By Ben Bussey
It can be an interesting business covering DVD and Blu-ray reissues of older movies. Sometimes we wind up with stuff we always meant to see but never got around to; sometimes they’re movies we’ve never even heard of before. But other times, they’re movies which really need no introduction at all – and this, I should imagine most of us will readily agree, is most definitely the case with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna’s legendary 1985 take on HP Lovecraft’s Herbert West: Re-Animator. It’s the movie that launched two filmmakers who came to be major players in horror and genre film in the decades ahead, as well as introducing two bona fide genre superstars in Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and yet for all the many varied and laudable works all concerned have been involved with in the 31 years since, this is the movie they’re all remembered for. This new Blu-ray edition from Second Sight is hardly the first; honestly, I’ve lost track of how many reissues Re-Animator has had in recent years, and I gather there has been speculation that this particular reissue has been carefully timed to more or less coincide with Arrow Video’s upcoming Blu-ray edition of Yuzna’s sequel Bride of Re-Animator. Regardless, I should think we can all agree that Re-Animator remaining in print and widely accessible can only be a good thing, as even more than three decades later it has not lost the power to enthrall, amuse, and leave jaws hanging.
For the benefit of the uninitiated (poor things, you don’t know what you’ve been missing!), Combs takes the title role as Herbert West, a brilliant but aloof and arrogant medical student who comes to the Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts (which does not in any way resemble Los Angeles) to further his studies. However, the film’s real lead is Bruce Abbott as Dan Cain, another ambitious and talented trainee surgeon, seemingly with a bright future ahead of him. Beyond his studies, Dan is also deeply in love with Megan Halsey (Crampton), yet their happiness is hampered just a little by the fact that she’s the daughter of the university’s rather old-fashioned and prudish Dean (Robert Sampson).
When West becomes Dan’s new roommate, things are a little awkward – and they only get worse when Dan quickly discovers the bizarre experiments West is conducting on his own time. By way of a mysterious, luminous green serum of his own creation, West claims to have found the means to bring the dead back to life. Though sceptical, Dan cannot deny the evidence of his own eyes when his own dead cat is revived to violent (and darkly hilarious) effect. Casting his doubts to one side, Dan agrees to assist West in his experiments – but it quickly becomes clear that reviving the dead is not without its complications, from the extreme aggression and mental defection of the reanimated subjects, to the threat of the university’s unscrupulous Dr Carl Hill (David Gale), who wants West’s secret for himself.
Plot-wise, then, Re-Animator’s not too far removed from Frankenstein; if I’ve read correctly, Lovecraft himself was none too keen on the stories, writing them primarily for the money at his editor’s behest. However, in bringing the legendary author’s tale to the screen in the mid-80s, Gordon and Yuzna knew that the best way to make sure their film connected with the contemporary audience was to go all-out on the shock value. So it was that they made a movie which will always pop up on lists of the goriest movies ever: from the eye-popping prologue to the gut-strewn climax, Re-Animator is never short of arresting imagery. In the extras (all of which I gather come from pre-existing DVD editions), Barbara Crampton declares it to be the most gruesome thing she’s ever made, which is no small statement considering her filmography. When nostalgic fans talk about the joys of practical make-up FX and how things just aren’t the same today, chances are Re-Animator is one of the key movies they have in mind. It also stands proud alongside American Werewolf in London and Evil Dead 2 as one of the most masterful balances of horror and humour ever put to film, never having any illusions about its own absurdity whilst still shooting for real scares.
And of course, hand in hand with the gore is that other key selling point of 80s horror: tits. Crampton was apparently a fairly last-minute replacement for the role of Megan Halsey, after the initially cast actress had a change of heart – and seeing what the character goes through, it’s not hard to see why any young woman might have doubts about it. If there’s one moment from Re-Animator that’s certain to sear itself into the memory of anyone who sees it, the notorious ‘head’ scene is the one for sure. The sequence has a chequered history with the BBFC, with various VHS and DVD editions featuring different cuts of the scene until it was finally passed uncut in 2007 (details at Melon Farmers). Whilst I’ve never been a fan of censorship, I can understand why the sequence was deemed problematic: whilst it’s clearly fantastical and too absurd to be taken seriously, there can still be no mistake that it’s a rape scene which is intended to be amusing and arousing. Given the legions of admirers Crampton has accrued for that moment alone, it certainly had the desired effect. Even so, while she may have a couple of attention-grabbing nude scenes, it’s doubtful the character of Megan would be quite so memorable with a lesser actress than Crampton in the role.
Indeed, for all its sensational content, Re-Animator itself surely would not have endured the way it has were it not a truly well-written, well-acted, well-directed film. I was completely flabbergasted when I first learned Stuart Gordon had made his film debut here having come from an illustrious career in theatre, directing all manner of bold, dramatic work including the premiere runs of a number of David Mamet plays (which no doubt played a role in Gordon later directing the film adaptation of Mamet’s most controversial play Edmond); but this is reflected on how the storytelling and performances in Re-Animator tower above those of other ostensibly similar splatter movies made at the time, and since. This, more so than the blood and boobs, should be Re-Animator’s real legacy: it stands testimony to the fact that taking on low-brow material should not mean aiming low on all levels, and that even the most seemingly trashy of movies warrants intelligent, professional treatment.
Anyway, I feel like I’m most likely preaching to the choir here. This really is one of those movies which no horror fan’s collection is quite complete without, so on the off chance you don’t already have a copy this Second Sight Blu-ray is certainly worth your money, even if it doesn’t feature anything you can’t get on other editions. It looks and sounds terrific, and it also boasts a unique extra in the ‘integral’ cut, which restores around twenty minutes of deleted scenes: essentially we get a bit more emphasis on Dan and Megan’s relationship, a subplot about Dr Hill using powers of hypnosis to control Dean Halsey (the same powers by which he controls the zombies in the final act), and an oddball dream sequence most notable for featuring Barbara Crampton naked again. All pleasant enough, but nothing that really adds a great deal to the film overall.
Re-Animator is out now on Blu-ray from Second Sight.