Re-Animator

(1985) *****

H. P. Lovecraft is one of those writers who has the dubious honor of being heard about much more than his work is actually read. The Lovecraft-based movies that I've reviewed so far seem to be operating within that same principle: throw in a few names and ideas you heard somewhere, but otherwise make a more standard-issue story with character types we're all used to. That all changed with Dr. Herbert West. In his short story "Herbert West, Re-Animator," Lovecraft deploys one of the few character traits he tended to bother with: obsession. The cinematic Herbert West delivers this with laser-like perfection, almost literally blind to the consequences of his actions in the pursuit of more data. This is Mad Science in its purest form. Atop a small pile of crap Lovecraft flicks, Re-Animator shines out like a beacon to the brave and the worthy.

This movie hangs on the performance of Jeffrey Combs as West like Psycho does on Anthony Perkins or Evil Dead 2 on Bruce Campbell. His tightly-wound performance is a sheer delight. He's infectiously relentless. Death is a chemical reaction, you see, and with just one syringe full of Dr. West's flourescent green revitalizing re-agent, that reaction can be reversed. But there are...side effects.

West arrives at Miskatonic University fresh off his apprenticeship in Switzerland, where he worked under the esteemed Dr. Gruber until Gruber expired in convulsions so extreme his eyeballs exploded. ("Killed him? I gave him LIFE!") He meets all-around nice guy Dan Cain, moves into Dan's spare room, and the following night has Dan's dead cat in his fridge. Considering where this is going, this would seem like an incredible coincidence, but of course West's got a clipped answer for everything. Later that night Dan awakens to an unearthly yowling and finds West being attacked by a small, furry beast that tears and savages everything it can with demonic ferocity.

That's the other star of this movie, besides Jeffrey Combs and the green juice. The fact that, for whatever reason, being re-animated SUCKS. Everything affected by the re-agent comes back in an unstoppable rage, with rage-fueled strength. It's the movie's dark core of Lovecraftian ice: the unnamable horror that is life after death.

This does not deter Herbert West in the slightest. The fact that he was screaming "get it off me!" after treating the cat is no reason not to move on to humans -- in fact, it's the obvious next step! West proves what he says by bringing the cat back to life a second time ("Now don't expect too much of it, it has a broken back.") And there is the freaky fact that bewitches Dan -- bewitches us all, in fact -- West is right! Regardless of the consequences, you have to admit he's figured out something incredible.

Dan is the only person West treats with anything but comtempt, which could just be West trying to get Dan's access to the morgue, or an actual need for a workmate, or, possibly, a big old crush. I never noticed it before this year's viewing, but it's certainly there. The eye-rolling impatience with Dan's girlfriend is part of it, and then there's...



and then a little later theres...



Actually, I probably did notice this the last time I saw it. It's hard not to, and it provides a nice edge to the proceedings. Arguing whether West is actually gay is beside the point, because it's nothing compared to his drive to re-animate. The first human corpse test goes monstrously wrong, and then there's a new corpse. But no matter! Fresh corpses are opportunities when you're Herbert West.

The re-animated aren't really zombies, since although they may bite, they're not cannibals. They more resemble the Rage victims in 28 Days Later, but they aren't infectious. They don't do anything to add to their own forces. They do kill, however, and then the plot is moved along by Herbert West's compulsion for more information. "Dan, did you see that? Get the recorder! Urrk!" (As the new test subject throttles him).

This is a perfect Lovecraft adaptation for two reasons. 1) It boasts a character whose literary personality actually works as the basis for a film character, and the movie's persona is built around that core. 2) Of Lovecraft tales, they chose one of the simpler premises, so the differences -- updating the surroundings, adding a few characters -- worked with the story instead of being terribly jarring.

And as a horror movie it rocks like no other. I could list some of the sights to come, but it's truly, simply, one of the greats. A must-see for all who can take it. I highly recommend reading Johnny Sweatpants's review from last year as well.

P.S. I guess by 'thon standards I'm obliged to mention the scene with the nude woman strapped to a gurney fending off the sexual attentions of a severed head. Cheers!