BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR
PLOT-A young doctor assists the now imprisoned Herbert West with his famous re-animation experiments.
VIOLENCE-An ear and a penis are bitten off, an eyeball pops out, heads are chopped off, bodies cut in half, a man is shot to death, and another explodes.
SEX/NUDITY-A woman's breasts are exposed after a zombie tears her dress open.
WHY I WATCHED IT-Let's be serious. What true horror fan wouldn't?
THE DOPE-There's a huge amount of risk involved when making a sequel to any classic film. Luckily, BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (the 1990 follow-up to the original RE-ANIMATOR) was a gross, wacky, scary continuation of what is most certainly one of the best-loved horror films of the 1980s, and the credit for this goes to producer-director Brian Yuzna and of course, the immortal Jeffrey Combs playing the character he'll always be identified with...Herbert West! However, returning to the series once again, thirteen years later, still seemed a risky undertaking in the eyes of RE-ANIMATOR fans. That long of a wait, coupled with the absence of (deceased) actor David Gale as West's arch nemesis Dr. Carl Hill and Bruce Abbott as West's kind-hearted, heroic sidekick Dan Cain made us question whether or not another film should even be made. I put my faith in the fact that both Yuzna and Combs would be piloting the new film, and anxiously awaited its release.
To my delight, BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR proved to be an exceptionally worthy addition to the series. It has the gore, humor, and romantic elements we've come to love and expect...but puts them into an entirely new setting this time, adding several off-the-wall characters and gags into the mix as well. Jeffrey Combs is in top form as West, not surprisingly chewing up every scene with near-scientific acting perfection. He's at home in the role nobody else could ever play, and kicks more ass than this humble reviewer could adequately put into words. Aside from West's young American assistant, all the other actors voices were dubbed because the film was shot in Spain, and they're all Spanish! Santiago Segura, whom many fans of Spanish-made horror films will recognize (and appears to have lost a staggeringly noticeable amount of weight), has an excellent role as a crazy-ass inmate who woofs down pills and injects himself with the re-animation agent just to get high.
True to form for the series, BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR escalates, getting freakier and more violent, erupting in a graphic and intense climax that's larger in scale than either of its predecessors. As a fan, it has all the things I love about the series, but still manages to be a valid entry, and a disgustingly fun time at that.
MEMORABLE SCENES-"I think you've had enough."
NOTES-The DVD contains a great making-of featurette, with interviews featuring Combs (who appears to be having loads of fun with his favorite character) and the spanish cast. Interestingly, it is here that we're able to hear the actors' real speaking voices, as their interviews are in Spanish and are subtitled in English.
(December 2003)