Half Dead is a horror-fantasy movie about a scientific, medical experiment gone wrong that results in a zombie-plague outbreak affecting only dwarves.
Terry, a hard working lawyer and dwarf, plans to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Darla while they are out to dinner celebrating the lifetime achievement award being bestowed upon him by the LPA (Little People of America).
The origins of the plague began in a lab where an explosion results in a toxic cleanup. The waste being improperly disposed of, infects a travelling circus full of little people who go wild attacking the crowd and disappearing into the night. One of the crazed zombies stows away with a local police officer, following up on a lead at the LPA convention. The zombie spreads the plague even further at the convention, the ensuing mayhem forces a police roundup of all little people.
In the jail cell Terry and Darla, separated by sex but communicating through the bars, forge a plan for escape. Terry feigns illness, drawing the attention of a guard. He doesn’t fall for it, but gets too close and the bloodthirsty zombie dwarves drag him down. His keys go spilling, unleashing the zombie hoard. In the mad rush to escape and avoid further brutality, Terry and Darla are separated.
Stumbling out on to the street, Terry is rushed off to safety by a self-proclaimed journalist Alex, whom they had met earlier. Terry and Alex begin searching for Darla. A tip leads them out of town to a vigilante headquarters where a local militia was rounding up zombies. They arrive too late and are witness to a scene of mass carnage, but no dwarf zombies. Following the trail to a nearby farmhouse they are soon passed up by a horde of blacked out SUVs carrying the zombies and Darla. They follow, but are unable to keep up. Stopping for gas Terry and Alex have a brutal encounter with a gas pump, a zombie and a lighter. Before it’s all over Alex is knocked unconscious and Terry is swept away by a Federal agent and taken to a non-descript lab for further experiments.
In restraints Terry is reunited with Darla who is now in the throws of the infection. The scientists come to understand that the reason Terry shows no signs of the disease is that it only affects people with achondroplasia, whereas Terry has spondyloepiphyseal dysplacia congenital. With this knowledge in mind, the politicians up for re-election that year are quick to force the scientists to come up with a cure that can be widely administered before wider knowledge of the outbreak (and their shady experiments) can spread.
The scientists having used Terry and Darla for their experiments are ordered to “get rid” of them but before doing so… a plane hijacked by zombies crashes into the power grid resulting in a black out. In the darkness Terry and Darla escape.
The cure is administered via Chemtrails and a mass brainwashing via HAARP ensues, causing the whole incident to be covered up. Terry and Darla have their long awaited dinner, but just before Terry pops the big question, one last uncured zombie pops out, attacks the waiter and runs off.