Plot
In the near future, a bleak, post-apocalyptic America ravaged by chemical warfare and pestilence is dominated by roving gangs of junkies who sow terror and anarchy wherever they go. One day, biker and drug addict Jak rolls into town and lays eyes on Peggy, a beautiful, naive teenager who helps her over-protective mother run a small diner.
Infatuated, Peggy agrees to secretly rendezvous with her new beau in the middle of the night. Their date entails a visit to a shady, run-down, heavy-metal nightclub in a nearby town. The club’s sleazoid MC gets off on staging disgusting shows in which dead bodies of overdosed teens, pumped with blood and stimulated with drugs, seem to dance.
But an even more horrific revelation is in store for poor Peggy…
Nah, nothing like a little Lifeless Undeath Phenomenon, to lighten things up in a dull f*****g nowhere town!
Critique
3Adapted from a Richard Matheson short story with a screenplay penned by his son Richard Christian Matheson, this episode of the first season of “Masters of Horror” was clearly one of the least successful right from the start.
In reality, the plot might have been worthy of some interest if it weren’t for the baffling direction of the unrecognizable Tobe Hooper who relies on frenetic editing befitting a bottom-of-the-barrel music video, along with a ridiculous barrage of annoying digital effects including countless flickering images, non-stop superimposed frames, and dizzying light effects.
Top it off with so-so performances (saved only by Robert Englund’s lubricious MC) and embarrassingly superficial dialogue, and you immediately quash any hopes of social or political critique. Consequently, everything comes down to watching a gang of drugged-out hooligans getting their kicks watching sadistic performances staged by the gross, vulgar master of ceremonies.
To the question posed by the MC as to whether it’s obscene or science, the answer is obviously the former.
More Info
- Based on the short story "Dance of the Dead" (1955) by Richard Matheson
Quotes
- Well, since we run an upscale establishment, management has requested no guns, no meaningful conversation, and no self-surgery during the show.
- Nah, nothing like a little Lifeless Undeath Phenomenon, to lighten things up in a dull f*****g nowhere town!
- Is it obscene? Or is it Science? Poetry or pornography? You have to be the judge.
- They say pain transforms the sensitive into cynics. I read that somewhere.
Products
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| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
 | Masters Of Horror: Dance Of The Dead - DVD | |
 | The Best of Richard Matheson (Penguin Classics) | |
 | Masters Of Horror: Season 1: Volume 3 |
| Nome del prodotto | Prezzo | |
|---|---|---|
 | Tutti i racconti. 1954-1959 (Vol. 2) |
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
![Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Kbl05cvlL._AC_SL75_.jpg) | Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] | |
 | Dance of the dead (Region B) Masters of Horror Series | |
| The Best of Richard Matheson (Penguin Classics) | |
![Masters Of Horror: Series 1 - Volume 2 [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71EumjbHlbL._AC_SL75_.jpg) | Masters Of Horror: Series 1 - Volume 2 [DVD] |
| Nombre del producto | Precio | |
|---|---|---|
![El Baile De Los Muertos(Master [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71IwRB6jKkL._SL75_.jpg) | El Baile De Los Muertos(Master [DVD] | |
![Masters Of Horror: El Baile De Los Muertos [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sq+5j9ELL.jpg) | Masters Of Horror: El Baile De Los Muertos [Blu-ray] |
| Produktname | Preis | |
|---|---|---|
 | Masters of Horror - Tobe Hooper: Dance of the |
| Nom du produit | Prix | |
|---|---|---|
![Masters of Horror : La Danse des Morts [Édition Collector]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41k5fixU5dS._AC_.jpg) | Masters of Horror : La Danse des Morts [Édition Collector] |
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Masters Of Horror: Dance Of The Dead | |
 | Masters of Horror: Tobe Hooper - Dance of the Dead | |
| The Best of Richard Matheson | |
 | Masters Of Horror: The Complete First Season | |
 | Masters of Horror: Vol. 3 Season 1 |