Dance Macabre (1992) User Reviews

1992: A ballet slasher travesty!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 3 January 2024]

Okay, we need to talk about the "grand finale" of this (righteously) forgotten early 90s slasher. I honestly don't want to ruin it, but is there anyone -seriously - who didn't figure out the supposedly shocking end-twist from the first moment Svetlana rolls into the picture in her wheelchair? Slashers from the early 1990s don't score well on inspiration or creativity, I know, but the revelation of "Dance Macabre" is too preposterous, ridicule, and predictable for words. Besides, after looking up the film here on IMDb, I also noticed the cast listing blatantly gives away the big twist as well.

It had potential, though. Based on other sadistic and bloody horror flicks with a ballet academy setting (like Argento's "Suspiria" or Fulci's "Murder Rock") and my appreciation for writer/director Greydon Clark (he did make "The Return" and "Without Warning" after all), I had relatively good hopes that "Dance Macabre" would at least be an undemanding but grim slasher with a massive body count. And, of course, there's the lead role of horror monument Robert Englund as the scar-faced and sinister ballet academy's headmaster. How bad can it possibly be, right?

The painful truth is that, since the "Nightmare on Elm Street" sequels, Robert Englund only starred in lousy flicks in which depicted eccentric weirdos ("Phantom of the Opera", "Night Terrors", "The Mangler") and this is his worst and most unconvincing role of them all. The body count is reasonably high, but the killing methods are dull, unimaginative, and frustratingly un-gory. Clark's direction is thoroughly unremarkable. Perhaps he felt restricted by the omnipresence of producer Menahem Golan, but even Clark's notoriously terrible "Uninvited" had more panache. In fact, there's only one brightness in "Dance Macabre" and it's lead girl Michelle Zeitlin. Not necessarily because she's a gifted actress, but because she's a beauty with a breathtaking body. She's a lot curvier and more voluptuous than a ballet dancer ought to be, but I'm not complaining. Apparently, Zeitlin quickly quit the acting business and hosts wellness workshops nowadays.

Bland and forgettable.

[Hey_Sweden · 4/10 · 1 June 2022]

One would think that veteran cult filmmaker Greydon Clark ("Joysticks", "Without Warning", etc.) had just been watching "Suspiria" when he concocted this inane script. Also reminiscent of the 1989 version of "The Phantom of the Opera", it has that films' star, genre icon Robert Englund, playing an American choreographer named Anthony Wagner who works at a Russian ballet academy. The newest student is Jessica (Michelle Zeitlin, a professional ballet dancer herself), who was pressured to attend by her fat-cat father (Clark, in a cameo). Wouldn't you know it: Anthony takes a big interest in Jessica since she reminds him of a deceased lover, and murders begin to plague the academy soon after Jessica enrolls.

This viewer is generally a fan of Clarks' offerings, but he doesn't exactly exhibit the kind of flair (or sense of doom and gloom) that Dario Argento brought to "Suspiria". This is a pretty dull "horror" film with a pretty bad script and some VERY bad dialogue. Zeitlin is sexy and appealing, and Englund is always worth watching, but the rest of the cast is highly uninspired. The killings are almost gore-free and underwhelming, there's zero suspense, and the "big revelation" at the end is painfully obvious from the word "go". On the plus side, we do get some decent atmosphere (this was filmed on location in St. Petersburg) and a nice music score by Dan Slider.

I would consider myself a fairly undemanding genre fan, but even I would be hard-pressed to defend this one. As good as Englund is (in one of his typical villain roles), he can't save this picture all by himself.

Four out of 10.

Mind Bogglingly Boring

[rickypeters-49138 · 3/10 · 16 September 2019]

The age of Blu-Ray has brought out some really excellent hidden treasures that, for whatever reason, time had forgotten about. I'd hoped Dance Macabre would be one of those films. It only had a quick release on VHS back in the early 90's and no one ever brought it back up again. Still, hearing about it, I was intrigued.

The elements are all here for a great movie. You have genre legend Robert Englund in a bizarre, multi-character performance, a great setting, the backdrop of ballet, and a crazed murderer running around. It all appears to add up to some potentially interesting Argento-esque thrills. How did it end up being this boring?

Englund's character is the head of a prestigious ballet school in Russia who believes his newest addition to the program is a dead ringer for his lover who was killed in an accident years ago. Someone starts killing people so that she can end up being the star dancer.

All the death scenes are bland and suspense-free and only Englund really sticks out as an interesting actor. Any scenes he's not in are nap inspiring. The music score sounds like something from a late 80's training video and the big twist is so telegraphed and obvious that you wonder why they even bothered to give it a big reveal. Don't bother with this one.

Second-Rate Production Brings Far Less Than Satisfactory Results.

[rsoonsa · 2/10 · 26 March 2006]

A doleful fable that one must hope will be the sole example of a Ballet Slasher genre, this socio-cultural hybrid is additionally not unique in any other fashion, with a result that ennui will be the fate of those viewers who may see it, although taking into account the somewhat tarnished reputation of director Greydon Clark, their numbers should probably be few. Although featured player Robert Englund has stated that this affair is not a sequel or otherwise related to the version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1989) in which he stars, its producers, 21st Century, have hired Clark to utilize elements from such a hypothetical undertaking, with St. Petersburg, Russia, as setting and with a familiar theme of serial homicide included in the blend. Englund is Anthony Wagner, a renowned American choreographer who, along with his former lover, Svetlana, manages a ballet academy in St. Petersburg, his partner now referred to as "Madame", and confined to a wheelchair following a long past motorcycle collision upon which she and the now deeply facially scarred Anthony were riding. When a young American dancer, Jessica (Michelle Zeitlin) is enrolled by her father (Clark) at the facility, Wagner immediately expresses his amazement at her resemblance to the young Svetlana, a likeness not apparent to a rational viewer. From among the academy attendees, one fortunate woman will be selected to perform with the "St. Petersburg Ballet Russe" and as the most skilled aspirants are being slaughtered by various means and in rapid succession, it becomes apparent that Jessica will make the cut, this not being the only predictable element within a flabbily constructed screenplay. There are problems here with continuity, substandard makeup effects for this essay in Grand Guignol are risible, dubbing, synching and other post-production processing are shabbily accomplished, the photography is hyperfiltered, red plainly being the colour of choice, and the direction, script and scoring are dullish throughout. The much maligned Clark also directs another low budget film with its setting in picturesque St. Petersburg, and in which there is much to like, Russian HOLIDAY (a.k.a. Russian Roulette), but in that movie he benefits from an abler cast, paced by Susan Blakely.

What The Heck Did I Just Watch?!

[allyball-63124 · 1/10 · 30 September 2017]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. If you asked me to describe this film I would say that it's a crappy fan film of the Robert Englund version of Phantom of the Opera done by a middle school student with no idea how to use editing software, or their brain, and even that would be too generous. This film was originally intended to be a sequel to that version of Phantom of the Opera, and even has Robert Englund in it, until it was rewritten into whatever this mess is. First off, the story is a mess. I had no idea what was going on throughout the movie because most of it is just bizarre imagery and plot points strung together. Plus, what I could follow, was just point for point the Robert Englund film except crappier. That's another thing. This movie had to have been done on a lot budget. Everything is just so unprofessional. The sets, the acting, the editing, GOOD LORD THE EDITING! Some scenes are shot so confusingly or so terribly that you can't tell what's going on. Like in one scene where a character is getting MURDERED, it keeps cutting back to the main character doing some weird dance. This kills all the tension because the character's death is being shot poorly and it keeps cutting to something that kills the tension. The 2004 version of Phantom of the Opera did something similar but the cuts were quicker, cleaner, you could tell what was going on, and it had more emphasis on the guy getting murdered! There are a lot of scenes like that too and it's too the point where you can't possibly know what's going on. Moving on to the characters, I hate them. Almost every single one. The main character, Jessica, was honestly really obnoxious but oh my lord is her "boyfriend" so much worse! Honestly, I forgot the guy's name so sorry for that but I still have to rant about him. He is a creep! One of the first things he says to Jessica, who he has just met by the way, is "Wanna get wet with me?" What the hell?! Yet Jessica still kisses him and later has sex with him! I was honestly quite happy when he died. As for the other characters, I liked Alexander but that's because it's Robert Englund and he plays this character pretty much identically to how he played the Phantom. However, outside of some of the only good acting in this film, he doesn't appear enough to save this film. There was another character I liked and her name was Claudine. She was really nice and friendly and she had a cute french accent. She kind of reminded me of Christine because of that and her curly brown hair. However, she only lasts for maybe twenty minutes. I was pretty upset when she died though so at least that counts for something. As for the other characters, I don't know their names, don't remember anything about them except that most of them died and I didn't care. The same can be said for the romance actually. Okay, Jessica and Alexander interact a bit but most of it is him threatening her and I already mentioned Jessica and creeper. Honestly, the only thing about this movie I enjoyed aside from Claudina and Alexander were that sometimes, it was so bad it was funny but that was very rare. This movie is just overall awful.

Ballerina bmovie horror, no Phantom of the Opera 2.

[bensan9 · 9/10 · 5 July 2020]

If you are into this kind of film, then this is a great one. I very much enjoyed it.

The girl who played Jessica was pretty. Robert Englund is always an awesome villain. The setting was nice. Pretty much ballet and slasher movies are a perfect combination. Also cheesy 80's, early 90's slasher movies are mostly fun and this one has that feel.

The movie had glaring weaknesses too-- The original plan of being Phantom of the Opera 2 shows you that there is some problems with the script. There is no opera in this movie at all. Robert Englund's dual character who is revealed at the end is just too obvious and makes the movie silly. There is no gore, so don't get this expecting anything like that.

Still, this is a worthy addition to a VHS collection if you are into this kind of film. I liked it alot.

Slightly Above Average Slasher

[liberalblossom15 · 6/10 · 18 December 2007]

When young Jessica Anderson is abandoned by her father at a Russian ballet school, she is understandably annoyed. It seems as if her father will do anything to get her off of his hands, including bribe the man in charge of the school's management, Anthony (Robert Englund). In fact, the only reason she's accepted into the academy is because she bares a strong resemblance to his once young and beautiful Svetlana - who is now wheelchair bound and running the school for young women. Nevertheless, Jessica begins to make new friends, who all happen to be better dancers than she. One by one these friends are picked off, and until the third girl dies, no one but the audience knows what is going on. (Jessica only has speculations) Who is behind all of the killings, and why? It seems obvious that whoever it is wants Jessica to dance for the St. Petersburg Ballet Russe, but why her?

This flick may not be the most original, but I still find it entertaining. I'd call it a cross between the slasher version of Phantom of the Opera and Susperia, both films I enjoy greatly as well. I found the acting decent, no worse than many other slasher films - Englund is great as usual. The deaths were nice too, I found them inventive and different. There isn't any gore,and only some T&A (but probably enough to satisfy a male viewer in that respect). It's cheesy and it's fun, and there is even a twist ending(which you probably can guess not too far into the movie if you are paying attention...).

Overall, a cheesy but fun little slasher flick that I enjoy. It's hard to get your hands on a copy though - so check used copies on Ebay or Amazon.com. Worth a watch for any Englund completest.

Atmosphere over slashing

[kbtoys100 · 8/10 · 11 March 2021]

We all know the early 90s were when the slasher and horror in general were almost completely dead. The erotic thriller was in.

Shot in St Petersburg, Russia, the production used their budget on the location and Robert Englund, leaving a small body count and little gore.

Good: The gorgeous locations are beautifully shot with a frequent red lighting and combined with a haunting score and you get quite a nice mood.

Bad: The story repeats itself a lot (girl dies, main girl Michelle complains about being at the academy and wonders where her friends go, the instructors act weird. Repeat). Many characters are rather annoying. As mentioned, the kills are very basic (drowning, strangling, etc) and we only get a bit of blood.

In the end the movie is a bit too tame for slasher fans and not thrilling or erotic enough for fans of those movies. I probably should give this a lower rating but I have a nostalgia of picking this up from the local video store.

Still worth a watch for Robert Englund or the die hard slasher fans.

Dance Macabre

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 10 September 2022]

How did it take so long for Greydon Clark and Menahem Golan to work together? Well, their team-up started with The Forbidden Dance and certainly another dance movie had to follow. Originally developed as a sequel to the earlier 21st Century Robert Englund-starring vehicle The Phantom of the Opera - it was called Terror of Manhattan - it was still released in Japan as a follow-up.

This movie is a collection of so many of my movie obsessions. It's a horror dance academy movie, which makes you want to compare it to Suspiria as much as Etoile. It has Englund seeking another role that isn't Freddy. It has Josef von Sternberg's son Nicholas Josef von Sternberg as its cinematographer. It was produced by Harry Alan Towers. And, most of all, it's a Menahem Golan movie.

At a dance academy outside Saint Petersburg run by crippled Madame Gordenko (Englund!) and staffed by American-born teacher Anthony Wagner (also Englund!) and Olga (Irina Davidoff), a new student by the name of Jessica Anderson (Michelle Zeitlin, who shows up briefly in Showgirls). She struggles through the first class, but Anthony sees something in her, as she looks exactly like his lover Svetlana, a Russian ballerina who was injured in a motorcycle crash and became the twisted Gordenko.

Claudine (Nina Goldman) tries to help her learn the moves, but Jessica is better at dancing to rock music. As Claudine goes to the spa, she's drowned in a hot tub. Meanwhile, Jessica falls for a photographer named Alex (Alexander Sergeyev) who is sneaking around taking photos and has a cool motorcycle. The rest of the school is a mess, as there's a girl named Ingrid (Marianna Moen) who stays in the attic dancing non-stop while she does drugs.

While dancing with male dancers the next day, Jessica grabs one of their crotches. This upsets everyone, including Angela (Julene Renee), who walks right into a noose. No one notices. In fact, everyone just decides that anyone who dies has decided to leave the school, like Natasha (Natasha Fesson), who is pushed into the path of a train. And oh yeah - when the students all go to a nightclub, Anthony watches Jessica and Alex kiss - it's a prelude to him sneaking into the dorms and dancing horizontally with her - and starts crying.

The film then reveals that Gordenko is killing the girls as we watch her launch Ingrid from her attic window. Almost everyone leaves the school as the deaths become too hard to get past. Anthony tells Olga that Jessica is the only good dancer left, so she must represent the academy at an upcoming special audition.

Jessica then catches Alex sneaking into Anthony's quarters. She tries to find him but Olga finds him first. And then they open a cupboard filled with Claudine and Angela's bodies. Gordenko appears and stabs Alex, getting away in time for Olga to pull the dagger out and Jessica to see her with the murder weapon, just in time for Anthony to arrive. Oh man, red herrings abound, but Olga accidentally stabs herself and Anthony whispers in her ear, telling her that the secret is safe.

Anthony begins to transform Jessica into his long-dead ballerina girlfriend and she soon learns that he and Gordenko are the same person - Svetlana's dead body is in the attic - as he drugs her and awakens her just in time to dance for the audition, calling her Svetlana. Yet when she rips off the wig and starts her Flashdance moment, dancing to the music that she wants to perform to, Anthony and Gordenko battle for control of his body. That can only end with Anthony throwing himself off a balcony to save Jessica, telling her as he dies that "You danced for me."

Wow. This movie is absolutely wild with Englund acting as an old wheelchair bound woman with a voicebox when he isn't being a lovesick dance instructor. And did Harry Alan Towers love Ten Little Indians plots or what?