Re-Animator (2 Disc) [Blu-ray]

Ive heard through the grapevine the tales of Herbert West and how good this film is. And that its a must watch for any fan of horror special effects. And finally, for us brits, we can own it on blu-ray thanks to Second Sight. Comes with 2 cuts of the film. The unrated (director preferred) and integral (combines unrated and extra scenes filmed for tv. Technically making it the fullest version). The unrated cut is a 4k restoration whilst the integral cut is standard blu-ray. I can only speak for the integral cuts quality (i decided to dive straight in) - it looks and sounds great! Has me giddy to see the quality of the 4k restoration of the unrated cut. Has some great extras too (if thats your thing).

When Herbert West, a medical student who was working in Switzerland with the late Dr. Gruber, starts at the Miskatonic Medical School in Massachusetts, he is quickly introduced to a promising young student called Dan Cain and the world renowned brain surgeon Dr. Hill. Upon meeting Dr. Hill, West makes it very clear that he feels Dr. Hill's work is useless and outdated. Soon after his introduction, Herbert moves into Dan's spare room where he discovers that Dan is seeing the school Dean's daughter Megan. Megan seems instantly creeped out by West and his strange behaviour, and for good reason as it isn't long before Dan gets dragged into West's bizarre experiments aimed at reanimating the dead. The two break into the school and begin their experiments which accidentally leads to the death of Megan's father, soon after Dr. Hill discovers exactly what they've been upto and tries to steal their work, leading to a gory, grotesque and often hilarious battle between West and Hill.Horror legend Jeffrey Combs is a joy to watch as Herbert West, he plays the role with such sinister relish that it's impossible not to like him. A lot of the films comedy comes from how straight Combs plays the role, and along with From Beyond, Castle Freak and The Frighteners, this is his best work. The other real standout performance comes from the late David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill, Herbert West's nemesis. He died aged just 54 and I haven't seen anything else he made apart from the sequel, a shame he appeared in so little as he's wonderful in Re-Animator. Barbara Crampton is very pretty and played her role as Megan well, she later teamed up again with Combs in Castle Freak. Bruce Abbot and Robert Sampson round off the main cast as Dan Cain and the Dean Alan Halsey, but Combs and Gale are what make this film so endlessly enjoyable. I love the direction from Stuart Gordon and i'm sure the actors loved it too, this was his first proper film and to this day it's his best. He quickly followed it up a few years later with the excellent From Beyond and Dolls, after the 80's his films have been a little bit more hit and miss, but Fortress, Castle Freak, Dagon and Stuck are all very watchable. Re-Animator virtually steals Bernard Herrmann's fantastic Psycho score, but it fits the film so well that I can't imagine the film without it. There's some nudity, and lots and lots of over the top gratuitous gore. The effects and gore are brilliant considering this 1985 classic was made for under $1,000,000, it's probably the bloodiest over the top film i've seen along with Evil Dead 2 and Braindead.This 2 disc special edition is packed with extras, especially when compared to the near barebones dvd I owned previously. On disc 1 there's what appears to be a cleaned up version of the film as it looks better than my old copy, there's a commentary from director Stuart Gordon and a second commentary from producer Brian Yuzna (later a director himself and director of the sequels), and actors Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton and Robert Sampson. Of course it would have been even better with David Gale. Disc 2 is just as good, a brilliant 70 minute making of, interviews with Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, further interviews with writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and Fangoria editor Tony Timpone. A music discussion with Richard Band, deleted scenes, extended scenes, trailer, tv spots, production stills gallery, behind the scenes still gallery, fun on the set gallery, posters and advertising gallery, storyboard gallery, Stuart Gordon biography, the screenplay and finally Herbert West, Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft from which the film is based. It's a great dvd and what all special editions should be like, check out the Poltergeist "special edition" to see how little is on some. Considering how much is on the discs, it seems crazy that there's no subtitles which would obviously be a big problem for some.Re-Animator is a great film and now has a great special edition, one of the best horror comedies ever made and if you're not too squeamish and aren't bothered by the perverted, gratuitous tone, you should love it.

Based loosely on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft novella “Herbert West–Reanimator”, this classic mid-80s horror is both old-fashioned and new. It takes a work of period literature – about a grave-robbing doctor restarting dead human beings as if they were machines – and transplants it to a modern-day mad scientist workshop, effectively reinvigorating the zombie genre.With its unnatural lighting, crooked angles and melodramatic outbursts, Re-Animator has the style of cautionary 50s sci-fi. Except much, much gorier.Jeffrey Combs plays West, whom we meet grappling with one Dr Hans Gruber (that’s right). It turns out that West wasn’t killing Gruber; he was bringing him back to life with the help of a special serum. West flees to New England, where he moves in with Dan (Bruce Abbott), a trainee surgeon, and his girlfriend Megan (scream queen Barbara Crampton). West soon gets to work resurrecting dead animals, but his sights are set on human reanimation. Appealing to his curiosity and his ego – and despite the warnings of Megan – West convinces Dan to assist him, gaining access to the morgue. Meanwhile, the scheming Dr Hill (David Gale) seeks to steal the serum and create a zombie army of his own.The movie is based mostly in a single set, the morgue, meaning most of the sub-$1m budget goes on spectacularly gruesome special makeup effects. This release is the “Unrated” version, meaning all the beheadings and disembowellings are here in all their 4K glory. It’s safe to say Re-Animator features some of the most impressive and memorable gore effects of the decade. Tony Doublin’s design for the headless Dr Hill is masterful. The scenes where Hill’s disembodied head is psychically controlling his stumbling body are eye-poppingly gross and funny.The script is sharp, the plotting is tight, and the characters are well-rounded. Sure, the goodies aren’t nearly as fun as the plotting puppeteers. But then, this isn’t the kind of movie where you’re expecting to feel fuzzy and consoled come the final freeze-frame.More satirical than David Cronenberg’s The Fly but straighter than Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker, Re-Animator successfully finds the sweet spot between comedy and horror. This is thanks in large part to the universally good performances, chief of which is the possessed Combs, whose deranged scientist is hilarious and unique.There’s talent on the other side of the camera, too. Richard Band’s wonderful music is pure Psycho-era Bernard Herrman. And the producer is Brian Yuzna, whose directorial debut would be the fantastically grotesque Society, and who would direct the Re-Animator sequel in 1990.Bold characterisation, barking performances, timeless practical effects, efficient plotting and jet-black humour – not to mention considerable after-the-event reassessment – leaves Re-Animator a shoe-in for cult status. It even dares to ask big questions: What is medical science for? Should we seek to cheat death entirely? And then it drowns such lofty concerns in a bucket of offal.

A classic that really lives up to its name absolute riot from start to end

Il film si vede bene... il video è quello che è in quanto non si tratta dell’edizione rimasterizzata... è un cult dell’horror gore e splatter ed è entrato di diritto tra gli horror più significativi del secolo!

I remember when I first saw this movie I was in my early teens barely having heard of it before. My only frame of reference was my oldest brother and my mother talking about it with me being too young to understand what they were getting at, at the time. Well before I saw it when my brothers bought a used VHS of the now considerably rare R-rated version, I had never seen any previews, snuck a peek at any scenes, nor did I have any concept as to who H.P. Lovecraft even was. Anyhoo, once I saw it(with scenes that I didn't know at the time weren't in the Unrated version) I instantly loved the whole concept and story but was disappointed in the minimal gore and minimal nudity. Thankfully it wasn't that long until I had some birthday money to happily find a used VHS copy of the Unrated version. While the gore and nudity was what I wanted, I was still shocked to see which scenes were still used, which scenes from the R-rated version weren't used, plus the gore, graphic violence, and nudity were intense for me at first(as per seeing them all for the very first time but after many more watches I got something out of both versions plus saw one brilliant zombie not at all like anything that I had seen before. All of that being said, I have since then become an instant fan of it's first sequel of Bride of Re-Animator and several years later Beyond Re-Animator, finally I have upgraded to the DVD's of them and now the Blu-rays.In this review I will focus on the actor's performances, the characters, the gore effects, the humor, and the eye-candy.First I can't emphasize enough everyone's excellent performances. Let's start of course with Herbert West aka Re-Animator himself, Jeffrey Combs. I have heard that Combs was a stage actor originally and his actor experience more than shows here. He literally stays right in character playing Dr. Herbert West a young, highly eager/enthusiastic, stern, obsessed, opinionated, questionably moral, highly scientific, genius of whom is willing to do all he deems necessary to beat death through science. Bruce Abbot is excellent as his semi-reluctant partner of who is young, handsome, likable, cool headed, and considerably torn between West's experiments and his relationship with his beautiful girlfriend Megan. David Gail is great as the plagiaristic, manipulative, sleazy, evil, ruthless, and cunning foil to Dr. West, Dr. Carl Hill.The gore effects are sensational with practical effects, live actors to play the zombies, realistic gore, and creative looks to the morgue zombies gruesome looks. Also having David Gail as Dr. Hill seem to have his severed head and body perform both separately and together was pure genius.Among funny scenes in the movie one that definitely gives me a chuckle is when Dr. Cain and Dr. West struggle with a living dead Rufus the cat. Also, Jeffrey Combs has several funny moments in his classic deadpan deliveries. Among them my most favorite of his hilarious lines is, "Who'd listen to a talking head? Get a job in the sideshow." That line always gives me a guffaw.Barbara Crampton is gorgeous, a believable character, and most of all she is just plain smoking hot. She makes for both great eye-candy and sex appeal as pleasing as her nude scenes are in general.Overall, if you love zombie movies(serious or comedic), love great 80's horror(serious or comedic), love Jeffrey Combs, enjoy excellent gore and practical effects, enjoy a good villain, enjoy great sex appeal and nudity, If you are into Lovecraft and in general just love a great classic with all of the best stuff to be entertaining, well then this movie is right up your alley. A MUST SEE!!! 10 STARS OUT OF 10!!!

Bluray de la cinta Re-Animator del director Stuart Gordon editado por la compañía ARROW VIDEO, el cual incluye dos cortes de la misma ('unrated version' e 'integral version') la cual viene cada una en su propio disco contenido en un slipcover de cartón duro, con entrevistas, audio de comentarios con el director y elenco, ademas de materia extra con documentales de la realización de la cinta y el cine inspirado por la obra literaria de H. P. Lovecraft. Todo contenido en un slipcover de carton duro acompañado ademas de tarjetas postales con imágenes de la película y una edición del cómic editado en 1991 de la película en su totalidad.Puedo confirmar que el producto que muestro en fotografías solo cuenta con audio y subtítulos en inglés, por lo cual creo debe ser un dato importante a considerar al momento de su compra.

Le film a très bien vieilli. Il est présenté dans ses 2 versions ( non censurées ), c'est du cinéma grand guignol de très bonne facture. L'image est satisfaisante attention il n'y a que la VO et sous titres en anglais.

素晴らしい👍