Re-Animator
Year: 1985
Director: Stuart Gordon
Stars: Jeffery Combs, Bruce Abbot, Barbara Crampton
Studio: Image Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 86 Mins
Welcome to Horrorpalooza 2012 here on Film Arcade.net. To kick things off, we’ll start off with my review of "Re-Animator".
“Re-Animator” is one of my favorite horror films of all time. The film takes place at Miskatonic University, where Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) has enrolled at the school. He has a formula that can bring back the dead. Aiding him is his experiment is Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot), a graduate student, who is in love with the dean’s daughter (Barbara Crampton). He discovers that West has a serum that can re-animate a dead corpse. But having this formula can have deadly consequences.
Film Review:
From the first time that I saw “Re-Animator” when I was around twenty or so, it has always remained as one of the top five horror films that I’ve ever seen and has always been a favorite of mine.
One of the main reasons was the direction. I liked how co-writer/director Stuart Gordon does a great job with the way that he directs the film’s horrifying and insane action. Gordon takes his time making the scenes come off as very horrifying. It gives the film its adrenaline rush. Especailly in the film’s beginning, as the opening scene sets the film’s tone. From there, it was one very enjoyable film to watch. The other reason was the acting. Directing can be very good, but acting helps make films age well. The acting here was very good. I liked how Gordon spends his time making the characters have personality to him. It makes the characters very entertaining and it allows you to enjoy the film.
The performances were very good here. But what truly makes this film totally fun for me was Jeffery Combs’ performance as the film’s main character Dr. Herbert West. He does a very good job making the character very likeable. From the way that the lines were delivered to the way that Combs approached the character, he does a very good job making the character come alive and stand out. It’s one of the reasons that this film continues to live on in horror fans minds twenty-seven year after its release.
The screenplay written by Gordon, William J. Norris and Dennis Paoli does a very good job adapting the H.P. Lovecraft story. One of the things that they do well, they come up with some of the most crazy sequences that you’ve ever seen in any horror film that came out of the eighties. The scenes are very twisted and very well thought out. No wonder, why this film has become a cult classic over the year. The other thing that the writers do well, they do a very good job in giving personality to their characters. In a film like this, the characters have to have personality. They give quirks to each character that makes the character interesting and you’re having a fun time watching it.
Blu-Ray Extras:
There are two audio commentary tracks that imported from various DVD reissues. First is the commentary track from director Stuart Gordon. This is a very good track, as he goes into all the aspects from his research of some of the hospital terminologies to the influences that helped with the story and the way that he handles some of the film’s scenes. It’s definitely worth a listen, if you’re interested in his take of the film. The other commentary track features producer Brian Yuzna and actors Jeffery Combs, Barbra Crampton, Bruce Abbot and Robert Sampson. This was a fun track. They did a very good job taking about the film, while adding some humor to some of the film’s scenes. It isn’t the greatest commentary track, but I had fun listening to it.
After the commentary tracks, there is a retrospective featurette on the film called “Re-Animator Resurrectus”. This was taken off of the Anchor Bay DVD release. This was a very good featurette that focuses everything from the pre production of the film to the actual stories about the film production and effects. Overall, this was a very good look into the making of the film. The disc also contains separate interviews from other key members of the crew from various DVD releases including director Stuart Gordon with producer Brain Yuzna, screenwriter Dennis Paoil, composer Richard Band, and Fangoria Magazine’s Tony Timpone.
After that, the disc wraps up with the discussion of the film’s score with composer Richard Band, deleted and extended scenes, TV spots and the film theatrical trailer.
Final Summary:
Even though, there aren’t any new extras on the Blu-Ray, this is still a great package. “Re- Animator” is one of those horror films that still remain as one of my favorite horror films and worth watching for fans of zombie horror.
Review Rating: Five Stars
Blu-Ray Extras: Five Stars
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