Before we begin, I feel it pertinent to mention that the DVD cover I posted does indeed say "these
CAPS". I once bought a copy of this movie from a Chinese mall solely for that grammatical error. Imagine my confusion when I realized that it wasn't an error and was greenlit for the ACTUAL DVD, likely by the same people that single-handedly propped up Bolivia's economy by producing this flick! That's not meant as a knock either, because Dead Heat is one hell of an entertaining piece of cine-trash, cocaine financing or not.
Your mileage on this one is definitely going to vary depending on how much you like Treat Williams (RIP) and Joe Piscopo on a scale of 1-10. I'm around an 8.5, particularly where Williams is concerned, having loved him in stuff like The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper and Deep Rising. He was a very versatile actor and it's a shame that he left us so soon. Piscopo is definitely an acquired taste, but he's usually pretty reliable when he's left to his own devices, which seems to be the case here. They have good chemistry, hit the right lines at the right time and really that's all you can ask for in a movie about a zombie CAP named Roger Mortis.
There's also some solid support from Fuji Fave Darren "Kolchak, The Night Stalker" McGavin, Robert "Johnny Cab/Voyager Doctor" Picardo, Keye "Grasshopper" Luke and Professor Toru "Sub Zero, now plain zero" Tanaka. Even Vincent MOTHERF**KING Price manages to get in on the action, though, sadly, his role is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. I know most people will consider Edward Scissorhands to be his "final" film, but that movie sucks, so I'm saying it's Dead Heat and if you don't like it, tough toenails.
When re-watching this movie, I was anticipating one line in particular, having always found the delivery hilarious. I am quite happy to say that Treat Williams saying "I'm dead, Rebecca. How much worse can it get?" was still enough to make me spit my drink out, and yes, I took a sip right before because I WANTED TO SPIT MY DRINK OUT OK?!?!?! Anyhow, I'm not about to say Dead Heat is a masterpiece, or even really a good movie by the metrics people use to rate them, but it's entertaining as all hell to me and still managed to get a drink to shoot out of my face. If that's not worth a
6/10 then I really don't know what is these days.