the plot: Cops Roger Mortis (Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Piscopo) are assigned to crack a series of jewelry store heists, but their case takes an unexpected turn when a pair of thieves engages in a violent shoot-out with police. No matter how many times the robbers are shot, they won’t go down—that is, until Mortis and Bigelow make creative use of their lieutenant’s car. An autopsy later reveals that the crooks were dead even before they were riddled with bullets, a fact that neither Mortis, Bigelow, nor Dr. McNab (McGavin), the county coroner, can believe. A series of clues leads the cops to the Dante Pharmaceuticals company, where they meet Randi James (Frost), the company’s sassy public relations representative. She denies that the company is involved in any bizarre re-animation experiments, but the truth comes out when Bigelow stumbles into a secret laboratory and is attacked by a mutated biker zombie. During the struggle, Mortis is killed, but his would-be girlfriend Becky (Clare Kirkconnell) uses the drug company’s re-animation machine to resurrect Mortis. Life after death isn’t all that great, though—Mortis’ body is rapidly decomposing, and he has a mere 12 hours to solve the zombie mystery before he disintegrates completely.

why it’s good: A zombie-buddy cop movie starring Joe Piscopo? What could go wrong? Well, a lot, actually, but that’s all part of the charm of “Dead Heat.” After all, few movies can boast having a butchered cow zombie busting out of a meat locker and attacking a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member. It’s excessively cheesy, but in a good natured way, and Williams, Piscopo and the rest of the cast are well aware that they’re in what is possibly one of the most ridiculous movies ever made. Director Goldblatt and screenwriter Terry Black must have decided that the best rules are no rules in “Dead Heat,” since the crazy, hastily sketched out re-animation machine is capable of everything from bringing dead cops and crooks back to life to resurrecting headless chickens, pigs and a raw liver in a butcher shop. There is no scene too inane for “Dead Heat,” no excess too excessive, and that’s why, during the bloody climax, the zombified Williams and another zombie spend a good 90 seconds shooting each other point blank with machine guns. The fight ends only when Williams tosses a grenade at the enemy ghoul. Yeah, it’s that sort of movie. And though the writing is terrible (Piscopo gets such choice lines as “Sorry to interrupt your erection!”), the acting isn’t that bad, and the film is buoyed by appearances by Darren McGavin and Vincent Price as an aging business tycoon who makes full use of the resurrection machine. Otherwise, “Dead Heat” is sort of a dumb mess with some cool, goofy moments.

why you should own it: Someone, somewhere must have clamored for it, because Anchor Bay released a tricked-out DVD for “Dead Heat” in 2004. Features include commentary by Goldblatt and Black, an “electronic press kit” for the film, and a digital copy of the screenplay, in case you need to steal some of Piscopo’s killer dialogue.