“Cat dead, details later.”

Returners? The living dead? Walkers? I can only assume that terms like these have run their course with plenty of people in the last 10 years or so. Especially in film, zombies have flooded the market, and many genre fans have drowned in it. Given, it’s not like the abuse cinephiles have been subjected to via vampire movies in the last decade, but it’s been thorough nonetheless.

It took me a few years, but I finally got my hands on a copy of World War Z. What took me so long? Well, I had so many other novels to read, plus I was finis- nah, that’s all bullshit. I’m just a fucking cheapskate and couldn’t find a used paperback of it. Either way, my friend Elliott let me borrow his copy… I was blown away. The oral history aspect of it was one-of-a-kind, which did a superb job of convincing the reader this was a worldwide incident that took place, and we were still recovering from it on all levels. I need to get to the point that this isn’t a post about Max Brooks’ masterpiece, but how the book reminded me of my favorite zombie film: Re-Animator.

Now some may disagree with my notion that Re-Animator is a zombie flick. Their argument? “Well, the film revolves around Dr. Herbert West reanimating the deceased with his reagent solution in the hopes to defeat brain death, which in turn can cure the ‘disease’ of death. So, he isn’t creating the living dead, he is actually bringing them back to life.” My retort? “Blow me. My blog, thus my rules.” Honestly though, that is sound logic for all those anal retentive kids out their who say 28 Days Later is about rage infected individuals, so it’s not a zombie movie. Yeah… I’m one of those kids, but since no one can really argue with me via this here spot where I like to write – because I can just choose to ignore them – we’re just gonna go with my logic on the antics of Dr. West.

Adapted from the story “Herbert West, Re-Animator” written by H.P. Lovecraft (which I haven’t read because I only pretend to be cool), director Stuart Gordon (From Beyond, King of the Ants) took a yarn by one of the all-time masters of horror, sanity/insanity, and the macabre, then added a new element: comedy. 1985 for me is the year that the sub genre “splatter comedy” burst into existence covered in viscera of all colors. It’s a simple concept of just focusing on an abundance of gore gags, make them exceptionally outlandish, which – if done correctly – will leave a scene bathed in blood and humor. Besides Re-Animator, the punk fueled masterpiece Return of the Living Dead was also released in 1985. Written and directed by the more recently deceased Dan O’Bannon (his IMDB writing profile is amazing, but he wrote the story for Alien; ’nuff said) it’s easily my second favorite zombie flick of all-time… but that’s for another day.

I knew a handful of stuff about Re-Animator before I saw it. There’s the running bit in American Beauty where Kevin Spacey and Wes Bentley us the film as code for buying that sweet sweet marijuana, but there was always the talk about THEE one scene in the film. I’ll be vague: decapitated reanimated corpse + nude Barbara Crampton ÷ oral sex = This is why I don’t run the Oscars, because this gem would’ve swept up. But yeah, it’s a movie just oozing with scenes of ridiculousness where you laugh, cringe, and possibly wanna cover your eyes at the same time. How fucking often does a film have the ability to do that?

I know I’ve talked about All Freakin’ Night a few times in the past on this here interweb writing doohickey, so I won’t go on about that, but the first year I went Re-Animator was one of the five films on the marquee. I was kinda-sorta on a date with my friend Sarah, who also happened to be my good friend Stephen’s ex; yeah… high school. She told me all about this late night extravaganza, so if it wasn’t for her I probably would’ve never had the privilege of seeing a real print of it on the big screen. Dog Soldiers, The Tingler, Versus, and Surf II: The End of a Trilogy (unfortunately I can’t find a trailer of it) were the other names on the marquee, so there’s a good chance that whatever autumn night back in 2002 where I sat in a theater from midnight until 10 or so in the morning was the point I realized I’ll always be obsessed with film.

Sorry… I just had a flashback sequence. Damn I used to be thin.

From the score in the opening credits blatantly ripping off the Psycho theme to the most metal line, “Your father’s been lobotomized!” this movie incorporates garbage bags full of everything that makes me smile like a drunk baby. The one element that solidifies this film as something I can watch every day and not get sick of it is none other than Jeffrey Combs (Bride of Re-Animator, The Frighteners). For me he’s up there with the likes of Bill Mosley and Brad Dourif for most adorned character actors in my book.

In Re-Animator Combs plays the misunderstood Dr. Herbert West who is the newest student at Miskatonic Medical School in the fictitious Arkham, Massachusetts. He’s a smarmy little bastard that’s beyond stubborn and doesn’t work well with others. Yet, he’s a star pupil based on his previous work concerning brain death with the late Dr. Hans Gruber. Combs is more or less the unintentional comedian throughout the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is the catalyst or the driving hand with majority of the violence, which the director illuminates so masterfully with realistic schlock. Dr. West hearkens back to the mad scientist characters of yore. Really, he’s just a flamboyant and spastic Dr. Frankenstein, but delivers lines like, “You steal the secret of life and death and here you are, trysting with a bubble-headed co-ed.” His performance makes me happy just thinking about it. Before I continue spoiling the film for the uninitiated, get your nubby little fingers on a copy.

As with all mad scientists shit gets outta hand eventually. I see this classic as a milestone in what a director can do to offend/entertain, but it’s not without heart. The “Igor” to West’s “Dr. Frankenstein” is Dan Cain played by Bruce Abbott. Cain is your typical leading man liked by everyone. He just wants to make it through medical school, marry his sweetheart Megan (Barbara Crampton who is STILL such a babe), and have a successful life as a medical practitioner. Gradually Cain is brought into West’s world of hidden experimentation, which rockets into insanity with such ease. The tragedy comes from Cain’s character arc, which really flourishes with the sequel Bride of Re-Animator, but that is a whole different dog and pony show.

For every Shaun of the Dead, Dead Alive, or Cemetery Man there’s countless piss-poor zombie pictures shuffling and/or running around out there. It’s an easy topic in film to entertain with and insert some kinda allegory to provoke the audience to think a little bit passed another machete to the skull. Given, I wish we could have an influx of good werewolf, witch, and indigenous horror sooner than later, pushing zombies back into the grave, but if it’s good it’s good and Re-Animator is the best… so I’ll take what I can get.