Director Stuart Gordon has never been better than his work here in his theatrical film debut. He mixes many lurid influences from horror comics to B-movie thrillers to George Romero's zombie movies to classic Universal Studios monster movies to H.P. Lovecraft. This well-crafted horror film isn’t really scary as it is macabre. It’s a dry and dark comedy more than a thrill ride. It’s gory. And it’s totally entertaining.
Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott, BAD DREAMS) is a medical student, who is dating Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton, BODY DOUBLE), the pretty daughter of the medical school’s dean Alan Halsey (Robert Sampson, TV’s FALCON CREST). Arriving from studying in Switzerland, young medical student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs, TRANCERS II) becomes Dan's roommate. The creepy and peculiar young man quickly alienates himself by questioning his teacher Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale, THE GUYVER), an arrogant creep (always a great personality combination).
The plot is fairly simple and familiar story. West has discovered a re-animating agent that can bring dead tissue back to life. The movie indulges in its gross parts, but tows the line at exploiting it like some C-grade zombie films. Abbott’s straight and solid performance is the perfect counterpoint to Combs’ and Gale’s campy, just shy of over-the-top, performances. Combs' delivery of one-liners drips with wonderful biting sarcasm. The very subtle campiness also hides Crampton’s weaker performance.
The humor in this film is sick and dark, so you have to like that kind of stuff. But it has a twisted brilliance to it. The young mad scientist and the lopsided severed head scene is unforgettable. And of course everyone will remember the famed scene between Crampton and Gale, which is actually referenced in Oscar-winner AMERICAN BEAUTY. Laughs and scares date back to classic horror films from James Whale. And there's always been a sexual current running through horror. RE-ANIMATOR plays up all those buried conventions. With wit and a well-plotted story, Gordon allows the audience to revel in the trash, because the film isn't pandering to our basest desires, it's having fun with them.
Gordon understands this material well. From this film, you can tell he grew up on this "sleazy" material and over time it's become part of his own DNA. He knows what works and what doesn't work and combines it all with gusto. For the sick and twisted who have a morbid sense of humor, it doesn’t get much better than this one.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
