Dance of the Dead is a 2008 American independent horror film, directed by Gregg Bishop and written by Joe Ballarini. The film featured Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, and Carissa Capobianco. The plot revolves around the mysterious reanimation of the dead and the efforts of Jimmy, Lindsey, Stephen, and Kyle to save their local high school prom from attack. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on 20 October 2008. Originally finished in 2007, the film premiered at a number of film festivals throughout 2008 to mostly positive reviews. Notable premieres include the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival. An American high school prom in Georgia is unexpectedly interrupted when a graveyard, next to a nuclear power plant, becomes the sudden source of resuscitated cadavers. As zombies march on the high school, a motley group of dateless teenage outcasts, among them Jimmy (Jared Kusnitz), Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick), Stephen (Chandler Darby) and Kyle (Justin Welborn), take on the zombies and save the day. The low-budget independent feature film was based on a script written in the late 1990s. It was filmed in Rome and North Georgia. The cast of Dance of the Dead marked the debut of relatively unknown Georgian natives—including Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, and Carissa Capobianco—and the return of sophomore actors Jared Kusnitz (Doll Graveyard) and Randy McDowell (Good Intentions). According to director-producer Greg Bishop, they "searched for months for the right kids, ones who were good at improv, and ended up casting more kids in Georgia...They were more natural. [The] casting director would throw them curveballs and the ones who could hang and go along ended up in the movie." Dance of the Dead will be distributed from October 2008 by Lions Gate Entertainment in a deal with Sam Raimi's new partnership Ghost House Underground. The film is expected to be part of Ghost House's inaugural slate of offerings dubbed "October Horror". Following the Cannes Film Festival, German distributor Splendid Film bought the rights to the high school zombie film for German release. Dance of the Dead premiered at the 15th annual South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, March 7-15 2008 along side a lineup of 113 feature films, including 64 world premieres, high school-themed features and rock documentaries. It was a 'Round Midnight selection. The film was screened at the 32nd annual Atlanta Film Festival in April 2008, and considered a "must see." Three separate showings of the film were sellouts at the Atlanta Film Festival. Bleiberg Entertainment marketed the film at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in May 2008. Subsequent screenings included the International Science Fiction Film Festival at Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on 1 July 2008. Critics were mostly positive. Jason Whyte called it a "triumph in nearly every way; not only is an independent film that takes its small budget and runs with it, it is everything you want out of a horror comedy and more." Scott Weinberg was surprised that "character development" was possible, and thought it "fast and funny, sick and sweet, geeky and gory. Basically, a whole lot of fun." Expecting a "cheesy zombie flick," reviewer Brian Gibson instead found a "zombie/prom weekend film that ended up being one of the best surprises of the [film] festival." |