Re-Animator II, la fiancée de Re-Animator

It's very hard to make a sequel to an absolute masterpiece that can live up to the original. Let us not forget how bad the Exorcist II and the Howling II were. Like the previous titles mentioned, Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator is a true classic in the field of horror, so I was very careful with my expectations towards this film. Yet, several elements showed that it could be a very good film. Jeffrey Combs returned as his memorable Dr. West character and also Dan Cain and Carl Hill are present again. ( well, at least his head is... ) Brian Yuzna took the seat of the director. Good sign, I thought. He knows what he does when it comes to horror. And this film proved itself to be good. It can never reach the level of the original but the complete cast and crew seems to realize that. They just tried to make a sequel worth watching and in that viewing... they succeeded.

TINY SPOILERS FROM HERE ... Dr. West is even more fantastic ( and that means more crazy :-] ) to achieve his discovery of re-animating dead bodies. He keeps convincing Dr. Dan Cain to assist him by claiming he can bring back Megan to live ( Dr. Cains love interest from the first film ) West found Megan's hart in the hospital and they shall create a new woman with it. Great !!! Also, the head of the infamous Dr. Carl Hill gets re-animated and he's only after one thing. Nail Dr. West and avenge his dissection ! By this he gets assisted by another doctor. Thing are even getting more difficult for Dr. West when a fanatic detective follows him around... The bride of Re-Animator (a clean tribute to Frankenstein) is 90 minutes of pure fun. Horrorfans won't be disappointed at all. It's a logical sequel to the original, but also a film that could stand to itself. As far as sequels go, this is a good effort. Now, after 13 years a second sequel is about to come. Beyond Re-Animator ( also directed by Yuzna and starring Combs ) is claimed to be a worthy addition to the series as well. I haven't seen it yet but I sure will when I get the chance.

Why don't people think this is a great sequel? I loved this movie and I know it's not quite as good as the first, it kicks much more ass than most sequels(Scream 2, I still know what you did last summer, Inferno(sequel to Suspiria) and umm... any Nightmare on Elmstreet not called New Nightmare) Go see this if you want to see Herbert West help bring his good friend down the road of madness. Dr. West in this installment is more jealous than annoyed by his partner's suave ways with the ladies but this is most definitely hella fun. Dr. Carl Hill is back in the gizame and having a blast... and he doesn't exactly keep his head on straight...

"Re -Animator" extremely well received (quite rightly so) at the time of issue,still stands as a classic of the horror and fantasy genre.Who cared if it was not faithful to Lovecraft?Were the sixties Corman's movies that much faithful to Edgar Allan Poe?Crazy situations,witty lines,and above all an extraordinary skilled actor,Jeffrey -West,Herbert West-Combs who managed to be at once sinister and hilarious.

The sequel is not so exciting;like in most of the follow-ups ,the surprising effect has disappeared.Besides ,the script is too derivative ,borrowing from "the bride of Frankenstein" (James Whale,1935) and from "night of the living dead" (Romero,1968).

Only Jeffrey Combs remains.They put the weight on him and he carries it honorably.During the cast and credits,we can hear the same music ,which is absolute plagiarism:Hermann's "Psycho".

I did not start watching this with the highest of expectations. I am sure that many of you did not/will not as well. There were two main reasons for me:

1. Its a sequel

Generally, sequels are a bad re-hash of the first, or some misguided attempt to bring the story and characters to a new setting. This movie is neither, instead we get a (semi) natural continuation of the first film, which attempts to slip in more of the original Lovecraft Novella, which ultimately, neither film lives up to. Sure, characters that had little to no hope for life return with out a bat of the camera's eye, but this is a horror-comedy people, not The Godfather: Part II type of sequel, and I'm willing to ignore this to an extent. it never got on my nerves, anyway. Escapes the "horror movie sequel trap" quite well.

2. Bad Reviews

For some reason, this has terrible reviews most places, while the first film is praised and given **** and ***** star ratings, this puppy is tossed into the "worth a rental for genre fans" bin, with nothing above a ** rating in any professional reviewers opinion. This is really a shame, although I do admit, if you are not a fan of the first film you probably may as well skip this one. I also strongly recommend that those of you who have not seen Re-Animator backtrack and watch it first, as it definitely would (or maybe I should say "should") heighten your enjoyment level of this film.

Bride of Re-Animator is an excellent chunk of horror-comedy, which gets over looked when standing next to its beefy pappy. Personally, I found that elements of the film surpassed the first, atmosphere and gore f/x being the most clear ones. I really have to hand it to the f/x design team, because this is currently one of my favorite horror films as far as "creatures". The many experiments highlight the film when ever they appear, and the Bride herself is an excellent piece of gore design.

As far as the atmosphere goes, it is surely darker then its predecessor in this respect. Perhaps only the climax of the film truly shows the best aspects, as for the most part it reflects a similar attitude to Re-Animator, if slightly watered down. However, at the end we are treated to multi-colored lighting, fantastic zombies, smoke and some well used gauze, used to invoke the dress of the Bride in Bride of Frankenstein. Not to mention the earlier stated creature effects.

At any rate, this is a very worthy follow-up to a horror classic. Perhaps the script is not as strong, the quotable lines fewer and farer between and supporting characters more forgettable. But admit at least, nay-sayers, that if nothing else you loved it when Dr. West yelled "My God! They're using tools!"

7/10

Herbert West and his reluctant sidekick, Dr. Cain, return for another fun, gory round of bringing back the dead in bits and pieces. This time, West cons Cain into an attempt to rebuild his late girlfriend, using her preserved brain and body parts scrounged from the local hospital. From here on in, this film is like a contemporary "Bride of Frankenstien", except the special effects (I love the stop-motion "eye" spider!) are terrific and there's enough gore to please fans. A underrated sequel. See it~