The Re-Animator

The Re-Animator, just the title alone symbolizes something incredible. Based upon the novel by HP Lovecraft, it tells the story of a University student, Dan Cain(Bruce Abbot), his girlfriend Megan(Barbara Crampton), daughter of Dean Dr. Halsey and Herbert West(Jeffrey Combs), the re-animator. Beginning in the more ambiguous Switzerland location, see's West injecting his Professor with what looks like a bottle of glow stick liquid, but I will let this slide seeing how cool it is in the syringe. After bringing back to life his Professor, much to the horror of his fellow employee's. After a few months, we meet our Hero, Dan, who is a medical student and fiance to the Deans daughter Megan. After an uncomfortable introduction and West moving in we are bombarded by a whole array of weird and wonderful special effects. Immediately you see the seventies tint in the color of the film, as though someone rubbed a thin layer of Vaseline on the lens. Not a bad look, it gives it a more nostalgic feel.

I loved Jeffrey Combs(of The New Batman Adventures fame) in this role. You can tell just by looking at him he was born for the role. He looked the part, acted the part, but most of all he sounded the part. He came off as Egotistical, paranoid, eccentric and sometimes a bit of a lunatic. Dan is a bit of the every-man, like Zack Morris from "Saved by the bell", he gets away with anything and is the favorite of many. Megan has little character despite being the dean's daughter and dating this discount Zack Morris. As for the villain, it is kind of unexpected but at the same time you'd look at this person and say, "yeah, I wouldn't trust him". 

As for the cult following, I see where it comes from. The film has a sort of camp feel to it, as though it knows it's premise is good, but the execution is goofy in the same style as Child's play. The practical effects are good, but you can tell how they are done. there are some disgusting scene's of decapitation and mutilation, providing some much needed gore. The Pseudo-science of West's formula is not exactly accurate, Rocky Horror however combined both electricity(lightning) and chemistry to create life, so maybe they could have thought it out how to make a new Zombie. There is not a lot of character development, but as a fun, horror flick, you can let it slide. I should have thought that the writer of the Cthulhu mythos would write something as crazy as this. Admittedly according to the book, Dan and West meet and over the coarse of a few years they begin to develop the formula.and see what it can do. So I might have preferred that.

Overall I thought it was a good film, although I wish there was more character development and a longer running time probably wouldn't have hurt, but if you like gore, creative pseudo-science and Jeffrey Combs then this film is for you.

****

Premise: *
Acting:Sub par 1/2

Effects: *
Script:1/2

Director: *