Dead Heat

Detectives Mortis and Bigelow respond to a violent jewelry store robbery. The robbers open fire and a bloody shootout erupts with police, but the two detectives survive thanks to their training and resourcefulness. Their captain immediately assigns them to the case and starts the investigation.

Rebecca informs the detectives that the two corpses had already been to the morgue and show autopsy scars, yet she has photographs proving she performed the procedures. The images suggest the bodies may have left the morgue willingly rather than dying again. This raises the possibility of resurrection and sets the horror-toned mystery in motion.

A preservative chemical found in the revived bodies ties them to a company that had recently ordered large quantities. Mortis and Bigelow decide to trace the chemical through corporate channels to uncover who is behind the resurrections. The trail grows riskier as they realize a powerful entity is involved.

They meet Randi James, the company’s public relations head, who offers a tour of the facility. She hints at a larger conspiracy and a hidden truth behind the strange events. The detectives begin to suspect Laudermilk’s involvement.

Doug wanders into a suspicious room and encounters a reanimated biker operating a strange machine. Roger rushes to help, and in the struggle he is knocked into a decompression chamber that is activated, asphyxiating him.

Rebecca and Doug manage to revive Roger using the resurrection machine. He feels normal on the outside but has no heartbeat and is unnaturally cold, with Rebecca estimating roughly twelve hours before the reanimation wears off. Rebecca also hints there might be a way to keep Roger alive indefinitely, but the plan is uncertain. He vows to use the time to pursue the killer.

Roger and Randi visit Arthur Laudermilk's tomb and discover a numeric code that Roger later recognizes as a crucial clue. The code hints that Laudermilk's wealth and influence drive the resurrection project. This deepens the mystery and links the case to Laudermilk.

Returning to Randi's home, the detectives discover Doug dead, suspended and drowned in a fish tank after hours. The shocking sight raises the stakes and pushes Roger to intensify the pursuit.

Randi tells Roger that she herself is undead, having been one of Laudermilk's first resurrection subjects. She dissolves shortly after making the confession, asking Roger for forgiveness as her body once again fails.

Roger confronts head coroner Dr. Ernest McNab, who is connected to the coded clue. McNab captures Roger and locks him in an ambulance with Rebecca's dead body, then releases the brakes and drives toward a highway collision to finish him.

The crashed ambulance leads to a lab where McNab and Laudermilk pitch the resurrection machine to wealthy clients. Mortis interrupts the presentation as a crossfire erupts, killing several clients and exposing the machine's danger.

McNab resurrects Doug as a test subject, but hours after death his brain has deteriorated into a near-zombie state. Roger rekindles Doug’s memory, allowing him to regain his humanity just long enough to join the fight. In the climactic sequence, Roger triggers an overload that explodes the machine; they destroy it and reflect on life, death, and friendship, with Roger quipping that this could be the end of a beautiful friendship.