Re-Animator (1985)

Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator is a bloody and gratifying adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Herbert West, Re-Animator,” that ranks high among its 1980’s horror contemporaries.

In a medical office in Switzerland, screams accompany a nurse and police officers as they race down the corridor. They arrive at a locked glass door, behind which a muffled struggle can be heard. By the time they break down the door, Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is already struggling to regain control of his mentor Dr. Gruber (a heavily made-up Al Berry). As the nurses and officers watch in terror, Dr. Gruber’s eyes erupt from his head in a milky-red blood covered spectacle of horror. West is transferred back to the United States to complete his medical training, coincidently working under famed neurosurgeon Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) – a man he knows to have stolen much of Dr. Gruber’s work.

Ward takes a room with a 3rd year medical student, Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), much to the chagrin of Dan’s girlfriend, Megan (Barbara Crampton). As strange things begin to happen around the house, Dan discovers that West has been using Dr. Gruber’s work, along with his own calculations, to create a “re-animation” serum that has the potential to destroy death. Terrible side-effects and unknown dosage amounts make for a tricky process in restoring life to its former glory. Met with setbacks and some drastic consequences, the two students race to perfect the formula before it ruins their careers, or ends their lives.

Stewart Gordon approaches his film with the bravado and one-upmanship we have all come to expect from 1980’s horror. With the capable assistance of make-up and practical effects on his side, Gordon is able to shock his audience into submission. Constantly trying to top his last gag, the film becomes continually more brutal as it progresses. By modern standards, the effects are largely laughable and can come across as hilarious, but the fact that they are actual physical effects only adds to the allure of this film.

While the acting is somewhat below superb, the actors still play off of each other quite nicely. Dan’s resentment of and trepidation involving West and his work, becomes amplified by West’s almost primal desire to succeed in his research. West’s blind ambition to conquer death hints at a troubled past, yet the character is completely undeveloped, and used primarily as fodder for inciting hesitation from the audience – by way of their proxy Dan/Megan. While Dan is certainly the protagonist of the film, his opposition is far more ambiguous, taking the form of anything that blocks his path to an MD, thereby securing his marriage to the love of his life. Conflicts for Dan arise from all angles, and he seems ill suited to handle even the most basic of challenges. Only bested by the sheer uselessness of the pathetically-clichéd Megan, who is only there to provide motivation for Dan, and as the centerpiece for most of his struggles. The rivalry between Dr. Hill and West is Re-Animator‘s saving grace. Both are coldly calculating sociopaths, and play with the audience’s preconceptions of the uncaring doctor. Each striving to best the other, and become the man responsible for curing death.

Bordering on humor, and with a solid underlying story, Re-Animator is a worthy addition to the vast lexicon of gory horror that proliferated the 1980’s.