Shudder proves useful ounce more and allows me to finally get around to watching Re-Animator. I see this movie posted, talked about, and cherished by horror fans all over social media. So I decided to sit back, relax, and give it a whirl.
The movie begins abruptly in Switzerland where you observe officers, and medical staff trying to gain access to a locked lab. The officers finally bust through to discover our main character Dr. West with a syringe in hand overtop of Dr. Gruber.
Gruber suddenly stands up screaming, his eyeballs swelling up till they pop and blood bursts everywhere. They quickly assume Dr. West killed him, Dr. West, replying with “No I did not, I gave him life”. The movie does a great job of showing us what we’re in for. Suddenly the intro drops with fantastic visuals and an even more satisfying score, that was stuck in my head for hours after the movie ended. Re-Animator is about Dr. Herbert West, a very weird but intelligent scientist played by Jeffrey Combs.
Who takes up a new residency with a medical institute in America after his former mentor passes. Dr. West soon meets his new classmate Dan Cain, a top of his class medical student played by Bruce Abbott. Dan ultimately finds out Dr. West is working on a chemical to re-animated the dead with a fun scene involving Dan’s cat Rufus. However let’s just say the chemical still has some bugs, some deadly bugs. It gives the re-animated incredible strength and aggression which leads to some wild moments.
Dr. West needs to experiment with the substance to find its imperfections. Except with no subjects at his disposal, Dan is pretty much persuaded into helping him. Dr. West definitely shows his intellect in doing so, it seems like anything he wants Dan to help him with he will. Preferably that or Dan doesn’t know how to say no. The unexpected thing about this movie is that it actually has a plot with multiple characters and story arcs.
Such as Megan Halsey and Dan’s relationship, that has speed bumps due to her father being Dean Halsey the head of the Institute. Dr. West having a rivalry with his teacher Dr. Hill, due to him plagiarizing his past mentors work. I feel like most horror movies develop some half-assed plot to simply get to the kills. However, with Re-Animator, they are working from a book which might have a part in it having a decent plot. Unsure though I’ve never read the book it based on.
Overall I can see why people love this movie it’s fun, it’s different, and you actually get invested in the story and characters. It has awesome yet campy practical effects and I feel the movie has its own style about it. I’ll definitely be adding it to my collection soon. Along with its sequels, I feel bad that I’m just now watching this classic but I’m glad I now have. Don’t forget if you want to check out or revisit Re-Animator it is available on Shudder.
IMDB.com has a rating of 7.2
Personally, I’d give it an 8.0
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