One of Joe Piscopo better movies, Dead Heat is a fun ride that is filled with action and wild comedy. Treat Williams stars in this interesting story about the walking dead. Not a horror movie about zombies, but the living dead committing crimes. Williams and Piscopo do justice to this low budget movie. The story itself holds its own as the limited special effects can only take the audience too far. The comic relief of Piscopo fills in the gaps where the gun fights and walking dead miss. Treat Williams shows his leading man qualities in Dead Heat while he has failed to do so in other movies. In the end, the movie produces an enjoyable ride for action fans. One of Vincent Prices' last movies, he is the icing on the cake of the b-movie that Dead Heat is.

You'll never look at your butcher shop the same way again after seeing the scene here where dead sides of beef, pork and other creatures briefly come back to life when cops Joe Piscopo and Trent Williams and scientist Lindsay Frost go there for information why zombies are roaming the city. Piscopo battled a zombie with three noses while Williams was locked in a vault that kills him. They were able to bring him back to live so he could solve the case, and this leads to a bunch of very bizarre but hysterically funny incidents surrounding the investigation. Piscopo that's the best line when he tells Williams that they should drown the headless cow coming his way in A1 sauce. The viewer may be disturbed by some graphic shots involving faces disintegrating in rather disgusting ways, giving me several moments where I had to turn away.

The highlight of the film outside of the very campy finale is the scene in the Chinese butcher shop, but there are many other funny incidents as well, and the banter between the three leads is hysterical. Early on, Vincent Price appears in a cameo on a videotape, seeming really tired and ailing, even more so than "Edward Scissorhands" two years later. He pops up at the end for a lengthy scene (along with Darren McGavin as a flashy villain) where he's surprisingly rejuvenated. The mixture of Science Fiction, horror, crime drama and comedy works very well in this, a typical 80's popcorn film that may not be a classic but gives the viewer a good time. This isn't your typical zombie film as there's a little bit more explanation as to why they are zombies than just appearing out of nowhere or dealing with something from outer space, and Williams, until the end, is definitely the best looking zombie I've ever seen in a movie.

If you like cheesy movies from the late 1980's, then "Dead Heat" might be something for you. This movie is full of bad jokes, a stupid storyline and awful one-liners. But hey, there is an audience for everything out there, isn't there?

When I picked up this movie, I was expecting more of a zombie comedy, but it turned out to be more of a cop story with a hint of zombies in it. Someone is using a machine to bring back the dead, and detectives Roger Mortis (played by Treat Williams) - spoof off Rigor Mortis? - and Doug Bigelow (played by Joe Piscopo) are on the case.

The movie itself is not all that bad, actually, I had just expected somewhat more of a laugh-out-loud comedy. However, if you are watching this for the zombies, then you will be sorely disappointed. Not much to come here after in that department. There was a couple of minutes worth of zombie effects and hilarious effects, and that was about it.

Having seen it now, I can honestly say that I will not be watching it again. This is the type of movie that you watch once (if you didn't watch it back in 1988),then bag and tag it, putting it on the shelf and letting it stand there as a DVD collection filler.