Well, what a treat this film was. It’s classic body horror of the 80s to the fullest, with bodily transgression, cheap sexual thrills and lots and lots of gore. It’s the classic tale of a mad scientist who takes his research too far, and jeopardizes the lives of those around him. In many ways it is the modern (or modern in the 80s, anyway) Frankenstein story. However, when it comes to gore, there are few films of the time which were more excessive than this, but the film revels in its gore, and manages to not take itself too seriously. It’s a visceral journey that is meant to be enjoyed, whether you scream or laugh.
One of the good things about the film is that it centers itself on two scientists, instead of one. There’s the mad, socially inept genius Herbert West, then there is the more reasonable but also curious Dan. Both are students, but both, West in particular, are starting to grow past their teachers. It works well because West is so alienating that the audience would have had a hard time sticking up for him. He’s rude, has little conscience, and basically doesn’t care for other people. However, he needs the help of Dan, who is a much more likeable and normal character. Although their very different, they both see the use in West’s study and research. West has designed a formula that can re-animate dead tissue or beings. However, of course it comes with the nasty side effect that anything re-animated goes mad due to the pain of coming back to life, although both characters seem fairly unconcerned about this throughout the film, which I found strange. After all, what’s the purpose of a serum that can bring people back to life if it makes them crazy? Anyway, shit hits the fan before any of the characters can study further into this. One of the professors turns out to be quite an evil and sadistic bastard, and he will do anything to take credit for the serum himself. The Herbert West character becomes more and more fascinating as the film goes on. For a long time the audience cannot be sure of whether or not he is evil or good. Is he really such a jerk, or just a decent guy who is really obsessed about his work and research? Jeffrey Combs who plays West does a good job at playing with these ambiguities, and until the very end of the film we can’t quite be sure where he stands.
The film is famous for its many set-pieces. The film is incredibly playful and creative, creating crazy situations and visuals that are sure to stick in the audiences minds for a long time. The gore is unprecedented, but never really mean or callous in the same way as the recent Saw films. The film just wants to have a good time, and it brings us along. There are many cathartic moments of transgression that are truly joyful, but also moments that makes you want to cringe because they are so uncomfortable. The film is relatively short, and doesn’t have a moment that isn’t interesting, whether it is playing with the ambiguity of West’s character, creating suspense or just creating havoc on the screen with gore. So it’s a very dense film, and it goes a long way to making it re-watchable. That said, the film is not for the weak spirited. Although the film revels in the gore with an almost childlike fascination, if the audience doesn’t like gore then this film won’t change their opinion, actually more likely it would change it for the worse. Safe to say, if you don’t like gory horror films from the 80s, then there is very little on offer from Re-Animator. That being said, Re-Animator is one of the best films of its kind, and I found it immensely enjoyable. It doesn’t have the darkness of The Thing or the sophistication of Alien, but it takes all the great elements from classic gore films and puts it into one film, creating a wonderful mix of a special effects extravaganza and the all out fun of the 80s horror genre.
If you like the classic horror films of the 80s and haven’t seen this, then you need to see it. It’s one of the best of its kind and offers great re-watch value. It also a great film to watch with a bunch of like-minded friends if you want to have a night of laughs, and would work perfectly as a double bill with Evil Dead 2, or indeed the whole trilogy. I’ll definitely check out the sequels to Re-Animator, so maybe I’ll talk about those later.
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