Re-animator (1985)
Written By: DMG
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Stuart Gordon
Producer: Brian Yuzna
Writer: Stuart Gordon, William Norris, Denis Paoli
Novel: H.P. Lovecraft’s “Herbert West-Reanimator”
Release Date: October 18, 1985
Cast:
Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West
Bruce Abbott as Dan Cain
Barbara Crampton as Megan Halsey
David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill
Robert Sampson as Dean Alan Halsey
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Re-Animator follows the story of Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a science student who believes he found the solution to reanimate the dead. When Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) puts an ad for a roommate, West jumps at the opportunity. Soon West involves Dan in his crazy experiments. However, the dead are not their biggest issues when Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) and Dean Alan Halsey (Robert Sampson) get involved.
Gore Factor
The story of Re-Animator (1985) revolves around medical students. As such, there are dead corpses and brain removal demonstrations within the hospital ad university which often shows bloody scenes. But the gore starts to happen when Herbert West starts to experiment on the dead. The most iconic scene in Re-Animator is the headless Dr. Carl Hill on the table, which looks gory but also somewhat comical. Overall, the film is no bloodbath, but the gore is certainly there.
The Grave Review
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West-Reanimator, the 1985 adaptation is very similar to a Frankenstein film. It is a fairly simple plot; a mad scientist believes he found the answer to bring the dead back to life. Re-Animator has certainly created a cult following for those horror buffs. As such, this film is not mainstream and especially with a “not rated” rating.
This film does a good job at incorporating the typical gore and nudity that we often see in horror movies. For an adaption of a novel, the film is entertaining and extrinsically pleasing to watch. At times, the film was also comical as West re-animated a cat in which the cat attached itself to West. In these ways, Re-Animator also had subtle humor throughout the film. However, for a run time of One hour and twenty-six minutes, the director could have done much more with this movie. Overall, the film was a fun watch.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Re-Animator (1985) three graves out of five graves
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