 Thank you for checking out this movie review. This is for the 1985 film Reanimator and yes when I'm recording this just yesterday was the 34th anniversary of reanimator So sorry, I didn't get this out on the anniversary, but I got it out the day after which I'm actually surprised I was able to do kind of hustled for it. So Yes, so I own it obviously on DVD. This is a kind of like special edition Anchor Bay collection, which by the way like the Anna like the hand-drawn Artwork on that just looks really good, but I didn't actually watch it on DVD I watched it on shutter because it's currently streaming on shutter when I'm doing this review So you can check it out there and as you will note It says HP Lovecrafts reanimator because they are properly attributing this story to HP Lovecraft who wrote the original story Obviously caught and it was called Herbert West's reanimator and they just shortened it to reanimator I had looked up and oh, yeah So HP Lovecraft on IMDB comm has 202 writing credits for films Which is crazy because obviously he didn't live during the time of films yet His stories are so good and lasts so long in the horror community that he has 202 writing credits in movies It's insane. It's totally insane But it's awesome. So First of all, I want to do shout out to subscriber uncle Pete who has actually been asking me to do a reanimator review for Many many months. I told him some time ago. Yes, I'll do it and then I forgot so then he asked me again And I was like, sorry for God. I will definitely do it this time. So I'm definitely doing it now and There you go, uncle Pete So anyway, let's talk about this because I actually have a lot this might be a long video But I'm really breaking it down. Yes, there will be spoilers So anyone who's watching this and you haven't seen it yet go check out reanimator then come back highly recommend this movie It is awesome Yeah written and directed by Stuart Gordon who also did Castle freak and from beyond Produced by Brian Usina. Yes, the Brian Usina who I believe both wrote and directed the film Society The 1980s wacky movie Society if you have not seen Society definitely see that those two Stuart Gordon and Brian Usina then worked together again to do Honey, I shrunk the kids Didn't see that one coming. Did you I know some people probably out there already knew that but when I first found that out I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait The guy who did reanimator and the guy who did Society wrote the script for honey I shrunk the kids those things are very different But that just highlights how it's not just about a niche market like people have Many talents because you're a writer or filmmaker or director Whatever doesn't mean that you can only do one genre You can do plenty of genres and this is a prime example of that So like I said, it's our it's based on Herbert West reanimator story Obviously the big draws to this film are Jeffrey Combs who's become kind of a legend within the horror community For how he acts his roles and the way he acts as Herbert West he choose the scenery like nobody's business He becomes kind of a lot of people think of him as the main character in this which he's actually not it's main It's supposed to be The character Dan Cain in this is supposed to be the main character played by Bruce Abbott. Yes, Bruce Abbott but funny enough Herbert what Herbert West? Jeffrey comes is Herbert West and Barbara Crampton as Megan Halsey are the two people who kind of come out of this film and go on to have way more success than the guy who was supposed To be the focus of this film Bruce Abbott So it's kind of funny that like Bruce Abbott is the titular role and people love this film But everyone's just like if you said to a lot of people. Oh, yeah, Bruce Abbott even people who like love reanimator They'd be like who but if you say Jeffrey comes you say Barbara Crampton people are like, oh, yeah Because they're the way they acted is way more like it's way better I think the part of the problem is Bruce Abbott was playing more of like the straight man and In comparison to how Barbara Crampton did in a very challenging role and how Jeffrey Combs did in a role that It's just very complicated Like he just brought so much to that role and makes you kind of feel a range of emotions about Herbert West and that You know, that's partially the writing, but it's partially the acting so it's that awesome combo So Barbara so Jeffrey Combs has been in from beyond he was in pit in the pit in the pendulum Frighteners which is underrated by the way and see that if you haven't and Castle Freak Barbara Crampton also in Castle Freak also in from beyond and Also in a chopping mall if you haven't seen chopping mall check that out Actually did a no spoilers review for chopping mall on my channel So you can check that out before you watch it to make sure you want to watch it But it's one of those awesome bad movies, but I recommend it So this was originally actually supposed to be a stage play It was written to be a stage play the end. I'm not doing that It was then written as a TV show pilot and then I believe it was Brian Usina had kind of said Hey, you know, we can make this but maybe you want to do it more of like a movie Because in order to get the money that you would need for the practical effects you want to do A movie is a better way to go as opposed to TV because you wouldn't be able to do all that stuff all the gore and practical effects on TV Anyway, so then they adapted it sewer Gordon adapt made it into a movie script Gordon decided that there were too many vampire films So he was like, hey, you know, it's not getting enough love Frankenstein related stuff So if you go into this film knowing that or if you think back to this film the Frankenstein Really fits you can see it, but it's also kind of zombie at the same time with the whole reanimation thing So I kind of view it as like a meshing of Frankenstein and zombies Although it is way more on the Frankenstein side of it because I mean if you look at this the structure of the story And how it plays out like it is the story of Frankenstein in essence and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a little bit So Stuart Gordon and John Nolan who did the practical effects They used forensic pathology books in order to get things right with the dead bodies in this So if you notice like the corpses in the morgue They look they're supposed to like look very realistic and one of the big moments that you kind of see that these old touches of detail is when the first corpse reanimation in the morgue happens and he's attacking West and Cain and You see on his back the levidity. It's like all the redness That's because when he's like laying on the gurney as a corpse all the blood kind of like pools On his back in his back because he's laying on his back and that's I believe that's called levidity, but Yeah, so they had those touches of like we want this to look right because we're doing it in a morgue at us at a school at Miskatonic University, which is a thing from HP Lovecraft. He used Miskatonic as a thing He also used the city of Arkham in Massachusetts as a city for a lot of his stories and obviously both those things are very much Fictional Arkham and Miskatonic, but they're throughout his writings Nolan used I think he had said in a film He hadn't used more than like a gallon or two of blood in any film when he was doing his practical effects He used 24 gallons of blood for this film So that gives you an idea of how much gore and how much work went into it by the way This originally had an X rating and they had to cut a bunch from the film to get it down to an R So it was interesting because a lot of what they cut as you would assume to get it down They are rating gore and violence So they actually added some in to get the runtime a little bit longer And it was scenes that were cut from the X rated version. So they added scenes in there where Hill Dr. Hill is hypnotizing other people in the in the film Which if you know that information and you watch it Some things make more sense because with his hypnotizing people It it obviously makes them more suggestible to do what he's doing and in particular the moment where he shows up in the basement When Herbert West is there and he kind of takes is like I'm taking your research from you and Herbert West like looks like he has this moment of like being scared by him and then backing down But what it actually was originally is that it was that hip Hypnotizing that was taking effect on him or at least to a little part He may have also been scared because you know He's an imposing dude that guy David Gale who played Dr. Hill looked great in that role He played evil Amazingly like between his looks and his acting. He was great for that role loved him as Dr Hill the other thing that they that they added to the our version was There were scenes where Herbert West was giving himself small doses of the serum just to keep himself awake and energized Which I feel like they should have left that in there because I think it's kind of a cool little little thing going on and Maybe they should have had that like play a little bit more into it where like he got like a little stronger or something like that I don't know so they there were sequels to this film in 1990 there was Bride of Reanimator and in 2003 there was Beyond Reanimator and I will say right now I have not seen either of those but I definitely want to they've been on my list to see for quite some time But I have like over 500 movies on my list to see so It's kind of hard to get through that but I'll get there Okay, so going into the actual movie portion. What an awesome way to start this film The freaking out of Dr. Gruber I think it was his name in Germany and how his eyes like explode and there's blood all over the place And he's like flipping out like you have no context going into it And that's an amazing moment to just grab you and pull you in and you're like what is going on here This is nuts. I need to know more. I need the backstory on this And the fact that Herbert West is immediately there so that when he shows up at the school You're kind of like oh, I know this guy and I don't think this is gonna go well because he's kind of a bad dude But it's interesting because they were like you killed him and then he's like no I gave him life which just gives you a little Teaser of what's to come of what you know What's what's behind all of that and what's going on with Herbert West and his research the music in this is awesome It's like upbeat and adventurous But also kind of like off in like a horror way and like the main song I think which they reuse quite a few times is very recognizable to me as reanimator And I think it is a very iconic Sounding song and I love it. I love it. It works so well There's some good for shadowing in this especially with the with the security guard who is just like when they're bringing bodies in early on It's just like I don't know why they have locks on this thing because nobody really wants to go in and certainly no one walks out For shadowing because people will walk out as they're reanimated The other thing to point out about the security guard is later on in the film He is reading light pornography basically well on the job Which I thought was kind of funny that they just threw that in he has a bidouard magazine Which you know, I don't think there's necessarily nudity in that magazine there could have been but it's kind of like a light porn type thing it's definitely More porn than looking at a Victoria's Secret catalog. I'll say that Not like I know but I do So it's it's interesting because it's like your opinions of a Herbert West and Dr. Hill switched throughout the course of the film because immediately because of the opening scene Like you feel like Herbert West is a bad guy. You're like, oh, this guy's really terrible news And then you see Hill and he's like a teacher He's a professor at school and you immediately just have this feeling like oh, you know, he's a highly respected guy He's doing research. He's you know, and then they start they show up and they're having tension between the two of them So the tension is very well set up But then as it progresses you start to realize Herbert West is more complicated than then you know what was led on to in the beginning and So is Dr. Hill and it you start to have your view Change and you start to see Dr. Hill is more evil and you start to see Dr West as less evil and they just kind of like cross paths at some point until the very end where it's very clear that Dr Hill is super evil and West is not as evil although he did some evil stuff. Let's be honest So well, maybe it's not so much. Well, he killed the cat. He killed Rufus. So that was kind of evil I think he was just so his character is just supposed to be so blinded to morality and and humanity because of how focused he is on Scientific advances which kind of speaks to a theme that I want to talk about later well at the very end of this review of how think that parallels with actual society of, you know, just going into Technological and scientific advances devoid of thinking should we actually do this because that's what is happening with Herbert? West throughout this film. He's he's not stopping and thinking should I actually do this? He's like, I think I can do this I'm doing this. So yeah I love like I said, I love the tension between West and Hill and it's pretty much immediate and I think it's It's amped up because of the way those two actors are how they do their roles and how good they are at acting It just brings a lot to that tension between them. It's a great rivalry West character is a West as a character is an amazing because he's not fully awful You know, you think he's awful at first and then your opinion of him changes. So you feel very conflicted You recognize the good you recognize the bad, but then he's just because of Jeffrey Combs He's just a joy to watch because he's very all over the place and you really don't know where he's gonna go next Is he gonna do something kind of evil? He's gonna do something kind of good or somewhere in between. You don't know I love how excited West gets in this when he's he's going to check out the space to live in and he gets like crazy Stoked about the creepy basement when most people watching are like, oh, that's a terrible that I would never want to be down there He's like, this is amazing practice. No one want to come down there You get a really good whiff of Dr. Hill's interest in Megan when they're having when he's having dinner with Halsey Any kind of questions? Oh, should she be with Kane? You know, it's like it's got like this hint of kind of jealousy and obviously that comes into play much later when he's trying to Headraper, I don't know tongue-raper. Oh, that sounds terrible, but that's what was going on The cat reanimation scene is extremely important to this film. It's very intense and well done but at the same time I don't think it fully holds up now because one part in particular where the fake cat is strapped to Jeffrey combs back and he's like flailing around with it. Like it looks really fake. It looks super fake But you know, they can't change that. It was the 80s. It is what it is Everything else in this film pretty much holds up though. The bonesaw portion through the reanimated body I think is awesome That's the I think that's the first moment in this film past like seeing the cat all messed up on on the table That's really like gory and gross and like over the top So people know like, okay, here we go. We're it's this type of movie. We're gonna have gore. We're gonna have violence This is where we're going. So that's the kind of first moment that does it and it was shot. Well, it looks good Um, I like how you see the steps of these experiments where he's trying to figure out The freshness of bodies versus the trauma to bodies versus the dosage of the serum and you get that in a few portions You get, you know, obviously the reanimated cat then you get the corpses in the In the morgue and then you get dean halsey when he's reanimated and then you also get hill just his head being reanimated So there are a bunch of trials that you see as an audience member, which I think plays really well So it's like you're a long for the experiments. I think that's good um There's kind of a plot hole in here when i'm talking about reanimating here. There's there's a bit of a plot hole So when uh west kills hill and he cuts his head off, then he reanimates just his head But the body reanimates with it and it's kind of like It's like mine the the power of his mind is controlling the dead body because Hill does our west does not inject serum into the body And based on the world that was created within this film leading up to this moment It's it's it's being said that the serum has to be introduced to dead tissue in order for it to be reanimated So I think it's a plot hole in my opinion that his body is reanimated by his thoughts basically Unless they're trying to get at some sort of thing of of a like a soul being there Which can control the body from the brain and as long as the brain's in Is alive then the body can you know Can still be there, but I think that's a plot hole I don't think that makes a whole lot of sense and that's one of my problems with the film one of very few But um, but you know when when the head and the body are separated It does lead to some really fun and funny moments where hill is sometimes Frustratingly trying to control his body to do things for him I like his facial acting at those moments where he's kind of like And he's like When the body's like bumping into things, uh, it's a fun time The story component of being able to pacify the reanimated bodies with a lobotomy like is done to uh, dean halsey by Hill I think is a really nice touch to the story because that's a it's just it's just a further step You know you get to the reanimation and you're just like, okay. This is what we're doing It's like frankenstein. It's like zombies whatever But then you take it just a step further and you're like, oh, but you can kind of pacify These frankenstein monsters or these zombies Um, so I think that's kind of cool uh, the imagery of hill's head over the reflection of halsey's head Through the window when he's in like the loony bin Is a really cool moment where it's it's showing the mind control showing him being switched over So that hill is is going to be able going forward to control halsey's actions and reactions So that's cool So, okay, I wrote this about the infamous scene which people who worked on the film supposedly call The head gives head Molestation is scary enough Molestation by a severed head and a headless body has got to be Exponentially more scary. So it's a really gross scene. It's a really creepy uncomfortable scene. It's scary It's all of those things and I think they pulled it off really well I you have to give a lot of props to barbara cramped in for actually going through With doing a scene like that. Um, I heard an interview with her on the on mcgaris's post mortem podcast Where she was kind of talking about How she was on the fence about doing this film because of all the nudity and sexuality to it and In the end she's just like hey, you know It's a scene. It's you know, it's a film like do you want to Be an acting or do you not want to be an acting? So good on her for going through with it. I could do it. I could be totally new schlong out. No problem For a scene like that in a movie like this because I love it Not the schlong out. I love it. I just love the movie It's for creativity and I'm one of those people who are like, I'll do a lot of things for creativity Um, it was challenging to shoot the the scenes with hill as his head was separated from his body Apparently when I was doing research, I found I found this out because if you notice when you're watching in different scenes He's in different positions with his head. Sometimes it's like the head in a pan separate from the body So they have to shoot that a certain way then it's like the body holding the head They have to shoot that a certain way. So there were Apparently was super super challenging to come up with the different ways in which they were going to shoot This headless body and the severed head together So that had to be tough Halsey's humanity is still there because I assume it's because he can still access memories because the brain is there And obviously we see this in the end where he's been being controlled by hill But then Barbara Crampton's character megan like appeals to it like i'm your daughter How can you do this and then it's like there's a switch that hits Uh because he's accessing those memories of like, oh There it is There's the humanity and then he fights him and I love when he like crushes hill's head And not only does he just like crush it But he just like chucks it out the out of the room and it hits the wall and bounces off and there's like this Blood and brain matter. I assume on the wall It's just kind of funny. I like it So, uh bride of reanimator is super fitting as the sequel to this film Because of the fact that sticking with the whole frankenstein thing. There was frankenstein and there was bride of frankenstein So very very fitting makes a whole lot of sense And I love the very end of this film Where they go to black and the only thing you see then is the glowing green serum as the syringe compresses And you get the idea You know that that serum is going into megan's body and she will be reanimated and you're thinking This is not going to go well because at what point did any of this go well But love will do some crazy things to you apparently A lot of people know that All right, so let's talk about What's going on thematically with some of the stuff which I said I would get back to So these characters are all about control. Let's talk about that weston hill want to control life and death Cain gets pulled into that Wanting to control life and death with them. He's kind of more like a lackey hill wants to control megan And dean halsey wants to control megan and all the students at the school So there's a lot of people wanting to control things throughout this film And that's just something that came up became apparent to me as I was watching it Um, this is just like frankenstein. I wrote As it's a cautionary tale of what happens when people try to mess with the natural cycles of life and death That is exactly what happens in frankenstein. It is what happens when you want to create a human out of death Or bring a human back to life Uh, never goes well and it is a direct mirroring of frankenstein as we've talked about Uh, this speaks actually to many things within our society Like I was talking about with like technology and scientific advancements Just because you think you can do something new or innovate Doesn't mean you actually should and I feel like within society we have this acceptance of for uh, the advancements of of science for the advancement of technology That private companies are allowed to just do whatever like, oh, they're just trying to make money They're just trying to advance technology or science whatever just do it. Um, and Movies like this kind of point out, you know what that can go very very wrong. You need to stop Evaluate maybe do like a cost benefit analysis Uh, but no, we just charge ahead with a lot of things and that could lead to some very bad stuff Because you know, you see it in this like west Ultimately just wants to bring bodies back like he it's like he's not thinking that far ahead He's just thinking we can bring these bodies back just thinking we can bring humans back to life So like there's something good in that but at the same time it feels like His focus is more about getting recognition and like the glory of like I did this And you see that from hill as well on his side where he's creating like his laser technology At the same time that west is doing his thing With you know getting making it easier to lobotomize people basically So it's just there they seem more driven by ego than anything and that I feel like happens a lot with technology and science in our society Probably less with the science aspect but a lot with the technology portion of it And then it's like what are the unintended effects or the effects that these that people should have thought of But didn't we don't know So that's actually all I had to say about a reanimator All I had to say I went this is like my longest movie review video. So I apologize for that one. Um, oh no, it's not my longest I think Fright Night may be my longest at the moment, but this is close. Anyway, continuing on so, uh, out of five stars with half stars in play Oh man, it's it's not a perfect film, but I'm gonna go four and a half on this one. I'm gonna It's a four and a half. I'm close. I feel like if I was doing quarters I would give it the 4.75 because I feel like it's close to a five star, but I'm going four and a half on it Uh, I really do like this film. Obviously, uh, super cool. Uncle Pete. Hopefully you enjoyed this review Everyone else, uh, put some comments down there. Let's talk. Well, uh, uncle Pete I know we'll put comments down there. Everyone else put some comments down there Let's talk about your feelings on reanimator your ideas of themes. Whatever you want Uh, hit that subscribe for me if you're not already a subscriber That's the best way for you to pay me back. It literally takes you a second and it's totally painless Costs you no money, but it can mean a lot for my channel and I appreciate that But thanks ultimately for checking this out until next time. Keep it brutal