Re-Animator
**Seen at the 2025 Renegade Film Festival
When it was announced that Stuart Gordon’s “Re-Animator” would be getting a 40th anniversary screening at the Renegade Film Festival, it simply made sense to wait to see it theatrically for the first time. It’s a title I’ve known about forever- basically, ever since Jeffrey Combs popped up in Peter Jackson’s “The Frighteners”- but never got around to watching. As it turns 40, the time is now, and it delivered.
One of the first things that was unmistakable about this film was it’s score. Richard Band’s music works for the film, but boy does it owe a ton to Bernard Herrmann’s score for “Psycho.” It adds some ’80s soundtrack touches to distinguish it, but I’ll be honest, I really would have liked to have something truly original for this film. Especially given the film’s place in horror fan’s hearts, it feels like an unnecessary distraction from the singularity of Gordon’s vision.
The film is based on the story, Herbert West, Re-Animator, from H.P. Lovecraft, and it’s very much a riff on Frankenstein, as the mad scientist at the heart of the film- West, played by Combs- has some bold ideas on bringing the dead back to life. When we first see him, he is in Germany, with a former professor whom is his first human attempt at the experiment. We next find ourselves in America at a university, where he pushes back against the esteemed Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale), and moves in to the house of another student- Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott)- who is going out with the dean’s daughter (played by Barbara Crampton). When Dan and Megan Halsey (Crampton’s character) catch wind of West’s experiments, they find themselves pulled into a dark journey into the dangers of science.
Gordon and co-writers Dennis Paoli and William Norris know just when to fully lean into the Frankenstein of it all and when to venture on to their own path with a streak of ’80s gore and dark comedy. Where they have a great advantage is having Combs as their lead actor. When I watched him in “The Frighteners,” he was a distinctively absurd piece of Peter Jackson’s puzzle. Here, he’s not as oddball as he is in that film, but we definitely feel something off about him. He’s intriguing, though, and we see why Cain is intrigued to follow him. When Dr. Hill and Dean Halsey get involved, however, it when the movie goes off fully on its own path. It starts to lose some steam as it gets to the end, but it’s so viciously fun that one cannot help but appreciate it. “Re-Animator” is a grisly, wickedly entertaining classic.
