Jason (Roy Kieffer) is a dance instructor who comes home to find his coke dealer roommate murdered. Soon after, he begins receiving threatening phone calls demanding he hand over a bunch of drugs, which he clearly doesn’t have. Adding to his woes is the fact that he’s a recovering addict, and all this business with drugs might push him back into using again.
Speaking of drugs, you’ll probably be wondering what kind of drugs the filmmakers were on. This is one nutty flick.
Directed by Richard W. (Ring of Fire) Munchkin, Dance or Die was an early effort from the legendary direct to video producing duo of Richard Pepin and Joespeh Merhi. It’s an oddball mix of dancing and action that doesn’t always work, but when it does find the sweet spot, the results can be jaw dropping. The opening does for ballet what Breakin’ did for breakdancing. That is to say, it’s fucking hilarious. Even the cheesy Meet Cute in a grocery store contains a genuine laugh or two.
Then there’s the hilarious dream scenes. One looks like a cross between a heavy metal music video and a community theater version of Cats. Another resembles a fever dream mash-up of an Easyriders Video Magazine mixed with a Skinamax flick. I also got a kick out of the subplot where our hero turns to a psychic friend to find the missing coke. (I wouldn’t dream of spoiling where they find it.) Moments like these make Dance or Die a B-Movie fan’s dream.
The action is okay too, although there’s not quite enough of it to really satisfy DTV action fans. It’s those nutty dream sequences that make Dance or Die so memorable. The druggie drama is fine and all, but the subplot about our hero going to Narcotic Anonymous meetings ground it in a reality that’s not nearly as fun as the cartoonish world that the campy dance routines inhabit. These scenes of our hero wrestling with his addiction are easily the weakest aspects of the film and really prevent the movie from attaining legendary status. The finale, which intercuts a cheesy choreographed dance routine with low rent shootouts and action is pure bliss though.
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