2.5/4  Re-animator
Disappointing really. It's watchable and the make up and effects are gory and fun, but I just didn't really care where it was going. Maybe its just dated badly, or is it me thats dated badly? I don't know but its not the best 80's fun horr... (read full)

3/4  Re-Animator Quick Review
Re-Animator takes the classic H.P. Lovecraft story and turns it into a darkly hilarious horror film. Fans of the Evil Dead will eat this up.

5/5 It is a Classic
  by A. Hackbarth (Houston, TX USA)
Before horror movies did CGI, there was Re-Animator. It has everything a good Friday night Horror flick could want. It is in every Top 5 Zombie movie list for a good reason. If you enjoyed Brain Dead (AKA Dead Alive), you'll really enjoy this.

4/5 Cats Can't Tango With A Broken Back
  by C. Sawin (TX)
Herbert West is no ordinary doctor. He's brilliant and obviously knows quite a bit about the field of medicine, but something is peculiar about him. He acts strangely and tends to keep to himself while getting absorbed into his work. Throughout his research, Dr. West may have finally perfected his serum. A serum that brings the dead back to life. The consequences of the serum are hectic, as expected. The sooner the serum is injected into a fresh corpse in comparison to one that's been lying around for a few hours, the better the results. Based on the H.P. Lovecraft tale, Herbert West-Reanimator, West finds himself at a medical college when his stint in Switzerland ends a bit abruptly. There he meets Dan Cain, a student at the college who is held in high regard, and Dan's girlfriend, Meg, whose father is the dean to the medical college. When Dan puts a notice up looking for a roommate in his dorm, West comes knocking. Things seem to be a constant downward spiral from there as West continues his research and the bodies begin to pile up.

Re-Animator is one of the few cult classics that I'll stick up for. I usually wind up feeling like most classic horror films that are recommended or held in such high regard aren't good at all or are extremely overrated. This film is a lot of fun though. It's definitely got its campy qualities with a headless corpse stumbling around the third act of the film, but it doesn't feel out of place for a film built around a concoction that's injected into the brain to bring corpses back from the dead. The music, especially the opening theme, tends to get a bad wrap because it blatantly rips off (or pays homage, depending on how you look at it) the Psycho score. While the similarities are crystal clear once they're heard, I honestly didn't mind it. It's kind of hard to imagine this film with different music, so I have no complaints.

The Herbert West role really fits Jeffrey Combs like a glove. His attraction to weird and quirky roles pretty much began with films like this one. As West's unusual personality is revealed throughout the film, you can't help but get a sense of uneasiness as his character traits unravel before your very eyes. The best example is when West brings Dan's cat Rufus back to life. After it's been killed for the second time, Dan is shocked to discover it's Rufus and turns to look at West. West points at the cat and tells Dan to, "Look out!" Dan quickly turns his attention back to poor Rufus, who's still lying there motionless. West begins to burst into maniacal laughter as Dan looks on in horror. With the upcoming remake on the horizon, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Herbert West especially with Jeffrey Combs confirmed for a cameo.

While Re-Animator could definitely be considered cheesy and campy at times, its strengths outweigh its flaws. The story is simple, but tends to unfold nicely and the acting is solid (David Gale as Dr. Hill is up for debate though). The film is pretty much exactly what you would expect a horror film to be like from the eighties; gory, cheesy, tons of nudity and sex, and a few creative twists along the way. And when it comes to horror, what else could you really ask for?

Rating: 7.5/10

5/5 Not your typical horror flick
  by J. Anderson (Schenectady)
Ok, Here's the deal.
This is one hell of an original movie that is not your typical horror flick. Herbet West is a psychotic genius madman scientist who is able to reanimate the dead. He transfers after a mishap in his independent research lab in Switzerland to a medical school in the states. He quickly begins his experiments in the basement of a fellow medical student, where he succeeds in reanimating a dead cat (Who names their cat roofus anyways?). The madman quickly moves to the morgue and then killing humans for the sake of experimentation and an answer to blackmail. This movie is truly not your typical blood bath, yet features plenty of blood to satisfy any gorehound. Herbert West has found the answer to reanimating the dead with his glow in the dark serum, which is never really explained. Most of his experiements are greatly flawed and end in a bloody mess. At times this is very much over the top with its sick and twisted humor and even galavanting into headless sodomy. From a walking clumbsy corpse carrying its own head in a metal tray yearning for blood to decapitating a head with a shovel, the over the top gore is as intense as it is comical. The film progresses at a fairly fast pace and the ending leaves you wanting to see the sequel immediately. This is as good as it gets.

1/5 Terrible! the Plan 9 of horror movies
  by SnowDog3000 (manchester, ct USA)
Wow! This movie was incredibly bad. If you want an 80's style version of a Lovecraft movie you'd be far better off with The Unnamable, or you you want a Lovecraft movie truly in keeping with H.P. Lovecraft's work, then go with the recent The Call of Cthulhu. But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter to me whether this movie had anything to do with H.P Lovecraft's story, it was just bad moviemaking. Evil Dead II this ain't.

5/5 Re-animator Movie Review from The Massie Twins
  by thejoelmeister (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com)
Re-Animator is too creative and too well planned to really be a B-movie, but it goes to great lengths to cram every element of a cheesy exploitation film into one outrageous horror-comedy. Nudity, undead monstrosities, extreme gore, mad scientists and jump-scares creep around every scene, and the horrifying re-animated are perfectly presented with over-the-top blood effects and hilarious dialogue. It's one of the greatest of all B-movies, and a near perfect combination of humor and fright.

"I gave him life!" exclaims Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) after bringing back to life the deceased body of esteemed Doctor Gruber. Like a cold and calculating Frankenstein, West has created a re-animating agent that can defeat brain death - but with startling consequences. After being kicked out of his independent research experimentation in Switzerland, West journeys to Arkham, Massachusetts where he moves in with brain surgeon hopeful Daniel Cain (Bruce Abbott). Daniel and his girlfriend Megan (Barbara Crampton) are uneasy with Cain's isolation in the basement, but make the best of it until they accidentally witness the re-animation of their very dead cat Rufus.

After confronting Dean Halsey, Megan's father, Daniel is met with immediate skepticism. Demanding a rescinding of Cain's school loans and the expelling of West, Halsey intends to silence the two young rebellious scientists and their tall tales. But when a secret rejuvenation experiment ends in Halsey's death - and subsequent re-animation - the mischievous duo find themselves the target of the twisted Carl Hill (David Gale) who wants to steal the secret of everlasting life for himself.

Opening beautifully with a hilarious bit of schlock scares and a twist on the theme music from Psycho, Re-Animator proceeds to do everything right in building a perfect exploitation B-movie. From the greatest scene transition ever (Megan cooing "no, no, no" when Dan tries to kiss her in the hospital hallway to a shot of her screaming "yes, yes, yes!" in bed), to awkward close-ups of West's scowling face, to delightfully bloody brain surgery (it's like peeling a large orange), each moment is brilliantly placed. No shot is wasted, and no scene goes without mustering uneasy laughs as ultra-gory bloodbaths frequently linger.

Whether it's a shovel decapitation or unbelievably [..] sexual deviancy, Re-Animator knows when to toss in extra weird ingredients, unlimited gross-out gore, and the insanely creepy Dr. Hill. Director Stuart Gordon and his wonderful cast of oddball characters know how to get the right reactions out of audiences with suspense, cheesiness and hilarity. Everything manages to work for this low-budget bloodbath, even when the side effects for re-animation include telepathy and telekinesis, and characters are attacked by stuffed animals. It's creative and over-the-top like Peter Jackson's Dead Alive, with thrills and laughs in equal measure.

One of the greatest of its genre, Re-Animator feels like it's trying to intentionally be more of an expected low grade exploitation schlock, and outdoes itself with creativity and first-rate makeup effects. Pioneering a cult franchise, this original landmark in horror-comedies is a refreshing take on a classic tale of science gone too far.

- Mike Massie