Re-Animator

• Available DVDs
• Poster Art
• Fun Facts

Alsio Known As

• (Brazil) (alternative title) A Hora dos Mortos Vivos
• (Canada) (French title) Le réanimateur
• (Greece) (DVD title) Zontanos-nekros
• (Greece) Ζωντανός-Νεκρός
• (Hungary) Reanimátor
• (Portugal) O Soro Maléfico
• (Serbia) Reanimator
• (Germany) Der Re-Animator

Taglines

• H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of horror
• Death Is Just The Beginning...
• Herbert West Has A Very Good Head On His Shoulders... And Another One In A Dish On His Desk
• It will scare you to pieces.

Main Details

• Released in 1985
• Color
• Running Time: 95 min | 86 min (unrated) | 95 min (R-rated)
• Production Co: Empire Pictures | Re-Animator Productions
• Distribution Co: Empire Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Stuart Gordon
• Written by H.P. Lovecraft, Dennis Paoli, William Norris, Stuart Gordon
• Starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson, Gerry Black, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Peter Kent, Barbara Pieters
• Produced by Michael Avery, Charles Band, Bruce William Curtis, Bob Greenberg, Charles Donald Storey, Brian Yuzna
• Original Music by Richard Band
• Cinematography by Mac Ahlberg, Robert Ebinger
• Film Editing by Lee Percy

Film Review

The resurrection of the dead, gory effects, comedic moments and a large cult following. These are just some of the ingredients of movies like Dawn Of The Dead or The Evil Dead (and Evil Dead II since it's the one that shifted from pure horror to horror-comedy). But there's another film that's more obscure than those flicks that I mentioned. It's called "Re-Animator", a very good tribute to the 30's-50's era of sci-fi films.

Dan, a medical student, and Megan are a couple who live together, then one day a weird scientist named Herbert West rents a room from Dan for his experiments. They involve a serum that resurrects dead people/animals. Later, Dan becomes Herbert's partner in the experiments. Unfortunately, many things go wrong and the chaos begins.

This film has no rules at all. Yes! Since the resurrection is an experiment, the results range from horrible messes to the unbelievably spectacular. Also, later in the film, when the serum is injected in the corpse's head that's separated from the body, it talks to you! And what happened if you injected it into the same "body" that I mentioned? Well, it would walk around, try to find its head, and do whatever the "head" wants it to! It reminds me of the Evil Dead II in which anything could come alive in the abandoned house and scare Ash.

And how gory is it? Well, since the version I watched is the Unrated Edition (which is shorter and easier to find than the R-Rated version) it's VERY gory. Even the makeup artist on this film, John Naulin, said that "Re-Animator was the bloodiest film he had ever worked on". But don't worry, there is plenty of humor too. The style of comedy ranges from slapstick to sitcom style. It's very cool.

Gory effects, hilarious scenes, Frankenstein tributes, even a homoerotic subtext....what more could you want from this film? If your answer is satisfaction, I guarantee you that you'll get it!

Reviewed by Nuttawut Permpithak - 7/22/13