The Film:
Well, how can you possibly introduce Re-Animator? Highly regarded as not only one of the best HP Lovecraft adaptations of all time but also as one of the best horrors to ever hit our screens, Re-Animator was Stuart Gordon's directorial movie debut having only previously made a few television show episodes. At the time he was working with the entertainment troupe Screw Theater but soon noticed many of his colleagues had run off to be in films. A friend persuaded him that he should direct his own film, preferably a horror so that if he could get funded as much as a million dollars for the genre, investors wouldn't be so worried as everything horror related was turning a profit. Unfortunately he was struggling to get the project off the ground but was soon introduced to the now legendary producer Brian Yuzna who had financial backing for a film project which had fallen through. Together they made Re-Animator and became legends of horror.
For those unfamiliar with the HP Lovecraft six part story that inspired the film, it is about a strange and challenging medical student called Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) who believes he has broken the 6-12 minute barrier of bringing the brain (and therefor the person) back to life. After being thrown out of an Austrian medical centre after his professor is found (sort of) dead under unknown circumstances, West enrols at Miskatonic University in order to continue his rejuvenating experiments. At first no-one believes anything he says as he has no proof but one night he brings his roommates cat back to life, sending both of them on a journey to a morgue to see if it will work on humans. Needless to say, it doesn't happen without consequences.
Despite being in the hands of rookies, everything about this movie is top notch. The special effects by Bret Culpepper are some of the best I have seen without the use of computer enlisted help. The blood and guts are gruesome, really causing you to cringe in some scenes as despite being made on a budget, they have been done with precision and thought. The score for the film is also fantastic with a wonderful atmospheric sound during creepy parts of the film, yet whenever West is on the screen the composer has injected a feel of madness. Whilst the story and acting are not to a non-genre award winning standard, it isn't bad and will keep you glued to the screen. If you want to see a classic horror then this is one of the best films you can pick up so don't delay and buy it now!
The DVD:
Video:
Another World Entertainent have given us an anamorphic transfer at a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Whilst the print is far from perfect and has several flaws such as light grain throughout and a little edge enhancement, it must be said that what we have been provided is pretty damn good considering how poorly horror films of the eighties were treated. To my eyes, it looks to be an identical print to that of the Millenium Edition released in America by Elite. Optional subtitles have been provided in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish but unfortunately not in English.
Audio:
Another World Entertainment have released Re-Animator with the option of either an upmixed Dolby Digital 5.1 track or the original Dolby Digital Dual Mono track, both of which are in English. Although I chose to listen to the 5.1 track which made reasonable use of the surrounds, I also sampled the Dual Mono track throughout several scenes which had less background noise and a higher level of clarity. Unfortunately the DTS track found on the Elite release is missing.
Extras:
The extras are where this set really comes into its stride with disc 1 featuring a couple of commentaries and disc 2 housing all the other extras.
We start off with a solo commentary featuring director Stuart Gordon. or a solo effort the track moves along at a decent pace with hardly any dead time thanks to the amount of information given. We hear aboutall aspects of the film, from how the idea came about, right through to the finishing touches.
Next up we have a group commentary featuring producer Brian Yuzna and stars Jeffrey Combs (Herbert West), Robert Sampson (Dean Alan Halsey), Bruce Abbot (Dan Cain) and Barbara Crampton (Megan Halsey). It generally covers the same material as the solo commentary but injects a bit more life into it adding several stories that happened on the set.
Starting off the extras on disc 2 is a whopping 78 minutes of interviews:
- Director Stuart Gordon and Producer Brian Yuzna
- Writer Denis Paoli
- Composer Richard Band
- Fangoria Editor Tony Timpone
All the interviews are substantial in length but the Gordon and Yuzna one revisits what they have already told us in the respective commentaries. Surprisingly I found the Fangoria interview to be the most enjoyable as it was more of a fans perspective.
Then we have a Discussion with Richard Band which is an excellent feature where he introduces us to scenes in the film, telling us how and why he chose the particular type of music. Well worth a look.
Next up we have a Deleted Scene which is simply entitled "Dream Scene". It is Dan Cain dreaming that he brings in his (topless) girlfriend Megan into the morgue instead of her Father. Would've been nice to get either a commentary or introduction to this so we can be told why it was deleted. We also have 16 Extended Scenes.
Last but not least is a whole bunch of self-explantory minor extras which are great to have included:
Trailer (1:55)
5 TV Spots (2:32)
Slideshows:
- Stills (1:00)
- Behind the Scenes (1:25)
Filmographies:
- Barbara Crampton
- Bruce Abbot
- David Gale
- Jeffrey Combs
- Stuart Gordon
- Brian Yuzna
Bonus Trailers:
- "Obsession"
- "Inglorious Bastards" (3:43)
- "The Buddy Holly Story" (2:38)
- "Miracle in Milano" (4:53)
- "Salon Kitty" (3:55)
