The special effects department went through twenty-four gallons of fake blood during the shoot, makeup effects artist John Naulin said that Re-Animator was the bloodiest film he had ever worked on. In the past, he had never used more than two gallons of blood on a film.
H.P. Lovecraft never really liked his Re-animator stories and wrote them only because he got five dollars per installment.
Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli originally intended to be faithful to H.P. Lovecraft's story, but the film ultimately had little in common with the story, which was intended to be a parody of "Frankenstein."
David Bowie worked with cinematographer Mac Ahlberg on The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: Parts 1 & 2 (1991). During filming, Bowie found out that Ahlberg had shot Re-Animator (1985). He excitedly ran up to Ahlberg and asked if this was true. Ahlberg said it was. Bowie replied, "That is my favourite film."
The building used for the Miskatonic Medical School is the same one as the Cyberdine Headquarters in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.