Der Re-Animator

Considering the 70's was a decade of monumental proportions as far as films went, it was a shame the 80's had to produce such dreck, especially where horror films are concerned. In the 70's we had "The Exorcist", "Halloween", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Phantasm"-just to name a few. The 80's did produce a small but stellar group of classics, however, including "Evil Dead" 1 & 2, "A Nightmare On Elm Street", "An American Werewolf In London" and, of course, "Re-Animator". Like "Werewolf" and the "Evil Dead" films, part of "Re-Animator"'s success and notoriety is the film's deliciously sinister blend of horror and humor. Wait let me correct that-perverse horror and sick humor. In accordance with the decade that birthed it, this film is typically over the top and totally gratuitous, pulling out all the stops at every turn. Jeffrey Combs heads a great cast as Herbert West, a strange and eccentric but brilliant young doctor/scientist who has perfected a syrum that can reanimate the dead. Circumstances get out of hand when a medical student and his fiance (Bruce Abbott & Barbara Crampton) get involved in West's work and a plagarist rival doctor (David Gale) plots to steal his idea. Horror and hilarity ensue from there on, thanks to imaginitive visual effects coupled with clever dialogue. For nitpickers like myself there are a few minor inconsistencies in the screenplay, but it does very little to hinder the film. Ironically, several scenes that wound up on the cutting room floor (included on the dvd) would have fleshed out those minor story flaws, but they were excised-and probably rightly so-in the name of pacing. Besides, any flaws in writing are easily forgotten about thanks to the terrific performances. Here is a cast that really brought the characters "to life" so to speak; Combs as the nerdy scientist and Gale's lecherous Dr. Hill are both standouts. And Stuart Gordon's strong direction holds the whole thing together even when the film threatens to be crushed by it's own outlandishness. For those interested, check out the sequel "Bride of Re-Animator" that followed 4 years later. It doesn't hold a candle to this one, but it's plenty of fun in it's own right.

Ah, finally a horror camp classic that deserves to be called a horror camp classic. Re-Animator is one of those fun horror movies that is so over the top that it is just a lot of fun to watch, kind of like the spectacular Evil Dead films, although not quite to that same level of skillful horror/comedy mix. Ironically enough, I think it should be a testament to the quality of the rest of the movie that it is able to work so well despite prominently featuring a soundtrack that is a naked rip-off of the Psycho soundtrack. It's amazing to me that Richard Bond, the music composer, didn't think anyone would notice him plagiarizing one of the most famous movie soundtracks in cinematic history, but luckily everyone else in the production was right on the mark.

Jeffrey Combs delivers a wonderfully crazy performance as Herbert West, the scientist in the movie who is determined that he has discovered a scientific method to beat death, and is desperate to try it out on a human being rather than small animals, on whom he has had remarkable success. He is playing a completely one-dimensional character, a genius scientist whose mental capacity is also tinged with madness, but which is counterbalanced by the fact that he may very well be desperate to try something potentially immoral but which could also potentially revolutionize medicine. Maybe his intentions are good after all, but for the purposes of the film, he just wants to get his hands on some fresh corpses, which is a great premise for a horror film.

The movie operates in its own world, like the Evil Dead films did. It takes place in the horror genre but wants to combine some elements of drama as well, as we have a real scientist who is truly brilliant. He is still in medical school, I believe, but is often smarter than his often-published professors, criticizing their work for being incorrect or even plagiarized. He's very quick to make enemies, I would think his line of work might be easier the less people he had watching him, so it's unfortunate that he was so good at making people not like him. Mere days after he rents out a room from a couple of other students, they find their cat dead in his refrigerator. I hate it when new roommates do that.

There is plenty of gratuitous nudity in the film, and while I appreciate nudity as much as the next guy, I don't like it when it drives a weak film, and that is certainly not the case here. There is a graphic and highly disturbing nude scene three quarters or so through the film that made me literally cringe and turn my head, not because of gore but by the sheer disturbing idea of it, it was awful. But the thing that I loved is that that scene fits in with the rest of this movie so well. It is all about too much gore and too much blood and too much nudity, but also lots of laughs. This is a perfect example of how much fun scary movies can be.

This movie is campy, gory fun, amusing in parts, generally entertaining... and Jeffrey Combs is perfect as West--calm, creepy, and endearing at the same time. But at the same time, it lacks the beauty and eloquence of H.P. Lovecraft's original story, "Herbert West--Re-Animator." The modern, 1980's setting seems odd and a bit awkward. West would be much more at home in the world around the nineteen-teens and twenties, when the original story was written and set.

Lovecraft's works are so much more than just shocking tales and monster stories. They're beautiful and engaging, thrilling and--not just gory, but genuinely morbid in the truest sense of the world; a sense that seems to have been largely lost in the world of modern horror.

Re-Animator possesses none of the first three qualities. It does have some true morbidity--but only in the very small parts wherein it remains true to the source material.

To sum up: This is a good, entertaining movie, if you don't mind some gore. It's definitely worth watching. But it's the kind of movie you watch one night and then the next night forget about. It's far from worthy of cult classic status.

While many horror movies have strong doses of humour in them (from 'Bride Of Frankenstein' to 'Dawn Of The Dead', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' to 'From Dusk Til Dawn'), there's very few actual horror-comedies I enjoy. 'Motel Hell' is one exception, Frank Henenlotter's movies, especially 'Frankenhooker' are others, but to my mind Stuart Gordon's 'Re-Animator' is by far the most original and entertaining one ever made in my opinion. This movie put Gordon on the map and also made Jeffrey Combs into a worldwide cult figure. Combs is absolutely brilliant as Herbert West, one of the most memorable mad scientists in horror history, and the rest of the supporting cast - Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and the lovely Barbara Crampton - are all excellent. Gordon uses H.P. Lovecraft's West stories as a jumping off point for some grotesque and genuinely funny moments that once seen are never forgotten, particularly THAT scene between Crampton and Gale, which is now the stuff of legend, though beware it is cut from some versions of the movie. Make sure you see the uncut version of 'Re-Animator' whatever you do! Gordon went on to make some other Lovecraft adaptations, some good, some not so good, but 'Re-Animator' was the first and is still in my opinion the best. Highly recommended fun which gets better and better as the years go by! This movie is an unquestionable horror classic!

I bought this movie after reading a review, it must be one of the greatest horror comedies of all time! If you, like myself, thought that Evil Dead II was hilarious just go ahead and watch this one. Very sarcastic, probably the best Lovecraft movie.