Beyond Re-Animator
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Movie Reviews of Beyond Re-Animator
Movie Review: Almost as Good as The First Re-animator
Summary: 4 Stars
All I have to say is that this movie is great its not as good as the first one but its still a great movie.I dont no why but it was missing something from the first one but all in all it was a good movie .I would recomend it to any re-animator fan.Movie Review: gory, giddy fun.
Summary: 3 Stars
The original Re-Animator is deemed a classic of the genre, though to be honest, my admiration for it is only mild. Sure, it boasted a terrific performance from Jeffrey Combs, delivered tons of memorable gore, and featured a deliciously nude Barbara Crampton, but I always found the pacing a little off and I felt the movie took to long to get to the all-out carnage I expected. Is Beyond Re-Animator a "better" movie? Maybe not, but I enjoyed it more, and it's a rare sequel that actually remains true to its predecessor's roots. Set thirteen years after the events of Bride of Re-Animator, Doctor Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is in prison for his crimes (makes you wonder what he was charged with, resuscitating the dead?), but the arrival of a new doctor, Howard Phillips (Jason Barry), proves interesting to West's studies. Apparently, Phillips was a first-hand witness to the results of West's re-agent years ago, and has arrived to work with him on perfecting the formula. Their studies further progress to the discovery of an electrical phenomenon that could restore a dead person back to its normal state, sans the rage that typically accompanies their revival. But not everything goes to plan, thanks to a nosy reporter (Elsa Pataky) Phillips is seeing and the sadistic prison warden (Simon Andreu) who's catching whiff of West's plans.
Like the previous movies, Beyond Re-Animator isn't plot driven, it's meant to play as a rollercoaster ride of extreme gore and dark comedy. The grue is even better than its predecessors and there are a couple of laughs to be had (even if they're also simultaneously wince-inducing). The f/x stand out, with loads of memorable gore effects; there's a jawless zombie in the opening, a prisoner who overdoses on the re-agent and literally explodes, and my personal favorite, a prisoner missing the lower half of his body who's lassoed around by West himself. Hilarious.
Brian Yuzna is confident at the helm, giving the movie a slick look and feel, while maintaining a fast pace that nicely builds and rarely lets up. That said, the film is still packed with flaws, a lot of it pertaining to the repetitive nature of the story, which is basically "kill person, revive person, then kill person again," a cycle that endlessly repeats itself. The script brings up the topic of the electrical phenomenon, but doesn't really do anything with it. Are we supposed to assume that (spoiler) the reporter is somewhat possessed by the warden because she was given his NEE? There also aren't as many "zombies" as the first film, or at least not as many who are in any position to harm our protagonist (there's a scene where West discovers quite a few undead bodies hanging from the ceiling)
Jeffrey Combs-whose character actually starts to look a little normal compared to some of the nutsos here-is as delightful to watch as ever, and is really the one element that holds the film together in between the gore-soaked scenes. Jason Barry is flat and unconvincing as Phillips, whose decidedly complex character is clearly out of the actor's range. Elsa Pataky is very pretty, but has a hard time passing off as an American journalist (her Spanish accent slips through more than once). The only other worthy performer of note is the foxy Raquel Gribler, playing the prison nurse who reveals a LOT of cleavage and wears an almost see-through uniform. Pure eye candy, but a successful one at that.
Beyond Re-Animator works simply because it's a lot of fun, no more and no less, and whether or not you enjoy it depends on whether you mind (literally) eye-popping violence. The ending leaves things open for a sequel, but I'm actually looking forward to the further misadventures of Herbert West. Let's just hope the next sequel boasts a tad more plot and variety to go along with all the fun, gory mayhem.
Movie Review: Welcome to Arkham Prison...the doctor will see you now...
Summary: 3 Stars
Director Brian Yunza once again breathes life back into the Re-Animator series with this third installment, Beyond Re-Animator (2003). Shot on location in Spain, the only character to make it from the original movies was Doctor Herbert West (Jeffery Combs). While neither of the sequels was nearly as good as the first, this one, I thought, was a bit better than the last.
The film picks up where the last left off, with one of West's experiments attacking a young woman, which is witnessed by her younger brother. The movie then fast-forwards 14 years, and we see West as an inmate in Arkham prison, performing strange experiments on rats, ones not involving bringing them back from the dead, but having something to do with removing strange energies from their bodies. Seems West is trying to develop a means to not only re-animate the dead, but to also return the subjects back to their normal, mental states. You see, the re-animation formula does work, but the subjects are usually mindless murder machines once brought back from the dead. With his new research, West hopes to counteract this effect, and truly return his once dead subjects back to their normal, pre-par tem selves. The young boy who so long ago saw his sister attacked by one of West's experiments is now a doctor, and has taken up residency at the prison where West is incarcerated, requesting that West be assigned to assist him. This seemed like a set up so that the doctor could avenge his sister's death, but that wasn't how it was played out, which seemed weird to me. Anyway, West, with the help of his new benefactor, begins his re-animation experiments anew, with a slight twist in his development of returning sentient consciousness to his subjects.
The movie does follow the format of previous films, with West blindly pushing forward with his experimentation, while his reluctant partner follows meekly along, and also a woman getting into the mix. There were some new elements thrown in, but most of the movie stayed similar to the first two. The script was a bit on the weak side, but director Yunza manages to keep things interesting with a copious amount of gore and splatter, but I am sure fans of the visceral would have wanted more. West is always fun to watch, a man driven by his unrelenting desire for knowledge despite the consequences. As the movie progresses, the inevitable prison riot breaks out, and various 're-animated' test subjects do many nasty things. No big surprises in the end, but a suitable ending leaving the door open for another sequel. There is some nice eye candy (women) to look at in this nearly all Spanish cast, but the acting skills in some of the cast members, men and women, are pretty poor. The special effects, provided by Screaming Mad George, are nice and thoroughly grotesque, and the story does move along, so I would call this movie a successful sequel to the last one, especially since I really didn't have high hopes after seeing Bride of Re-Animator (1990) and hearing another sequel was on the way.
Special features include a director's commentary, a 'making of' featurette, a somewhat goofy music video featuring a techno song and some interesting visuals. There are also a few trailers included, one for this movie and a couple more for other Lion's Gate releases. All in all, not a bad follow up to the sequel, but still nowhere as good as the original film. I do wish someone would release some of Brian Yunza's other films to DVD, like From Beyond (1986) or Crying Freeman (1995).
Cookieman108
Movie Review: outrageously stupid, but fun
Summary: 3 Stars
This Halloween my boyfriend and I rented something seasonal -- *Beyond Reanimator. We didn't get around to watching it right away; Blockbuster's newly lax late-regulations make our procrastination all the cheaper. And besides, what was the rush? How good could it possibly be?
Well, let's look at that small 4-letter word "good" for a minute, shall we? Traditionally-speaking, "good" tends to indicate something of quality, something of value -- or at least something of marginal usefulness. By this criteria, Beyond Reanimator hasn't really got much to offer. We were quite safe in assuming that it could gather dust on top of our DVD player for a week or two and we wouldn't be missing much.
However. If you were to redefine "good" to include such things as, "features a kung-fu fight scene between a prison rat and a dismembered zombie erection," well then. Now you're talking. Never fear, because Beyond Reanimator has all your zombie genitalia needs covered.
The "Reanimator" line is taken from H.P. Lovecraft's canon and centers around a mad scientist named Herbert West. Herbert sees death as a terminal illness, and in his own methodical, clinically-insane fashion, he seeks to cure it. He succeeds in restoring life to his unfortunate subjects, but he has a somewhat tougher time restoring them to rational behavior. Voila. Flesh-eating zombies, running amuck. In this third installment of the movie franchise, the flesh-eating, amuck-running zombies are largely confined to the prison where once again Dr. West is indulging his unholy experiments.
In addition to satisfying any mobile phallic curiosity you may harbor, Beyond Reanimator also fulfills your Recommended Daily Allowance? of slutty nurses with visible granny panty-lines, orange-foam vomit, needles-the-size-of-railroad-spikes loaded with glowing green goo, the odd heaving nipple being bitten off, and nerdy mad scientists in jumpsuits.
Thank heavens this movie knows better than to take itself seriously. If you get hold of this DVD, be sure to watch the credits for a bonus shadow-puppet theater of prison rat karate taking on the free-range [organs]. Also, check the extras for the music video which (ostensibly) accompanies the film. Seriously. Watch it. I had to avert my eyes right about the time my boyfriend cried out, "GAY FRENCH ZOMBIE MIMES! HAHAHAHAHAAH!"
Anyway, It's outrageously stupid, but kind-of fun. Don't expect too much of it and you won't be let down.
Movie Review: Full of Nano Plasmic Energy
Summary: 3 Stars
Sometimes utter silliness works, and you get a great cult film. And other times it never quite clicks, and the result is a bemused, but not particularily enthralled viewer. Hence, the original Re-animator was a delightful parody of the 60's horror film, as we followed young Dr. West (Jeffrey Combs) and his accomplice Dr. Howard Phillips (Jason Barry) through a trail of not quite failed resurrections. While it would never be the equal of the Rocky Horror Picture Show it had that same madcap lack of good sense.
Beyond Re-Animator relies primarily on gory sight gags and less on any gesture at a meaningful plot. There are only so many crazed-sadistic-prison-warden-beats-up-crazed-sadistic-psychotic-inmate scenes one can watch before one's eyes glaze over. Dr. Wells has been (appropriately) locked up for his strange habits, one of which got loose from the morgue and killed Dr. Phillips' sister will trying to get a glass of milk. Phillips, motivated by a desire to master life only surpassed by West, comes to the prison not to get even, but to pick West's brain.
Phillips falls for Laura Olney (Elsa Pataky) the inevitable gorgeous female and we are off to the prison riots. Glowing green syringes fly one way, parts fly another, and soon just about everyone is either dead or er, dead. Pataky is so good looking that you might actually miss the fact that she is otherwise as talented as a paperweight. But who cares? You are watching this for all the gore, violence, and hokey lines. A little frontal nudity and soft core action are entirely appropriate for a film that makes no pretences at redeeming values.
There are some surprising special effects as various slices of people lock parts with other slices. So be careful not to wince too often. And the whole film becomes worth it as you watch the credits roll by as Ratty the Resurrected Rat enters a life or death struggle with the warden's willy. This is definitely the silliest R rated film I've seen in years.