated: R
Running Time: 86 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: PCM 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles: None
Movie: 2.5 out of 5
Detectives Roger Mortis (Treat Williams, Everwood) and Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo, Saturday Night Live) are investigating a rash of burglaries by criminals previously thought to be dead. Apparently, someone at Dante Pharmaceuticals has been resurrecting recently deceased criminals and letting them loose on crime sprees. After a mishap at Dante Pharmaceuticals leading to Mortis’ death, Bigelow and pathologist Rebecca Smythers (Clare Kirkconnell) use the resurrection machine to bring Mortis back to life and solve the case. But there’s a catch: the resurrection only lasts 12 hours. After that, all that will be left of Mortis is a pile of goo.
Buddy films were all the rage in the mid to late 1980s, thanks to the success of films like 48 Hrs and Lethal Weapon. And that may be how Terry Black (brother of Lethal Weapon scribe Shane) got his script produced by New World Pictures. The screenplay is filled with buddy cop cliches, especially the opening jewelry store heist where Mortis and Bigelow take the robbers down single-handed, much to the chagrin of ranking Lt. Herzog (Robert Picardo in a fun cameo). Treat Williams plays Detective Mortis straight, with a large dose of charm, even after he’s been turned into a zombie. Piscopo is on the verge of annoying as his wisecracking partner. Lindsay Frost is a would-be love interest as the head of public relations at Dante Pharmaceuticals and the key to solving the case. Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) turns in a deliciously evil turn as Chief Coroner Dr. Ernest McNab, while Vincent Price and Keye Luke turn in scene-stealing cameos.
As for the direction, Mark Goldblatt is first and foremost a terrific film editor and got his start (as did Joe Dante and several others) working for Roger Corman when he was running the studio, cutting such classics as Piranha and Humanoids of the Deep. He had graduated to editing other films, including The Howling, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Pearl Harbor. In that respect, Goldblatt knows what shots he needs to make a story flow, and his direction almost saves the picture, but cannot overcome the cookie-cutter story with gaping plot holes. Goldblatt would only direct one other film, also for New World, the very first version of The Punisher, starring Dolph Lundgren and based on the Marvel comic book character (Marvel was owned by New World at the time). He would return to editing, and is currently on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ editors branch.
Dead Heat has a definite 1980s feel to it, with its non-graphical DOS computer screens, pop art direction, Piscopo’s tight t-shirt, Steve Johnson’s over the top make-up effects, all the way down to its theme song performed by Phil Settle.
Video: 3 out of 5
Image Entertainment brings Dead Heat to Blu-ray in a 1080/24p transfer using the AVC codec that delivers the film fairly close to how it must have looked in theaters during its original, brief run. Film grain is obviously apparent, while colors are mostly consistent but contrast varies from scene to scene. Detail is adequate for a film of this vintage and budget. Although I never saw this film in a theater, I do remember most movies from New World and Cannon during this time period having a similar presentation.
Audio: 3 out of 5
Originally released in theaters in Dolby Stereo, the uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack does a decent job of replicating the theatrical experience of 1988. Fidelity is good, not great, with decent stereo separation and good use of the matrixed surround channel, but don’t expect much activity from your subwoofer. Dialogue is centered and intelligible.
Special Features: 1 out of 5
Anchor Bay’s previous DiviMax DVD release was a feature-laden special edition, including deleted scenes and a commentary by director Mark Goldblatt. Sadly, none of those have been ported over on the new Image Blu-ray.
The disc begins with skippable trailers (all in SD) for Lethal Attraction (aka Heathers), The Stuff, and Vamp. The only special feature on this disc is the original theatrical trailer (again, in SD). All of the trailers are obviously taken from an analog tape source.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5
While definitely not a highlight in the careers of most involved, Dead Heat does have a few inspired moments, making it a fun candidate as a midnight showing for a Halloween Horror Festival. It is unfortunate that none of the special features from the previous DVD release could be ported over, but fans should be happy the film has been released in high definition.
