"Dance of the Dead" is a teen zombie movie with all the trappings that you would expect from the genre. The soundtrack is no exception but it is particularly well put together. For the underscore, director Gregg Bishop worked for the second time with composer Kristopher Carter, who is best known for his music to a string of television superhero series including Batman Beyond and its spin-offs. About half of the "Dance of the Dead" soundtrack release consists of score cues by Carter, and these are all very much in the tradition of the teen horror genre. "The Gravedigger" starts off with tremolo strings and hints of the Dies Irae and suspenseful arpeggios on the Celeste, which leads straight into fright section followed by more suspense with voices and cimbalom. "Sci Fi Club Mission" takes this mix and adds in synth instruments and effects, while "Zombies Rise" goes straight for the jugular with full orchestra dominated by heavy brass, string effects and rhythmic percussion.
"The Morgue" returns to a dark suspenseful place with initial piano and strings leading into a frenzied assault which then subsides into some moments of a dreadful calm before finishing with a tutti chase and a final fright. In complete contrast "Suiting Up" brings on the action heroics in true Indiana Jones style. The strings and piano return for a dark dance in "Prom", "Gwen needs Steven" has a more etherial quality until the ending, and then "School Finale" as you might expect brings the full on fight with the Zombies to a resounding conclusion. Based on this score, Kristopher Carter must must have a huge career potential.
The other half of the soundtrack album is given over to contemporary tracks selected by the film's music supervisor Peymon Maskan, and again very much a staple of the genre and the enegetic high school setting. They all have a live acoustic immediacy, many with a bouncing rock sound. Junk performs "Life is Good" and "Waiting", while Layton gives us "That Time" and two versions of "Shadows of the Night".
More about the movie including the trailer can be found at the movie website http://danceofthedeadmovie.com/, where you can also purchase the soundtrack album via iTunes.
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