<a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=2383" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=2383" align="right"></a><font color="maroon">by Larry Richman </font>
<font color="gray" size="1">August 5, 2008 7:22 PM</font>
Grassroots campaigns are nothing new in the entertainment world. Sometimes they succeed in getting an "on-the-bubble" television show renewed for one more season despite less-than-stellar ratings (e.g., <em>Gossip Girl</em>). Internet bloggers were even responsible for getting a line added to the script of the film <em>Snakes on a Plane</em> ("I've had it with these m/f snakes on this m/f plane").
Enter <em>Dance of the Dead</em>, the horror/comedy slated to go straight to DVD on October 14 via Lionsgate and Ghost House Underground in a package along with seven other genre titles. Readers know of my fondness for this film. <em>Dance of the Dead</em> was my <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/story101896.html" target="_blank">#1 Top Pick</a> from this year's SXSW Film Festival. Earlier on this blog you can find <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/story101869.html" target="_blank">my review</a>, <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/story101927.html" target="_blank">pictures from the Q&A</a> following the screening, <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/story101791.html" target="_blank">a video interview</a> with lead actor Jared Kusnitz, and <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/story101933.html" target="_blank">an interview</a> with Kusnitz and co-star Greyson Chadwick.
Following a series of positive reviews from many of the major names in the film world, a murmur has grown into an outcry which has grown into a full-blown campaign to convince Lionsgate to give the film a theatrical shot. "<em>Dance of the Dead</em> is a whole lot better than just another "DVD drop" flick -- and it sure as hell doesn't deserve to be released buried next to seven other titles," writes Scott Weinberg of <a href="http://www.cinematical.com/2008/07/31/note-to-lionsgate-dance-of-the-dead-is-a-really-good-movie/" traget="_blank">Cinematical</a>. "The flick's all but guaranteed to earn a cult following in only a few years time (trust me, it will) --- so why shouldn't Lionsgate get the ball rolling now and give it some sort of miniature theatrical push?" Many other online reviewers have added to the blogosphere chorus. Needless to say, I couldn't agree more and gladly raise my hand in support of the effort.
"Every once in awhile a film comes along which breaks new ground," I wrote in my review on March 15. "<em>Dance of the Dead</em> truly blew me away. It's a groundbreaking combination of high school mayhem and zombies -- think John Hughes meets John Carpenter meets George Romero. This is why I attend film festivals and sit through hundreds of screenings -- somewhere among them is an undiscovered gem, and <em>Dance of the Dead</em> shimmers."
Doesn't that describe a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen, where it can be a shared experience as exciting as the ones where the film has screened so far? I certainly think so. If Lionsgate knew what potential a theatrical release would have for <em>Dance of the Dead</em>, they wouldn't hesitate in scheduling it ASAP. Maybe if enough people point it out to them they'll get the message.
