Sometimes They Come Back
© Mike Bracken
Director: Stuart Gordon
Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, David Gale, Barbara Crampton
Horror is a genre that lives and dies by its clichés. Time and time again, viewers are treated to archetypal characters in familiar settings suffering gruesome, yet ultimately forgettable fates. Occasionally however, a film comes along that takes these recognizable elements and twists them on their ear - exploiting our familiarity with them while hybridizing them into something else entirely. Stuart Gordon's 1985 horror classic Re-Animator is just such a film.
Based loosely on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator tells the tale of budding scientist Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and his obsession with bringing the dead back to life. To this end, he has invented a neon green, self-described "reagent" capable of reviving the dead. Unfortunately, West's subjects return to life not as ordinary human beings, but as hyper-aggressive zombies. Not one to be easily discouraged, he determines that the problem is not the "re-agent," but the fact that his test subjects are not "fresh" enough. To gain access to "fresher meat," he enlists the aid of fellow student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) and together they break into the college's morgue to continue the experiments.
Not surprisingly, their work doesn't go unnoticed. Before long, their instructor Dr. Carl Hill (played by the late, great David Gale) discovers them and attempts to claim his students' discovery as his own. West retaliates by killing Hill and re-animating him. However, Hill proves to be as uncontrollable as West's previous subjects - ultimately bringing about the film's splatterific climax. (Realized in exceptionally gruesome fashion by the film's superior SFX artists Bret Culpepper, Anthony Daublin and John Naulin.)
Although Re-Animator is Gordon's directorial debut, it's shockingly well conceived and executed for a first time director. While the film may lack the visual flourishes of Euro-horror legends Mario Bava and Dario Agrento (or even American contemporary Sam Raimi), it nonetheless illustrates both Gordon's filmmaking competence as well as his in-depth understanding of and respect for the zombie-horror genre. In addition, the acting is outstanding for this kind of film. Combs and Gale steal the show, turning in a pair of over-the-top performances that have become the stuff of cult film legend, as well as cementing Comb's reputation as one of the best quirky character actors in Hollywood. (Check out his over the top performance as Dinosour Bob in the otherwise abysmal Love and a 45. -Ed.) Abbott takes the straight-laced Cain role and makes it as entertaining as possible, but it's hard to compete with the camp of Combs. Scream Queen Barbara Crampton also delivers a fine performance - one most notable for her participation in the film's most notorious and "head-turning" scene.
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