Publication Date: 06-08-2026

Dead Heat (1988) review

Dir. Mark Goldblatt

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

“Just an ordinary drive, on just another day. Cruisin’ down that road, nothin’ standin’ in your way.” – Phil Settle, “Dead Heat,” the film’s official theme song

Dead Heat is an enjoyable genre hybrid of a plethora of genres. It has enough scares for the horror crowd, enough laughs for those looking for a dose of comedy, and enough high-speed moments to be branded an action film. It mixes these genres and throws two leads the keys in what amounts to a raucous excursion with plenty of wit and fun.

Treat Williams is a fantastic detective in films. No wonder he was typecast in the field of crime in many roles. Here, he plays Detective Roger Mortis (Williams) who’s partner is the loyal-yet-looser Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo). When called to the scene of a robbery, the detectives notices that when the robbers are bombarded with blows to the legs torso they don’t die. A quick trip to the lab shows that the robbers were once dead but somehow came back to life.

When investigating the chemical compound plant that apparently stitched these two zombies together, Roger and Doug discover that the plant is up to no good, housing odd, deformed creatures of an indescribable nature. After a run in with one of those mutants, Roger is locked in the asphyxiation room and dies in the sealed room. However, he is revived with a beam and…

I give up. Have I lost you? I feel I’ve lost myself trying to write such madness. This is truly a mindless zombie flick, not meant for heavy criticism of plausibility. With zombie films, you must suspend disbelief. With Dead Heat, you must completely escape reality. Normally, I criticize horror films for lack of plausibility. Hell, I criticize movies in general for that flaw. But sometimes, you really have to forego the idea of believability. Here, it’s almost vital.

Piscopo and Williams are excellent, and it’s so rare for horror films to allow their actors to form quality chemistry. Usually, they’re just running around screaming and swearing at each other. The talent here, from all actors, is true to their names and above average for any prior expectations.

The effects are also of high quality. All practical, of course, in glorious bright colors. The mutations look lifelike, and the zombie makeup on Treat Williams is exquisite while quietly revolving until its new form is unmistakable.

Dead Heat fearlessly embraces the inherent silliness and macabre edge of its premise. It doesn’t need to be reminded of more distinguished pictures of the same genre, and it doesn’t need to scan the blueprint of a certain famous George A. Romero zombie film. It’s original, quick, witty, jumpy, and fun, headlined by two actors that might not be top-of-mind in the public sphere anymore, but were once as dependable screen presences as any.

Starring: Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo. Directed by: Mark Goldblatt.