Re-AnimatorSometimes to get ahead in your career, you need to get "a head". Gifted--if arrogant--scientist Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) has been pursuing a means to overcome death, to him the acme of medical practice. Through means unknown, he has developed a "re-agent" capable of bestowing life into once dead flesh, "re-animating" the body by a chemical process; only, he still has a few kinks to work out of the formula. His subjects tend to emerge from that undiscovered country filled with murderous rage for any who are unfortunate enough to stand in their way. But there's that saying about omelettes...
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Re-Animator is a cult movie through and through. It is a splattery gorefest with frequent mutilations, gratuitous nudity, and a shoestring plot holding it all together. And Herbert's re-agent--that glowing, green goo--is an iconic element in and of itself. But cult movies like Re-Animator thrive on their more outlandish qualities, those which defy convention. (Very) loosely adapted from the oeuvre of horror author, H. P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator pulls a "Frankenstein" not unlike Herbert by cobbling together bits and pieces as a nod to that kind of shocking, gothic horror, albeit dressed in 20th century style. After Herbert leaves the apprenticeship he had with his former mentor in Zurich, he comes to enroll in Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusetts; Lovecraft fans will no doubt recognize the names being reminiscent from the works. And from the start, he rubs everyone the wrong way with his arrogance and aloof demeanor, including the renowned brain surgeon, Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale), whom Herbert all but calls an amateur. Looking for a place to stay and conduct his studies in relative secrecy, he rents a space from fellow student, Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott). Dan shares an interest in overcoming death--his own efforts to save his patients have been unsuccessful--although he could never in his wildest dreams assume something like what Herbert proposes to be feasible...until Herbert proves him wrong. Dan is not interested in mad science like Herbert, but is a scientist himself, and cannot deny the empirical data when presented to him. But when Dan's fiance, Megan (Barbara Crampton), witnesses Dan involved in one of Herbert's experiments, her father--and head of the school, Alan Halsey (Robert Sampson)--effectively expels them, which works to Herbert's benefit, as there is virtually nothing preventing Dan from being his capable assistant now.
At eighty-six minutes, Re-Animator is a relatively short movie, but spends surprisingly little time establishing any background for Herbert West; his existence and fascination with animating the dead is like an inevitable storm to hit Miskatonic. I find it strange that Herbert has any interest in resurrecting the dead at all, considering he doesn't seem to like people much, or even animals; he refers to Rufus the cat as an "it". So then, what is Herbert's greater objective? He talks about money and immortality to Dan; maybe these are his true motivations. And while Re-Animator strays far from the pasture of any specific adaptation of Lovecraft, it does carry a theme abundant in the works of the horror writer: the idea that madness is like a disease, or a syndrome, one that can be spread by the mere presence of insanity. West's emergence from abroad comes with his espousing seemingly mad ideas, and before long, others change and become crazier and act out of impulse, like Dr. Hill, who at first appears quite rational and normal, but before long adopts the villainous countenance of a depraved zombie master. Re-Animator made Jeffrey Combs a cult movie icon, his signature nervously unhinged anxiety and appearance that suggested someone constantly straddling the lines between mild-mannered and at the breaking point; and he also gets pretty much all of the best lines. I find it ironic, however, that as he wields a shovel against a victim while accusing him of being a plagiarist, considering the theme music for Re-Animator is all but stolen from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. So next time someone answers your add for a roommate, and he just so happens to be carting around big syringes filled with glow stick residue, you may want to ask yourself...will this get me kicked out of med school?
Recommended for: Fans of a bizarre and bloody black comedy/horror film, delightfully B-movie fare. Re-Animator's charm is in its willingness to go over the top with its themes and effects, as the insanity escalates and the unlikely duo of Herbert and Dan are forced to address the mess.
At eighty-six minutes, Re-Animator is a relatively short movie, but spends surprisingly little time establishing any background for Herbert West; his existence and fascination with animating the dead is like an inevitable storm to hit Miskatonic. I find it strange that Herbert has any interest in resurrecting the dead at all, considering he doesn't seem to like people much, or even animals; he refers to Rufus the cat as an "it". So then, what is Herbert's greater objective? He talks about money and immortality to Dan; maybe these are his true motivations. And while Re-Animator strays far from the pasture of any specific adaptation of Lovecraft, it does carry a theme abundant in the works of the horror writer: the idea that madness is like a disease, or a syndrome, one that can be spread by the mere presence of insanity. West's emergence from abroad comes with his espousing seemingly mad ideas, and before long, others change and become crazier and act out of impulse, like Dr. Hill, who at first appears quite rational and normal, but before long adopts the villainous countenance of a depraved zombie master. Re-Animator made Jeffrey Combs a cult movie icon, his signature nervously unhinged anxiety and appearance that suggested someone constantly straddling the lines between mild-mannered and at the breaking point; and he also gets pretty much all of the best lines. I find it ironic, however, that as he wields a shovel against a victim while accusing him of being a plagiarist, considering the theme music for Re-Animator is all but stolen from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. So next time someone answers your add for a roommate, and he just so happens to be carting around big syringes filled with glow stick residue, you may want to ask yourself...will this get me kicked out of med school?
Recommended for: Fans of a bizarre and bloody black comedy/horror film, delightfully B-movie fare. Re-Animator's charm is in its willingness to go over the top with its themes and effects, as the insanity escalates and the unlikely duo of Herbert and Dan are forced to address the mess.