Beyond Re-Animator
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Movie Reviews of Beyond Re-Animator
Movie Review: Not Beyond RE-ANIMATOR, but Way Beyond BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR
Summary: 4 Stars
True, it doesn't attain the pinnacle that director Stuart Gordon reached with his RE-ANIMATOR (1985), but director Brian Yuzna's second sequel, BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR (2003), is indeed way beyond his abysmal 1990 sequel BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR.
This time we catch up with the morbid Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) at the prison in which he has been incarcerated for the criminal experiments in re-animating human corpses he conducted during his residency at the Miskatonic University Medical Center. (The plot seems to ignore many events that occurred in BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, especially the fact that West was killed during that film's climax.) West has gained the confidence and the admiration of the prison doctor (Jason Barry), who agrees to let him use the prison infirmary to continue his morbid experiments. At first the two only experiment on the literal prison vermin--the rats and mice and such. But it isn't long before they start injecting West's dayglo-green juice into some of the human denizens of the jail.
The plot of BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR is fairly tight and much more believable than the sequel that preceded it, and unlike that former film, the characters that populate this phase of perennial protagonist Herbert West's life are fairly interesting. The acting in this flick is pretty good, too. Jeffrey Combs is, as always, wonderful in the role of Herbert West, and Jason Barry does a pretty good job in filling the shoes of actor Dan Cain as West's new protégé. Elsa Pataky and Raquel Gribler--the only women around for most of the film--provide some eye candy for the males in the audience, though neither has the sex appeal of Barbara Crampton from the original RE-ANIMATOR.
Don't misunderstand--BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR certainly isn't Oscar material. But who cares? Fans of these types of tongue-in-cheek horror and splatter films don't watch 'em to see Pulitzer-calibre scripts, great thespians, or high-art set design & special FX. They watch flicks like this because they enjoy lots of fake blood and guts, topless or naked women, and black funeral-parlor humor, all without having to suspend their disbelief tooooo much. And for the most part, this flick delivers.
The DVD from Lionsgate offers a fairly clean digital transfer of the print in anamorphic widescreen. Bonus features include an audio commentary with director Brian Yuzna, a short making-of featurette containing interviews with the cast & crew, and a few other tidbits. All in all, its worth the price of admission for those who enjoyed the original 1985 film.
Movie Review: Yuzna and Combs return with a vengeance
Summary: 4 Stars
For fans of the Re-Animator series (and there are many) the wait is finally over. 13 years after directing Bride of Re-Animator Brian Yuzna returns with another satisfying sequel. Beyond Re-Animator opens with an interesting 10-minute prologue that shows one of Herbert West's re-animated corpses getting loose and killing a teenage girl in the suburbs. This sequel is set 13 years after those events where West is now in jail serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit murder. A young doctor by the name of Howard becomes infatuated with West's work and wants to assist him to further his research which attempts to explain rational behaviour. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this sequel especially considering the many negative reviews I read of this film. Yes this was filmed in Spain on a limited budget and none of the same actors (except for Jeffrey Combs) return but what should we expect? 13 years had gone by since the last entry. As long as Combs returns this series will do just fine. He's great here as usual, in his trademark subdued style. I marvel at his ability to play a role of someone who is stone-faced and dead serious but at the same time funny as hell. Combs is surrounded by many other interesting characters including the young doctor, a pretty reporter and the requisite sadistic prison warden although none of them do nearly as good an acting job as he does.
Despite the lower budget he had to work with, Yuzna managed to make this film look very stylish (similarly to Stuart Gordon's Dagon). Almost the entire movie takes place inside of a prison, lending the film a claustrophobic feel. The last half hour is very fast paced and chaotic for as usual West's experiments go horribly wrong. Re-Animated corpses are everywhere, inmates break loose of their cells as prison guards try to fight them off, the whole jail becomes a riot act. Brian Yuzna certainly went all out with this finale. This was a great film that is injected with all the right doses of gore, mayhem and humour that have been trademarks of the series.
Movie Review: Re-Animated
Summary: 4 Stars
Ever since I began watching the original Re-Animator, I loved it. Soon it became one of my favorite films, and I watched Bride of Re-Animator, which was a horrible sequel. With average expectations I rented Beyond Re-Animator, and let me say I was blown away. It's been thirteen years since Herbert West's former assistant turned state's evidence against him, and sent the doctor to state prison. Now, an eager young doctor wants West as his assistant in the prison after seeing West's work during the final Miskatonic misexperiment. Soon, the doctor is the assistant and West is the doctor as he continues experimentation into re-animation of the dead: only this time, it's one step higher ... Jeffrey Combs is better than ever as the mad West, giving us a terrific performance. The rest of the cast is very good as well; Brian Yuzna's direction has improved, and the script is great; there's also a cool score by Xavier Cappellas. Beyond Re-Animator is one of my favorite films, and one of the best horror films of 2003. It features some quite funny comedy, mixed with great, gory horror in the tradition of the first film. It is completely entertaining and features some very nice story ideas. Think of it as Shawshank Redemption with re-animation and Dr. West - oh, forget it. I found that the film was almost as good as the first Re-Animator, and way above the Bride. It's great to have West back again. And the ending is terrific - fans of the first film can sit back and smile with satisfaction ...I would highly recommend Beyond Re-Animator to any horror fan, and it is essential for fans of the firstfilm. Easily one of my favorite horror films. Be sure to stick around to see the hilarious end fight between a rat and the warden's severed limb.
"Religion has nothing to do with this!"
Movie Review: Dr. West creates zombies in prison.
Summary: 4 Stars
Finally for all you Re-Animator (1985) fans, a third film has been made. Filmed in Spain.
The second film was BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (1990). Jeffery Combs is back as "Herbert West".
Two boys are camping out in the yard. Suddenly Howard (Tommy Dean Musset) tells the other boy a story about someone keeping body parts. He shows him an eye in a cup. Lightning and thunder materialize. The mother (Barbara Elorrietta) in the house is killed by a jawless zombie (Angel Plana) as Howard watches in horror. The zombie was another one of Dr. West's experiments, so Dr. West is arrested and put into the police car. But before he leaves, the vital green luminous shot is left for the boy. Thirteen years later, Howard (Jason Berry) is now a doctor and visis Dr. West in prison. Dr. West still conducts his electrical shock experiments, but this time on rats. When Howard shows Dr. West, the luminous shot he left behind thirteen years ago, he can't wait to see if the luminous serum still works. Of course it does and so the campy zombie fun begins again.
Lolo Herrero plays "Sergeant Moncho".
Enrique Arce plays "Cabrera".
Simon Andreu plays "Warden".
DVD includes an "Easter Egg". Click your down button on the remote. When "Lions Gate Films" logo appears, click on this. You will see trailers for Beyond Re-Animator (2003), Cabin Fever, and Faust--Love of the Damned. Extra include "Move Your Dead Bones" music video. Making of Re-Animator documentary.
Movie Review: Another enjoyable sequel to a cult classic!
Summary: 4 Stars
Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) still conducts his experiments but unfortunately as one of his experiments murders of a young boy's sister that sends him to prison. 13 years later, he is still studying about life and death as he makes special soul stealing energy batteries that can be put in other bodies just like his re-agent as Dr. Howard Philipps ( Jason Barry) who was the young boy who witnessed his sister's death is fasinated by Herbert West's theories and the old re-agent that he found on that night. West and Philip begin to experiment on animals including some prison inmates for both his re-agent and soul snatcher but unfortunately it becomes like old times in creating zombies.
Entertaining and enjoyable sequel to the 1985 horror comedy cult masterpiece! Brian Yuzna ( co-producer of the original Re-Animator) does it again with his sensibilty in this Spanish-US production with decent acting even by Jeffery Combs but unfortunately no Bruce Abbot, as usual this has a good amount of splatter and dark humor including one really nasty castration scene (ala, Cannibal Ferox) and good special effects. Not as great as the original but just as fun as "Bride of Re-Animator", hopefully part 4 will be coming soon.
This DVD has a nice commentary by Brian Yuzna and only two features which is a Spanish Music video and a behind the scenes feature with the trailer including other Lion's Gate release trailers.