Dead Heat 1988

Detectives Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow are called to the scene of a brutal jewelry-store robbery that erupts into a chaotic, gun-blazing confrontation with the criminals. The two survive being riddled with bullets, thanks to their relentless, sometimes extreme methods, and their demanding captain, Mel Stewart as Captain Mayberry, assigns them to the case. The opening clash sets a frenetic, bruising tone for a story that blends hard-nosed police work with a chilling look at what happens when death isn’t final.

At the morgue, Rebecca Smythers informs the detectives that the two bodies she autopsied bore not only scars but also photographs proving she performed the procedures, and she remembers the autopsies herself—yet the bodies simply left the morgue. This eerie discrepancy hints that something extraordinary is at play. A preservative chemical found in the corpses ties the case to a company that has recently ordered a large quantity of it, nudging the investigation toward corporate malfeasance and dangerous experimentation.

The detectives press on and meet the company’s head of public relations, Randi James, who gives them a guided tour of the facility—and a glimpse into the shadowy world behind the gleaming surfaces. During a solo exploration, Doug stumbles upon a suspicious room and encounters the reanimated corpse of a biker, along with a strange machine whose purpose becomes clear in the strangest way imaginable. A brutal fight erupts as Mortis rushes to his partner’s aid, but the assault culminates with Mortis himself being knocked into a decompression chamber designed to humanely kill failed test animals; when the chamber is activated, he begins to suffocate, seemingly ending his life in a sudden, terrible way. The image is stark, the danger palpable, and the stakes sky-high.

Rebecca and Doug soon discover the machine’s true purpose: it can bring people back from the dead. They manage to revive Mortis, who appears healthy at first but reveals no heartbeat and icy skin, a chilling reminder that time is of the essence. Rebecca surmises he has roughly twelve hours before the reanimation process will fail, and Mortis resolves to use this window not only to solve the case but also to seek vengeance on the one who killed him. Their pursuit leads them to Randi’s house, where the undead menace strikes again, yet the pair manages to subdue the attackers. Randi reveals she is tied to Arthur P. Loudermilk, a wealthy industrialist whose power looms large over the company and the city.

Meanwhile, Rebecca suggests a possible way to sustain Mortis indefinitely, though the method remains uncertain and risky. With time running short, Mortis chooses to chase the truth and the killer. Doug splits to meet back at Randi’s home while Mortis and Randi slip away to Laudermilk’s tomb. There, a cryptic numeric code emerges as a crucial clue that could unlock the rest of the mystery. Returning to the lab, they find Doug dead, suspended and drowned in a fish tank, and Randi confesses she herself is undead, having been one of Arthur P. Loudermilk’s first resurrection subjects before dissolving into nothingness and begging Mortis for forgiveness.

The investigation heats up as Mortis confronts the head coroner, Dr. Ernest McNab, who is connected to the secret code and who manipulated the resurrection scheme for his own ends, killing Doug and trying to keep his own hands clean. McNab escapes and traps Mortis in an ambulance with Rebecca’s dead body, releasing the brakes and sending the vehicle into a massive highway collision. McNab reappears, more scarred and zombified, while Laudermilk’S resurrection machine is pitched to a room full of wealthy clients. Mortis charges in and a brutal firefight unfolds, leaving several of the rich clients dead and Laudermilk cowering.

McNab unveils a test subject—Doug—reanimated by the machine. But the brain has deteriorated after hours of death, rendering him little more than a zombie who cannot remember Mortis. Mortis manages to spark a memory of his partner, restoring Doug’s true self just in time. They go after McNab, who kills himself rather than be captured. Mortis and Doug resurrect McNab on the machine, only to trigger a final, dangerous overload that destroys the device in a spectacular explosion. Laudermilk’s promises of immortality crumble in the blaze, and the two detectives are left to pick up the pieces.

In the aftermath, the moral questions surrounding life, death, and the possibility of reincarnation linger as the two ponder what lies beyond. Doug even muses, with a wry, dark humor, about reincarnating as a girl’s bicycle seat. The film closes on Mortis’s wry, final observation about friendship and fate:

“This could be the end of a beautiful friendship.”

Note: a brief cameo by Linnea Quigley as a Zombie Go-go Girl adds a cheeky nod to the era’s horror sensibilities, reminding viewers of the carnival-like texture behind the film’s grim premise.