Line #40 Film/DeadHeat


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/treatsatreat.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:You can’t keep a good cop dead.]]
3
4	-> '''Randi James''': Hey, you're hurt.
5	-> '''Det. Roger Mortis''': Lady, I'm fucking dead.
6
7	''Dead Heat'' is a 1988 BlackComedy film. It stars Creator/TreatWilliams, Creator/JoePiscopo, Creator/VincentPrice, and Creator/DarrenMcGavin.
8
9	After a violent bank robbery showdown, detectives Roger Mortis (Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Piscopo) discover at the morgue that the criminals corpses had previously been brought in on a separate shooting occasion. When they discover a chemical substance in both bodies, they investigate a corporation which produces the material. As they investigate, Doug finds a hidden room with a strange device, and a zombie comes out and fights both of them. The incident ends up getting Roger killed, but Doug is interested in the strange machine he saw and uses it on Roger.
10
11	Roger is successfully brought back to life, but they discover some bad news; He will only live for less than a day before his body falls apart. As they investigate the secret behind this machine, the undead Roger is able to withstand bullets, submerge in water without breathing, and take heavy amounts of damage, all while hoping to solve the case before it's too late.
12	----
13	!!Has the examples of:
14
15	* AgentMulder: Rebecca, Roger's girlfriend, and an employee at the morgue, who is ProperlyParanoid about the reanimation device and uses it to save Roger's life. Doubles as TheSmartGirl.
16	* AgentScully: Dr. [=McNab=] scoffs at the notion that Roger has been brought back to life, until [[spoiler: it's revealed that he's been faking it the whole time]].
17	* AmbiguouslyEvil: The rich people who [[spoiler: Laudermilk]] markets the reanimation device to, as we never actually see if they would have taken him up on his offer, and they don't seem too unpleasant or bothered by the idea of eventually dying before he makes his pitch.
18	* AnyoneCanDie:Suprisingly, this is in effect, to the point [[spoiler:that the entire cast winds up dead by the end, in some cases several times over]].
19	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The police captain's rant.
20	-->'''Captain:''' Unauthorized use of a city vehicle, reckless endangerment of property and lives, use of a non-regulation firearm ...\
21	'''Roger:''' That was me, not Bigelow, sir.\
22	'''Captain:''' Disrespectful conduct, flippant, and tasteless verbal remarks ...\
23	'''Doug:''' That was me.\
24	'''Captain:''' And EIGHTEEN PARKING TICKETS so far this month!
25	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:[=McNab=]]] would rather eat his gun than be arrested. [[spoiler:''Subverted'' when the heroes decide to run ''him'' through the resurrection machine, [[DeaderThanDead twice]].]]
26	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Arthur P. Laudermilk]] is the mastermind of the resurrection scheme.
27	* BloodyHilarious: The notorious Chinese deli scene. Or the final fate of [[spoiler: [=McNab=].]]
28	* BodyHorror: Roger's increasingly-decaying body [[spoiler:and Randi James' all-of-a-sudden conversion into a rotten body and then a skeleton.]] There's also the dead biker that ends up being part of the situation that ends with Roger's death, that looks like it has ''three faces crudely sewed together''.
29	* BookDumb: Doug is definitely not the smartest cop on the force.
30	* BottomlessMagazines: At one point, Roger and one of [=McNab's=] goons fire at each other with submachine guns for nearly half a minute without reloading.
31	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Bigelow]], after being resurrected by [[spoiler:[=McNab=]]].
32	* BuddyCopShow: Two buddy cops kick ass. One's a zombie, the other a neanderthal!
33	* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:Bigelow]] is resurrected as a [[EmptyShell mindless]], lurching zombie [[BrainwashedAndCrazy loyal to the bad guys.]] Fortunately, Mortis is able to snap him out of it.
34	* CarFu: Roger takes out one of the zombie bank robbers by ramming him with Lt. Herzog's car. Herzog is [[ThePreciousPreciousCar not happy about this]].
35	* ChekhovsGun: The decompression room.
36	* ConspicuousConsumption: In hindsight [[spoiler: Dr. [=McNab=]]] drives a pretty fancy car for someone with his job.
37	* CowboyCop: Both Roger and Doug.
38	* CutHimselfShaving: Roger's answer to Randi when she asks him about his makeup.
39	* DaChief: Captain Mayberry.
40	* DeadWeight: The biker zombie that Doug and Roger fight against in the research facility.
41	* DragonInChief: [[spoiler:Dr. [=McNab=]]]. Laudermilk is the one who funded the research [[spoiler:and eventually tries to sell an immortality scheme to other rich people. The bad doctor is the one who created the zombies that have gone on a crime spree throughout all of Los Angeles and has killed several rich people all for the sake of lining his pockets more.]]
42	* ElectrifiedBathtub: Roger kills one of the zombies sent after Randi by getting it into a hot tub and throwing a stereo after it.
43	* EveryCarIsAPinto: The climax involves an ambulance hitting several cars and the whole lot exploding like they were loaded with explosives.
44	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Friendly, lovable old Dr. [=McNab=]]] is revealed to be the BigBad's depraved DragonInChief.
45	* ExplodingFishTanks: A fish tank gets destroyed in one of the shootouts much to the dismay of the owner.
46	* ExplosiveOverclocking: [[spoiler:[=McNab=] gets run through the resurrection machine twice in instant succession after blowing his brains out and as a result he inflates and explodes from the already-reanimated flesh's adverse reaction to the energies. It also damages the machine in a small amount... and then Roger and Doug wreck it with machine-gun fire for good measure.]]
47	* FacialHorror: Many of the zombies, especially Roger after the Ambulance explodes and the Biker zombie.
48	* FanDisservice: Starts out as FanService when [[spoiler:Roger finds Randi in the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel... until she quickly starts to decompse. Once enough of her rots away she falls over, her towel falls off and her rotted decomposed breasts are visible plain as day for one second.]]
49	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:[=McNab=], who goes about doing completely monstrous things with all the usual charm and likeability of Creator/DarrenMcGavin’s usual, heroic characters.]]
50	* FiringOneHanded: The zombie bank robbers in the film's into are able to fire Uzi submachine guns one-handed with surprising accuracy.
51	** Mortis also fires an Uzi one-handed while fighting through [=McNab's=] lab and even has a duel with a henchman who fires an [=MP5=] one-handed.
52	* GoIntoTheLight: Roger was going into the light before he was resurrected.
53	** [[spoiler:Also implied in the ending.]]
54	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Mortis and Bigelow destroy the machine keeping them alive, condemning themselves to decay.]]
55	* ImmuneToBullets:
56	** The zombies.
57	-->'''Doug:''' Remember the good old days when bullets ''killed'' people?\
58	'''Roger:''' You're just jealous, that's all!
59	** PlayedForLaughs with a zombie-on-zombie ''Uzi fight'' late in the movie.
60	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Doug kills a zombie by driving a metal pole through it.
61	* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: The big ugly biker.
62	* IronicEcho: "Kill that guy, won't you?"
63	* ItsALongStory: Roger's answer when asked about his undeath.
64	* KillThePoor: Inverted. [[spoiler:Laudermklk's scheme is to make rich people immortal for a "modest" fee. Unknown to him, [=McNab=] is instead killing and looting his clients.]]
65	* LivingOnBorrowedTime: [=McNab's=] machine can bring a person back to "life" for 12 hours. Once the twelve hours are up, their body will literally melt.
66	* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Instead of killing Roger, [[spoiler:Dr. [=McNab=]]] locks him into an ambulance while handcuffed to the vehicle. Roger escapes by releasing the parking brake on the ambulance and letting it roll down the hill until it crashes and explodes.
67	* MeaningfulName: Roger '''Mortis''' turns undead.
68	* MirrorScare: Roger gets one when he tries to fix himself up after a police shoot-out at a local residence he and his partner were investigating, imagining himself as a skeleton.
69	* NightmareFace: Again, Roger Mortis after the ambulance explodes and some of the other zombies.
70	* NightOfTheLivingMooks: The bad guys are using zombies to carry out their crimes.
71	* OhCrap: Lieutenant Herzog when he realizes Roger is about to use his car in a destructive case of CarFu.
72	** One of the zombie bank robbers has this when he sees the grenade at his feet.
73	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The zombies retain their intelligence as long as their brains aren't too decayed before their resurrection, and gain superhuman durability to boot. The downside is that they only last for twelve hours before rapidly decomposing.
74	* PunBasedTitle: The title qualifies, once you remember that "heat" is also slang for "the police."
75	* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Happens when Doug tries incapacitate one of the zombies with a GroinAttack.
76	* PunnyName: Roger Mortis (''rigor mortis'').
77	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After a cop is killed by a zombie and resurrected, he and his partner bust up the organization that killed him.
78	* RaisingTheSteaks: Thule resurrects a bunch of animals in his restaurant to attack Doug and Roger.
79	* ShootOutTheLock: Roger shoots his way into the cemetery where Loudermilk is [[spoiler:supposedly buried]].
80	* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Arthur P. Laudermilk and Dr. Ernest [=McNab=]. The former wants to make immortality for rich people because he believes they're better than the poor, and the latter is willing to experiment on people and bury them alive so he can get big bucks from this scheme.]]
81	* SpitefulSuicide: [[spoiler:Dr. Ernest [=McNab=], when cornered by Roger and Doug and after shooting them repeatedly [[ImmmuneToBullets does jack]] because of their zombification, makes clear he refuses to be arrested after Doug makes a one-liner about it ("you won't get me alive!") and blows his brains out with his own machine pistol.]] Then his actions are immediately [[spoiler:subverted when Doug and Roger put him in the revival machine and make it undergo ExplosiveOverclocking by reviving [=McNab=] twice. The Doctor revives then has just enough time to be horrified at what is happening to him [[BodyHorror before he swells up like a balloon and explodes]].]]
82	* TwoFaced: Half of Roger's face ends burned in an explosion during the climax. The biker that Roger and Doug fight that ends up with Roger's death has a seriously screwed-up face that looks like three faces crudely seen together.
83	* UndeathlyPallor: The zombies. When Roger sees that he's paling, he buys some cosmetics to fix it.
84	* VanityLicensePlate: Dr. [=McNab=]'s BODY DOC.
85	* WhodunnitToMe: Roger needs to find out who killed him before he decomposes.
86	* YoureJustJealous: How Roger snarks about how, being undead, he's effectively ImmuneToBullets.

Context Film / DeadHeat