Deborah Raffin in Dance of the Dwarfs

In 1983, Deborah Raffin starred in the horror movie Dance of the Dwarfs. The lovely actress delivered yet another engaging performance and she had great chemistry with her co-star, Peter Fonda. Though the film (also known as Jungle Heat and, as a nod to one of Fonda's most famous roles, Easy Flyer) is not well-remembered or typically reviewed in a positive manner, it is an assured cult classic and a very entertaining romp.

In Dance of the Dwarfs, Deborah Raffin gets a chance to display many of her talents. Besides looking beautiful, the actress got to do some things in the movie that she didn't often do in many of her other projects. Dance of the Dwarfs gave Deborah Raffin the opportunity to handle a gun in more than one scene and another sequence in the film called for her to act drunk. Yet another scene sees her getting accosted by a snake. She also, of course, has her acting chops in order as the film sees her engaging in some fantastic interplay with Peter Fonda.

Any fan of Deborah Raffin would be well-advised to take a look at Dance of the Dwarfs. It's a very fun film and it's not meant to be taken too seriously. Even people that don't normally watch horror/monster movies may still find the Raffin/Fonda combination enjoyable. Bottom line: Deborah Raffin looks so great in this movie it really should be seen by all.

A look at Dance of the Dwarfs

In 1983, Deborah Raffin expanded the horror credits on her resume by starring alongside Peter Fonda in Dance of the Dwarfs (also released on video under the title Jungle Heat).

Deborah Raffin and Peter Fonda

Deborah Raffin and John Amos

Though Dance of the Dwarfs was filmed in 1982 and released in 1983 (IMDb says 1984 but the film was assuredly released at least by October 1983 when it aired on HBO), apparently the project had been simmering for quite some time prior. A newspaper article from the summer of 1975 reveals that the Deborah Raffin and her husband Michael Viner were planning to co-produce the movie back then.

When they finally did get the movie into production, it was decided to film it in the Philippines. Though it was much cheaper to make the film there, other problems arose during filming.

Here's a bit of gossip about the stars of Dance of the Dwarfs, Deborah Raffin and Peter Fonda, during a stay in Hong Kong. The article does refer to the film as a "classy thriller" and also that 20 minutes of the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and received a positive response.

And finally, just for fun, a short quote from actress Ella Joyce who appeared unbilled in the film: