RE-ANIMATOR

RE-ANIMATOR (1985)
US
Directed by Stuart Gordon

CAST:
Jeffrey Combs - Herbert West
Bruce Abbott - Daniel 'Dan' Cain
Barbara Crampton - Megan Halsey

PLOT:
     A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.

REVIEW:
     The first time I was able to watch Re-Animator was when I was in high school. Yep, awkward times and situations abounded during that time, and I decided to try to become a wall flower to keep from being made fun of. Didn't work by the way. Anyway, one of my closest friends during the time invited me over to watch horror movies. That night was a double feature of Faces Of Death and Re-Animator. I'll remember it due to half-way through Faces Of Death my friend and I were both kinda grossed out by the movie and it was decided that to become un-grossed out was to order pizza. So we paused the movie and waited till said pizza got there then continued on with the movies for the night. Yep, greasy, extra cheese pizza was just what was needed to get through both movies as the deaths became more ridiculous and over the top, specially with Re-Animator and we laughed all the way through it. Okay, I'm positive I bored you all to death now, so on to the review!

     Now this is more like Jeffrey Combs. Playing a kooky, and completely mad, character. Comb's portrayal of Herbert West is just a joy to watch. He doesn't try to ham up his performance by really over-doing it, instead he just plays West as someone that knows he is smart and everyone around him isn't nearly at his level. Yet it is when he's trying to cover his ass when the dead start messing things up is when he is the most fun as you see he always has a plan or is always thinking of the next step to take. Now when talking about this movie, David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill has to be mentioned. From his holier than thou demeanor at the start to his creepy almost deep psychosis of lust for the dean's daughter, Gale plays the character as just almost pure evil from the start. The movie probably wouldn't work if it wasn't for Gales sleazy, perverted performance, specially once he loses his head. Literally. Daniel Cane, played by Bruce Abbott, is the one downplayed character in the movie, and it works. Here is a person thrust into a weird situation that he has never even comprehended before until he meets West, and is then completely out of his league around him in every aspect except strength, which doesn't really matter when he is faced with the re-animated dead which are twice as strong as he is.

     As for the look of the movie itself. For a low budget movie, it looked amazingly more expensive. This might have to do with there only really being 5 main sets, of which most are re-used throughout the movie. Yet this doesn't bother me a lot as what happens on screen grabs your full attention. The reason for this is because of the actors involved. While most movie makers would have tried to bring in more of a outrageous acting sensibility to all the characters, to me director Stuart Gordon it seems tried to reign in this possibility as just the premise of the movie should be enough. And it is thanks to Gordon that the movie is so over the top and doesn't care what people think, as not once does it try to apologize for what it does or is about to do. Part of this is the insane amount of gore throughout the entire run time of the movie. From the first eye popping scene to the last cut off arm, this movie is a gore hound's dream.

     While the movie is based on a Lovecraft story, it becomes it's own entity due to the dark and tongue in cheek humor throughout, usually thanks to Combs' snide comments and off hand remarks. While the movie is far from perfect, mostly due to pacing issues and one really bad scene involving Abbott and Barbara Crampton. Good thing about that said scene is the attack on Abbott's character as it gets the story rolling again and doesn't let up, as it just gets all the more over the top and heady. If a movie like this is made now, it would have to be released on DVD only as no theater would have it in today's politically correct environment which is a shame as everyone needs a good movie to watch that doesn't take itself seriously and has violence just for the sake of violence.

BEST DEATH:
     Dr. Hill's eye piercing head-ache! 

BEST LINE:
      I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know and what would a note say, Dan? "Cat dead, details later"?

FUN FACTS:
     Re-Animator is a loose adaptation of the H. P. Lovecraft story  Herbert West - Re-Animator.

     The special effects department went through 25 gallons of fake blood during the shoot.

     The first man who is re-animated at the morgue (who goes on to kill the dean) is Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie body double, Peter Kent.

NECRONOMICON

NECRONOMICON (H. P. LOVECRAFT'S NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD) (NECRONOMICON: TO HELL AND BACK) (1993)
UK

PLOT:
     H.P. Lovecraft, the well-known horror writer, is looking in the late thirties after the book Necronomicon. He finds it guarded by monks in an old library. He then start copying stories from it, which unfold before his eyes.

REVIEW:
     It seems like a lifetime ago when I first saw the movie. I rented it so where the person I was seeing at the time and I could watch it. It seemed like a good choice considering she liked horror movies, as did I, but I got the added bonus of it being a movie based on stories by H. P. Lovecraft. When I originally watched it, I must say I wasn't that impressed. Now that the movie is two years shy of  being 20 years old, and I haven't watched it in about 16 years, I thought it would be a good choice to go back and review it. As the movie is split up into four separate stories basically, I'm going to give a quick review of each segment. Yes. It will make the review longer, but I think it will make the review flow better instead of trying to cram to much into a overview of the whole movie.

THE LIBRARY (WRAPAROUND)
Directed by Brian Yuzna

CAST:
Jeffrey Combs - H.P. Lovecraft

     Even though this story is mostly just about Lovecraft reading some of the stories in the Necronomicon, it also bridges the whole movie together into one, as after each story it goes back to the library where Combs' character is copying stories from said book. The movie ends with Lovecraft disturbing the natural order of things, as do all who read out of the Necronomicon, and having to fight off multiple monsters. While Combs is the reason to watch these segments, it is also the weakest story wise in the movie. Even though monk stretching the bars is really cool, the whole end part is ruined really by a weak last creature that was suppose to be shocking, I think. But the dimension tunnel was really cool looking though it came from though.

THE DROWNED
Directed by Christophe Gans

CAST:
Bruce Payne - Edward De Lapoer

     A tale of death and failed resurrection. This story is the best acted of movie thanks to Bruce Payne, and his ability to display loss and regret without overdoing it, or chewing scenery. It also has the best creature in it of the whole movie. Even though Payne is the main strength of the story, it is the story itself that is a let down as it doesn't truly has the time to build up any real tension that it is trying to. Christophe Gans, who directed this segment, though adds a style that isn't seen anywhere else in the movie and doesn't try to go overboard with any real fancy shots and because of this, the story plays out nicely, though a little slow.

THE COLD:
Directed by Shusuke Kaneko

CAST:
David Warner - Dr. Madden
Bess Meyer - Emily Osterman

     This segment is probably the most even of the four, yet it is also the most average at the same time. I should mention that most things I've seen David Warner in, he seemed to be playing almost the same character and the same can be said here as well (though I did really like him in Waxworks!) Warner plays a man that cannot be away from the cold for to long, less he starts to die. Even though Warner is the big name in this one, Bess Meyer is the main character as a abused runaway who is taken in by Warner's character who finds out that immortality has a price, and is infectious. The Cold also has the coolest death in the whole movie, even though the plot twist is easily seen.

WHISPERS
Directed by Brian Yuzna

CAST:
Signy Coleman - Sarah
Don Cafla - Mr. Benedict

     I'll go ahead and say that the first time I saw the movie, this was the segment I hated the most. Now though, it's my favorite. The reason for this is that to me, it has the whole Lovecraftian atmosphere and otherness down pat. It is also the darkest of all four stories. Part of this has to do with Coleman's Sarah trying to figure out if she wants to keep her unborn baby while pursuing 'The Butcher'. It's because of her inability to keep work and home life separate, she in turn is responsible for the death of her lover. The story just has a creeping doom feel to it as you know that at each turn things will get worse, and does it ever. As a side note, this is the only segment that has the character going insane after all that has happened or is happening, which is a plus. Also Don Cafla is great in his role of the easily ignorant Mr. Benedict. Easily the bloodiest of the bunch as well.

     While far from a perfect movie, Necronomicon is a fun anthology movie that has great ideals, but yet each segment has flaws that keep them from becoming great, so it just rests easily on the average side of horror movies. 

BEST DEATH:
     Dr. Madden's gooey meltdown!

BEST LINE:
    That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.

FUN FACTS:
     The stories the segments are based on are:
         The Drowned - The Rats In The Walls
         The Cold - Cool Air
         Whispers - The Whisperer In Darkness

     Christophe Gans went on to direct the amazing Le Pacte Des Loups (Brotherhood Of The Wolf) and the under-rated Silent Hill.

     Necronomicon has only been released on DVD in France as a double disc edition and Germany as a single disc release.

     Shusuke Kaneko went on to direct Azumi 2: Death and Love and the two live action Death Note movies.