“Herbert West has a very good head on his shoulders – and another one in a dish on his desk.”
Stuart Gordon stormed onto theatrical screens with this adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s tale of the reanimated dead. The film is a gruesome classic that still packs the punch that it had in 1985.
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure to rent some of the “8 Films to Die For” horror film festival titles that Lionsgate and After Dark films put together. Their ads touted, in language that would make William Castle burst with pride, that the films were not released because they were not suitable for general audiences (this could be the trick since they might be referring to the G rating and none of them are that). The ads made you think that you’d be seeing something that would make a sailor blush or be so controversial that they’d have to be locked away in vaults.
Herber West - Reanimator
I thought that the promised shocks, terrors, and controversial content seemed to pale in comparison to ye olde Re-Animator. I mean we got nothing like the “head giving head scene” in any of the “Films to Die For” that I watched. Stuart Gordon’s groundbreaking (and genre career making) film now makes the move over to Anchor Bay and they’ve decided to re-release the film with some of the goodies found on the Elite versions, but also add some nice new content.
Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs, in another genre career making performance) is a researcher who has unlocked the secret for re-animating the dead. However, there are more than a little side effects to his serum. He was kicked out of the institute in Switzerland for his wicked ways. He makes his way to Miskatonic University to begin anew. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) is studying at the Miskatonic under the glaring eye of Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale). He’s also dating Dean Halsey’s (Robert Sampson) daughter Megan (Barbara Crampton).
West needs a place to stay to he rents a room along with Dan, much to the chagrin of Megan. Soon West has drawn Dan into his experiments with the green glowing, reanimation fluid. Dr. Hill finds out about the serums revivification properties and plans to steal the discovery to make himself look wiser (a bad habit of his). Dr. Hill has a good head on his shoulders, but soon finds that a well placed blow with a shovel will separate it from them and a little jolt of green glow juice will make him head of the class.
Re-Animator is Stuart Gordon’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story about a mad scientist and the revived dead. His vision of the story was so controversial and gory at the time that it was released to theaters unrated and had a healthy (or would that be unhealthy) life on home video. The success jump started Gordon’s directorial career, Combs’ status as a genre legend, and Brian Yuzna’s horror producing empire.
Dr Hill finds himself a head in a tray on West's desk
The film is a gore covered classic if there ever was one and it still holds up today. Sure, some of the special effects seem quaint by today’s standards but the story still holds up after all these years. Although I dearly enjoy the anti-hero performance that made Jeffrey Combs, I’ll have to give special kudos to the late, great David Gale as the demented Dr. Hill.
He goes over the top so gloriously and even manages to steal sections of the film away from the capable Combs. It’s sad to think that he’s no longer with us. Not to forget the nice characters, but Bruce Abbott and Barbara Crampton make a fine couple and we really feel sorry for the eventual fates that befall both of them. Robert Sampson rounds out the cast and also makes for a fine performance as the Dean.
Re-Animator was released on DVD before by Elite Entertainment and the rights now appear to have moved over to Anchor Bay. They’ve ported over the special features from Elite as well as adding some nice stuff of their own for this two disc set. Re-Animator fans will have to decide if they’re willing to dole out the cash for this new edition. Re-Animator is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions.
Disc one includes two audio commentaries. The first is a solo track from director Stuart Gordon. The second is a track featuring producer Brian Yuzna, Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Robert Sampson. Disc two starts off with the brand new 68 minute “Re-Animator Resurrectus.” It has interviews with Stuart Gordon, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (his wife and who has a small part in the movie), writer Dennis Paoli, Brian Yuzna, makeup men John Naulin and Anthony Doublin, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Robert Sampson, makeup man John Buechler, and director of photography Mac Ahlberg.
West introduces Dan to his reagent and power over death
The interview section contains interviews with Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna (48 minutes), Dennis Paoli (10 minutes), composer Richard Band (14 minutes), Fangoria editor Tony Timpone (4 minutes), and a separate music discussion with Band (16 minutes). Next is a 2 minute deleted scene that appears to be a dream sequence. Extended scenes contain about 23 minutes total of these, but also has the deleted subplot about Dr. Hill having hypnotic powers.
The disc is rounded out with the trailer, TV spots, still galleries, a Stuart Gordon bio, and trailers for other Anchor Bay DVDs. The DVD-ROM section contains the screenplay and H.P. Lovecraft’s original short story in PDF format. There’s also a special packaging that contains a highlighter that’s made to look like a syringe of West’s reanimation goo.
If you’re a horror hound and don’t have this one in your collection then run down to your local DVD seller and snatch this one up. If you have the previous release then you’ll need to decide if the new documentary (Resurrectus) and PDFs are enough to warrant another purchase. Frankly, I found them worth the dough and you’ll get a groovy highlighter to boot.
Re-Animator is now available at Amazon . As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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