Dance of the Dead (Masters of Horror)

Last updated
"Dance of the Dead"
Masters of Horror episode
Masters of horror episode dance of the dead DVD cover.jpg
DVD cover
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 3
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Story byRichard Matheson
Teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson
Featured music Billy Corgan
Editing byAndrew Cohen
Production code103
Original air date11 November 2005 (2005-11-11)
Running time59 min.
Guest appearances
Erica Carroll
Robert Englund
Emily Graham
Lucie Guest
Jessica Lowndes
Ryan McDonald
Marilyn Norry
Melena Ronnis
Jonathan Tucker
Episode chronology
 Previous
"H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House"
Next 
"Jenifer"

"Dance of the Dead" is the third episode of the first season of Masters of Horror . It originally aired in North America on 11 November 2005. Richard Christian Matheson adapted the episode from a 1954 short story of the same name by his father, Richard Matheson. Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan scored this episode.

Contents

Plot

In 2008, terrorists developed a biological weapon called "Blizz". They used this weapon in local weather patterns in the United States. As it falls from the sky, it will instantly burn any living thing it touches. At her seventh birthday party, young Peggy watched as her friends were killed by Blizz, while she, her sister, and her mother took refuge inside the house, refusing to allow anyone else shelter with them.

Ten years later, America has been ravaged by the effects of World War III. The death count continues to rise in this dark and bleak future and some states simply no longer exist. Peggy is now almost 17, ignorant of the world outside her mother's diner. She has lost both her father and her sister, Anna, and now depends on her mother, Kate. Business is slow, but Kate tells Peggy they're fine financially, as Peggy's father left them some money before his death in the war. One day, Peggy meets biker and drug addict Jak and his two "friends", junkies Boxx and Celia. The three are into some shady dealings with a nightclub called The Doom Room, located in the grubby town of Muskeet.

Kate warns Peggy that "everything the people of Muskeet do is a goddamn trick", and although she's afraid to disobey her mother, Peggy sneaks out with Jak in the middle of the night to the Doom Room with Boxx and Celia. Muskeet, as it appears, is completely ravaged and the home to ravagers, sociopathic bikers, and teenagers. The Doom Room is a heavy metal bar run by an MC. As Peggy and Celia watch the band Decree perform, Boxx and Jak go behind the stage to perform a business deal with the MC. They provide him packets of blood. The MC promises that he will pay them if their product is good enough for the next "performance". If not, he'll make them eat it.

At that point, Peggy witnesses what the performance is. The MC has collected the bodies of overdosed teens, called LUPs (Living Undead Phenomenon, or "loopies") injecting them with a drug that causes their hearts to beat twice as fast as normal resulting in convulsions and seizures. This drug was first discovered in the battlegrounds of the war, so the dead soldiers could get up and keep fighting. They are then pumped with blood and forced to dance, and those who can't move are shocked with electric prods. Peggy watches in horror as the MC brings out her own sister, Anna.

When Anna falls off the stage, Peggy and Jak take her away from the Doom Room, to be followed by the MC and one of his goons. Peggy and Jak meet up with Kate, who has tracked them to Muskeet. The MC sheds some light on how he came to "own" Anna. When she was still alive, Anna was just like the other teenagers in Muskeet, and Kate was sick of having to drag her out of the Doom Room every weekend. Then Anna overdosed on drugs, so Kate decided to sell her to the MC, although she was still alive.

Kate is pistol whipped multiple times by the MC and tries to explain to Peggy that she sold Anna because she was always in trouble, and they had nothing, the money Peggy's father had allegedly left them is a lie, they have been living off the money the MC paid her for Anna. Furious at what her mother did, Peggy trades her for Anna and buries her sister, whom she considers her last remaining family. In the end, Peggy becomes another Muskeet teenager, now romantically involved with Jak, and watches as Kate's corpse is beaten with electric rods and forced to dance in the Doom Room.

Critical reception

Dread Central wrote, "This is Hooper at his best. Gratuitous, nihilistic, and unhinged. Disengaged from whatever power that has been holding him back for so many years." [1]

Related Research Articles

"Killed by Death" is episode 18 of season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, directed by Deran Sarafian, and first broadcast on The WB on March 3, 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skye McCole Bartusiak</span> American actress (1992–2014)

Skye McCole Bartusiak was an American child actress and child model. She appeared in The Patriot (2000), Don't Say a Word (2001), as Rose Wilder in Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2002), as Megan Matheson on season 2 of 24 (2002–03), Boogeyman (2005), and Kill Your Darlings (2006).

<i>Trilogy of Terror</i> 1975 television film by Dan Curtis

Trilogy of Terror is a 1975 American made-for-television anthology horror film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black. It features three segments, each based on unrelated short stories by Richard Matheson. The first follows a college professor who seeks excitement with her students; the second is about twin sisters who have a bizarre relationship. These two segments were adapted by William F. Nolan. The third, adapted by Matheson himself, focuses on a woman terrorized by a Zuni fetish doll in her apartment. Black stars in all three segments, and plays dual roles in the second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Ludlow</span> Fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders

Donna Ludlow is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Matilda Ziegler. She appears between episodes 265 and 437 of EastEnders, originally appearing on screen from 27 August 1987 to 13 April 1989. Donna was scripted as a troubled individual, desperate for attention, but shunned by almost all who encountered her. In her storyline, after finding out she was conceived from rape and then rejected by her mother, Donna sets herself on a path of self-destruction. She turns to manipulation, blackmail and prostitution to fund her drug-habit, before choking to death on her own vomit in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aunt Sal</span> UK soap opera character, created 1996

Aunt Sal is a recurring fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Karen Introduced in 1996, she appeared sporadically from 21 March 1996 until 29 December 1997, then from 28 September 2001 until 17 September 2004, 19 July 2007 until 4 April 2011 and 22 November 2013 to 20 January 2017. She appears for just a few episodes at a time and has been collectively featured in 58 episodes of the show.

<i>After the First Death</i> 1979 novel by Robert Cormier

After the First Death (1979) is a suspense novel for young adults by American author Robert Cormier. The focus is on the complex relationships that develop between the various characters. The novel takes the name from the poem, "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" by Dylan Thomas. It originates from the last line: "After the first death, there is no other."

<i>Lake Dead</i> 2007 American film

Lake Dead is a 2007 American horror film directed by George Bessudo. It was released as part of the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest. The film follows a group of teenagers who inherit a motel on a lake, only to uncover a series of dark and frightening family secrets.

<i>American Venus</i> 2007 Canadian film

American Venus is a 2007 Canadian drama film directed by Bruce Sweeney and starring Rebecca De Mornay, Jane McGregor, and Matt Craven.

<i>After.Life</i> 2009 American film

After.Life is a 2009 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay. It stars Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Long.

<i>Mirrors 2</i> 2010 American film

Mirrors 2 is a 2010 American supernatural horror film. It is a stand-alone sequel to the 2008 film Mirrors. Released by 20th Century Fox in direct-to-video format, the film is written by Matt Venne and is directed by Víctor Garcia. The film grossed $4.5 million in home sales.

<i>Endings</i> (film) 2010 American film

Endings is the second feature film written and directed by Chris Hansen, a professor of film and digital media at Baylor University and the director of the film program. It was shot locally in Waco, Texas, United States in June 2008, using Baylor film students as a large part of the crew. Postproduction occurred until April 2010. It had its world premiere at the Seattle's True Independent Film Festival in June 2010.

<i>V/H/S/2</i> 2013 horror anthology film

V/H/S/2 is a 2013 American found footage horror anthology film produced by Bloody Disgusting and Roxanne Benjamin. The second installment in the V/H/S franchise, it comprises four found footage segments linked together by a fifth frame narrative. V/H/S/2 features a largely different group of directors: Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto, Eduardo Sánchez, and Gregg Hale, and franchise returnees Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard.

<i>Happy Mothers Day, Love George</i> 1973 film by Darren McGavin

Happy Mother's Day, Love George is a 1973 American mystery film produced and directed by Darren McGavin. The film stars Patricia Neal, Cloris Leachman, Bobby Darin, Tessa Dahl, Ron Howard, Kathie Browne, Joe Mascolo, Simon Oakland, and Thayer David.

<i>Entity</i> (2012 film) 2012 British film

Entity is a 2012 British supernatural thriller film written and directed by Steve Stone. The film had its world premiere on 25 October 2012, at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival. It stars Dervla Kirwan, Charlotte Riley, and Branko Tomovic and centers upon a British reality show film crew that encounters a dark entity.

<i>The Possessed</i> (1977 film) 1977 television film directed by Jerry Thorpe

The Possessed is a 1977 American supernatural horror television film directed by Jerry Thorpe and written by John Sacret Young. The film stars James Farentino as a former priest, now an exorcist, who battles Satanic forces that are threatening the students at a girls' high school. It also stars Claudette Nevins, Eugene Roche, Harrison Ford, Ann Dusenberry, Diana Scarwid, and Joan Hackett.

The War Bride is a 2001 drama film directed by Lyndon Chubbuck and written by Angela Workman. It is a Canadian–British co-production.

Temple is a 2017 horror film directed by Michael Barrett and written by Simon Barrett. Logan Huffman, Natalia Warner, and Brandon Tyler Sklenar star as Americans who visit Japan to research local temples. Once there, they become obsessed with investigating a temple said to be haunted. It is an international co-production between the United States and Japan.

<i>Mara</i> (film) 2018 American film

Mara is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Clive Tonge in his feature-length debut and written by Jonathan Frank. The film stars Olga Kurylenko as criminal psychologist Kate Fuller, who investigates the murder of a man and is haunted by the eponymous demon who kills people in their sleep. The film also stars Craig Conway. Tonge and Frank based the film's story on conditions and mythology surrounding both sleep paralysis and Brugada syndrome. The film was released by Saban Films on September 7, 2018. It received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb.

Matriarch is a 2022 American horror film written and directed by Ben Steiner and starring Jemima Rooper and Kate Dickie.

References

  1. Condit, Jon (11 November 2005). "Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead (Television)". Dread Central . Retrieved 20 August 2012.