DANCE OF THE DEAD

In a world devastated by the Third World War and with the population decimated by biological weapons, gangs of thugs go in search of human blood on commission from a dark individual who uses the plasma to animate the nights of his venue, the Doom Room. The screenplay of the episode directed by Tobe Hooper was written by Christian Richard Matheson, the son of the great Richard Matheson, inspired by a story by his father. The plot is set in a future not too far from ours: the world is in ruins; the population has been decimated by chemical weapons used in the Third World War. Chaos reigns. Gangs of criminals roam the deserted streets in search of blood; the reason will soon be revealed. In the Doom Room, the city's most 'in' venue, the main attraction is the Dance of Death: corpses of young and beautiful girls are reanimated by mixing fresh blood with a substance used in war, and are forced to perform macabre dances for the joy of the audience in the room. Peggy works in a small restaurant with her mother; her father is dead, and so is her sister. She is an angelic girl, light years away from the young women who crowd the Doom Room, and it is this 'innocence' that makes her attractive to Jak, one of those drifters I was talking about earlier. A drifter with a heart of gold. Between the two young people, so different in their way of being and living, attraction sparks. Peggy 'will let herself go' and will learn how life can be both fun and cruel at the same time. She will live a night she will never forget, that will change her forever. Certainly the 'packaging' (I mean the direction) of the product tries to be rather appealing, and winks both at 'Saw - The Enigmista' and MTV music videos. This creates confusion and a sense of discomfort in many situations. But this does not mean that it is a superficial episode, since Hooper offers us some reflections. The impression is that too much is exposed: the theme of the family, extreme entertainment, nuclear war are concentrated in less than an hour. Not certainly an optimistic episode. Hooper talks to us about skeletons in the closet. In a broken world, even the family no longer appears as an impregnable fortress since the overprotective mother and apparently point of reference hides a terrible secret. The angelic Peggy lets herself be carried away by extreme entertainment. She will discover how hard life can be, and will change forever, leaving behind the innocence that distinguishes her in the first scenes of the episode. Hooper tells us that this society is corrupted, sick, and rotten: if you want to survive you have to adapt. There is no room for innocence and naivety. The episode also criticizes the philosophy of the entertainment world according to which 'the show must go on'; indeed, as already said, the main attraction of the Doom Room is the performance of reanimated corpses, sad freak shows. The show must go on at any cost, there are no limits to decency, morality, common sense. Once exploited to the fullest, the bodies are thrown into a container and incinerated (the most tragic and disturbing scene of the film). Finally Hooper (this perhaps the clearest message) looks to the future. War brings nothing good. The scenes of the bombing are anguishing, they make an even greater impression if one considers that the cinematic reconstruction simplifies and softens what happens in reality. The success of the film is also thanks to three excellent performers. Jessica Lowndes, the actress who plays Peggy, is credible in the role of the simple and naive girl. Jonathan Tucker portrays a controversial and fascinating character, Jak, a thug who, unlike his 'buddy' Boxx, is definitely kinder and more sensitive. Deep down a good guy, but he had to adapt to the harsh reality that surrounds him. But the scene is dominated by the immense Robert 'Freddy Kruger' Englund, who, in the role of the owner of the Doom Room, brings out the best of his repertoire, giving us a character with perverse charm. In conclusion, I believe this episode might appeal to those who are not very familiar with horror, while it will probably raise eyebrows among those who are more knowledgeable with the genre.