Stuart Gordon’s horror cult-classic Re-Animator (1986), an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s titular novelette, turns forty this year, cueing a moment for reflection and retrospection. The movie tells the story of Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a new student at Miskatonic University enamored with reanimating dead tissue. He meets Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), a promising fellow student who happens to be dating the university dean’s daughter, Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton). West soon involves Cain in his experiments, and catastrophe follows. Covered in gore top to bottom with never a dull moment, ReAnimator is well-deserving of its place as a staple horror film.
Director Stuart Gordon’s background before film was in theater, which shines throughout—from the special effects, the script, the limited cast of characters, to the acting itself. Re-Animator is chalk-full of zombies, action, and blood, with effects such as puppets, dummies, makeup, and blood utilized to bring the Lovecraft novelette to life. The practical effects used in this movie are by no means miraculous or technically impressive, but they are real and they are charming. As many benefits as there are to digital effects in film, the feeling of an object occupying space in real time, something one can interact and engage with, is extremely difficult to replicate digitally. Even when the effects are clearly from 4 decades ago, it maintains its sense of reality in that aspect, and everything else is compensated for in blood. The dialogue and the characters in the story are pointed, with each character having their own agency. This makes the film very driven, as the story picks up quickly and no character is left to idle for long. Additionally, many of the actors have a background in theater, which compliments Gordon’s style of filmmaking. In theater, you need to perform for the whole audience, including the back of the room. You need to project, be more expressive, more dramatic, more physical, so on and so on. Typical TV and film performances are far more subdued. However, in Re-Animator, all actors go all out.
This film could not be without Jeffrey Combs’s performance. He plays Herbert West perfectly—heightening the archness of the character, delivering comedic lines with the right amount of conviction to make them work, and otherwise personifying exactly what comes to mind when you think “mad scientist.” Combs is complimented by Bruce Abbott, who plays Dan straight and genuine, creating a great counterbalance. Barbara Crampton shifts quite a few times throughout the film, starting a bit more passive, with her character gaining momentum as the story does. In the third act of the film, she lays it all bare and gives a visceral performance with blood curdling screams and cries. Re-Animator has seen yet another resurgence in popularity recently, with a substantial online fanbase. The film was released in 1985 yet it’s tailor made for an online fandom, with a Tumblr Sexyman-esque lead and a homosocial relationship perfect for shipping. Additionally, Herbert West is widely believed to be autistic-coded, gravitating many people towards his character. I think these things are a wonderful bonus, and I love that even after forty years this movie has a new and young audience still engaging with it. Suffice to say, Re-Animator is a horror classic, and if you’re in the mood for a blood-soaked fun time, you should see what you’re missing.
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