''Dead Men Don't Die'' is a 1990 American

horror-comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

film written and directed by

Malcolm Marmorstein Malcolm Marmorstein (August 9, 1928 – November 21, 2020) was an American screenwriter and director. Filmography Screenwriter *'' The Doctors'' (1963 – head writer) *''Dark Shadows'' (1966–67 – 82 episodes) *'' Peyton Place'' (1968 – 15 ...

and starring

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination f ...

and

Melissa Sue Anderson Melissa Sue Anderson (born September 26, 1962) is an American-Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress after appearing in several commercials in Los Angeles. Anderson is known for her role as Mary Ingalls in the NBC drama series ...

Plot

News anchor Barry Baron (

) discovers that a drug smuggling ring is operating out of the building where he works, and is chased down and eventually shot dead by the drug dealers. His co-anchor, Dulcie Niles (

) finds Barry's body, calls the police and prepares to film the investigation, but before the police can arrive Barry's body is stolen by the building's cleaner, Chafuka (

Mabel King Mabel Elizabeth King (née Washington; December 25, 1932 – November 9, 1999) was an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas on the ABC sitcom ''What's Happening!!'' from its premiere in 1976 until the end o ...

), who uses her

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

powers to reanimate Barry's corpse as a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

, allowing her to take over Barry's luxury apartment. In order to keep up appearances, Chafuka has Barry, who is otherwise unable to speak, continue performing his news broadcasts by controlling him with a voodoo doll, while Dulcie continues to investigate the drug ring with the help of incompetent police detective Jordan Penrose (

Mark Moses Mark W. Moses (born February 24, 1958) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Paul Young in the ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2011) and as Herman "Duck" Phillips in the AMC period drama ''Mad Men'' (2007–2014). ...

). Meanwhile, the head of the drug ring, Nolan (

Phil Bruns Philip Bruns (May 2, 1931 – February 8, 2012) was an American television and movie actor and writer. He portrayed George Shumway, the father of Mary Hartman on the 1970s comedic series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' and Morty Seinfeld, the fa ...

) sees one of Barry's news broadcasts and assumes that his henchmen bungled Barry's murder, and sends them to finish the job off. When they arrive at the station however, they end up being killed in a series of mishaps, and Chafuka turns them into more zombies. On seeing his zombified former henchmen, Nolan panics and takes refuge with the station's owner, Alex Cavanaugh (

Jack Betts Jack Fillmore Betts, also credited as Hunt Powers, is an American character actor and playwright. He has acted in film, on stage, and on television. Career Betts portrayed Chris Devlin in the CBS mystery series ''Checkmate'' (1960-1962). He a ...

), who it turns out is the mastermind behind the drug ring. He takes Dulcie and Jordan hostage and has Nolan drive them to safety, while Barry, Chafuka and the zombie henchmen give chase. During the course of the chase Dulcie and Jordan are rescued, and then Nolan loses control of the car, with both he and Cavanaugh being killed in the resulting crash. Chafuka turns Cavanaugh and Nolan into zombies and then takes full control of the station, with Barry continuing as lead anchor after his original personality fully returns, and Jordan quitting the police to become the station's head of security, with the zombie Nolan and his henchmen becoming security guards.

Cast

as Barry Baron *

as Dulcie Niles *

as Jordan Penrose *

as Chafuka *

as Alex Cavanaugh *

as Nolan * Robert Dryer as Mungo * Robert Covarrubias as Carlos * Phil Shipko as Frank *

Stanley Kamel Stanley Kamel (January 1, 1943 – April 8, 2008) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Charles Kroger on the American television series ''Monk''. Biography Kamel was born to a Jewish family and raised in South River, New Jerse ...

as Archie * Jerome Guardino as Neal Guardino

Reception

The film has gotten a low rating from many critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

it has gotten a 33% audience rating. Author Terry Rowan in his book "''The Book of the Undead A Zombie Film Guid''e" rated it a one-star and said "Sorry I couldn't stomach this film." In the book ''"Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie Guide''," John Stanley rated it a one-star.

References

External links

* 1990 comedy horror films 1990 horror films 1990 films American zombie films American zombie comedy films American supernatural horror films Films with screenplays by Malcolm Marmorstein Films directed by Malcolm Marmorstein 1990 comedy films Films about Voodoo 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{comedy-horror-film-stub