The Horror Movie Critic

I’ve watched Re-Animator so many times I’ve lost count. To me, a finely crafted 80s horror film ages like fine wine and this particular brand of hooch is impeccably mouth-watering 25 years after it’s initial corking.

Stuart Gordon draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft to conjure up this off the wall mad-scientist/zombie picture and it feels unlike anything else filmed during the 80s. For a low budget film, Re-Animator dodges many of the pitfalls that often derail such a movie. The acting is excellent with Jeffrey Combs and David Gale leading the way as two dueling maniacal doctors. Combs is perfect as the persnickety prick-face, Herbert West, while Gale’s Dr. Hill looks like an evil version of Senator, John Kerry. Doe-eyed blondie Barbara Crampton is probably the weakest of the bunch but she is mainly there for eye candy…which basically entails copiously groped titties and bushy beaver that is in dreadful need of a shave!

Of course that’s not to say that the only thing going for Re-Animator is its acting. No, no there is plenty more to fall in love with. For starters you have a convincing story which finds Herbert West relentlessly trying to complete his life’s work…reanimating the dead. He ends up at Lovecraft’s fictional “Miskatonic University” in Arkham Massachusetts, where he tries to cheat the Reaper with the reluctant help of fellow med student Daniel Cain (Bruce Abbott). This all occurs much to the chagrin of the downright vile Dr. Hill, although Herbert West isn’t exactly a saint either and this compelling dynamic makes for some highly entertaining scenes.  Just witnessing West’s steely resolve and spastic, mad doctor shtick is enough to cause giggling fits.

While watching you just know something incredible is just one ill-advised experiment away and the film consistently entertains with its pitch black comedy and twisted tale. One early scene involving Cain’s cat, Rufus, gleefully sets the stage. Shortly after, bodies from the morgue get reanimated with West’s spiffy looking, neon green serum and the film kicks into overdrive as it proudly displays it’s grotesquely spectacular special effects. We’re shown bloody experiments, reverse necrophilia/zombie oral sex, decapitations, lobotomies etc… Re-Animator is a zombie lover’s wildest dream come true.

I’m a huge fan of this splatter classic. The gloomy, “Psycho” inspired orchestrated score perfectly sets the atmosphere, the acting is tip top, the effects are macabre spectacles and everything is flat out entertaining. Re-Animator is a timeless film that no horror fan should be without.

Final Grade: A+