H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator The Millennium Edition
Distributed by
Elite Entertainment
Cert: Unrated
Cat.no: EE4325
Running time: 86 minutes
Year: 1985
Pressing: 2002
Region(s): 1, NTSC
Chapters: 24
Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: No
Disc Format: 2 * DVD 9
Price: $19.96
Extras:
2 audio commentaries, new interviews with crew, 16 extended
scenes, deleted scene, theatrical trailer, 5 TV spots, Music Discussion,
multi-angle storyboards, photo gallery, filmographies, and biographies.
Director:
Stuart Gordon
Screenplay:
Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris, and Stuart Gordon
Cast:
Herbert West: Jeffrey Combs
Dan Cain: Bruce Abbot
Megan Halsey: Barbara Crampton
Dr. Hill: David Gale
Dean Halsey: Robert Sampson
Re-Animator
was the suprise hit way back in 1985. Besting with the other
zombie film debuting that year: Day of the Dead. Re-Animator is more
professional than Day and you care alot more about the characters in
this one. Plus, the effects rival even Tom Savini at times. Another cult
classic for the ages has gotten the special edition treatment on DVD.
The film tells the story of medical student Herbert West (played very
well by Jeffrey Combs) who has successfully accomplished a way to bring
the dead back to life. No-one believes him until the student he is
renting his apartment from, Dan, sees him bring back his cat who died
earlier. Of course they kill the cat and inject him with the serum again
and he revitalizes, snapped in two and all. Dan reports these findings
to the dean, who he happens to be entangled with his daughter, and is
quickly expelled along with West. Later that day, West and Dan sneak
into the morgue and try the serum on a human patient. It works and the
Dean is killed by the zombie, West brings him back to life as well. What
follows is more dead being brought back to life until a gruesome end
battle in the morgue with newly revived zombies who don't care if West
brought them back.
Re-Animator is not the standard zombie film. Although fans of George
Romero's Dead films will find familiar ground here, there is still a
level of humor that works well. That's what sets it completely apart
from Day of the Dead, the sense of humor.
Into the disc. Elite Entertainment has retired their former DVD and
brought it back out in a great two-disc form with a lower price than the
original. The picture is a step up from the former release. Sporting a
new anamorphic transfer, the film is free of pixelization and such. The
only problem is a few spots of dirt very hard to notice and some minor
grain.
The sound is presented in DTS and dolby surround or stereo formats. It's
very audible with dialouge interlaced with the action.
The former release had the deleted scene and extended scenes along with
the trailers and TV spots. The rest is all new and plentiful. Consisting
of informative segments and such, they did a fine job on the extras.
Overall, with the price tag so cheap you'll get your money's worth.
Great effects and good characters make this film a good watch.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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