Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation

Pure crap ! I'm a zombie fan and I remember Jeffrey combs in "From Beyond" and "Re-Animator" (that I actually saw in Avoriaz Horror Festival in France when released...that's a while back) but I would have preferred to keep this old memory of him ... intact ! This is nonsense horror ! The acting is not that bad but this is just pure boredom...the effects are way beyond average and there is no tension at all. I don't always look for scare but zombies can be really scary when well directed...this isn't the case ! I actually deleted the movie after watching it (something that I rarely do). I rated 3 because 1 is for garbage...this is only useless crap and the effort is worth a 3 ! The biggest question is: why make such movie ? I think it's only direct to DVD attempt to make a few bucks using a marketing title and the presence of the old actor of Re-Animator ! It's sad to see Horror taking such path these days.

In Hinzmaville, the mortician Gerald Tovar Jr. (Andrew Divoff) has inherited the mortuary Tovar & Son after the death of his father. Gerald is not happy with the work of his assistant DyeAnne (Robin Sydney) and his Aunt Lou (Melissa Bailey) hires Cristie Forrest (Sarah Lieving) to be the substitute for DyeAnne.

When Gerald's brother, Harold (Jeffrey Combs), visits him, Gerald discloses to Harold that the corpses delivered by the U.S. Army are reanimating and he shows the crematory to him full of bodies and body parts. The skeptical Gerald believes that his brother is insane and leaves the place. However, Aunt Lou opens the door and is bitten by a zombie, beginning an outbreak in the mortuary.

"Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation" has just been released on straight on DVD in Brazil and I was excited with the expectations of a great zombie movie with Jeffrey Combs to entertain during the interruption of "The Walking Dead". Unfortunately, despite the reasonable special effects and make-up, the story is lame and stupid, with a shotgun that does not need to reload and a ridiculous conclusion. Therefore this Z-movie does not work. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Noite dos Mortos Vivos: Re-Animação" ("Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation")

Well, where do you start with these types of terrible movies as you can spend all day pulling apart the actors, the script etc? For me, to summarize the whole film in a sentence it would be to say that if the movie didn't have 2012 tag on it I'd have guessed at somewhere in the 1980's such was the poor production, wooden acting and frankly awful dialogue. The only hint it was a 21st century movie was the obvious CGI in it. I mean, in this day and age how can this dross be made. From the opening lines in the movie you knew how bad it was going to be. The laboured and wooden performances, the terrible plot line and the excruciating dialogue that made me blush with embarrassment for the actors themselves. A very poor effort indeed for all concerned.

With a title like this what could probably go wrong? And with two horror icons as main lead what can go wrong? What a great title, Night Of The Living Dead surely will attract horror and zombie geeks. And face it, Re-animator also is a big teaser. This is great.

Sadly the title is the only thing that is great. The acting by Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster) and Jeffrey Combs (Re-animator) was for me okay but the script itself had nothing to offer. There are here and there a few killings that are nice to see like the bashing of a head but most of the effects are pure cheap CGI. Just see for example one zombie being hit with acid, how stupid that CGI effect was. But it is really the story itself, there's too much of talking and there isn't anything happening. The zombies itself did look great in the beginning and looked gory and nasty but once the horde comes alive in the cellar it's as stupid as it good be. No effects or make-up. They did add some funny notes towards the geeks with referring to the Pittsburg outbreak in 1968 and the Romero zombies in the cellar.

On the other hand the scene were they are tripping do offers some necrophilia by Dyeanne (Robin Sydney) but again it is really a let down. I knew Robin from Wicked Lake (2008) and there she shows that she isn't afraid to show some flesh but here it's just a underwear girl sitting a top a zombie.

Jeff Broadstreet, the director, should have known better with already one NOTLD remake on his list, the 3D flop with Sid Haig. It is really weird with those two icons that they couldn't save this terrible flick, even familiar faces like Sarah Lieving (Cristie Forest) and Robin Sydney couldn't add anything towards this turkey.

Still, it will sell due the icons and due the title but be warned that when you see Jeff's name on the list to leave it as it is. This is a perfect example how a title can sell a bad flick.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Corpses reanimate after Pyrophobic mortician accidentally exposes hundreds of uncremated bodies to toxic medical waste.

To director Jeff Broadstreet's credit he does manage to bag some great actors including Andrew Divoff and Jeffrey Combs in his prequel to his 2006 film. Here Divoff replaces Sid Haig, the 3D is as gimmicky Broadstreet's first offering. It shockingly tries to cash-in on the Re-Animator series as well as the Night of the Living Dead. The acting is slightly better thanks to Divoff and Combs.

If you liked Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006) expect more of the same as Re-Animation is just as bad (or good depending on your opinion), for everyone else you may want to watch Re-Animator (1985) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) again.