Reanimator (spoilers)

[Gerry]

I watch REANIMATOR for the first time the other night.  It was really pretty good.  The gore effects were excellent.  It did get pretty ridiculous towards the end though.  They had set up the "re-animation" as being science based.  I thought that was pretty cool and had a certain degree of feasibility as long as the person/creature being reanimated was reasonably intact (all the vital organs connected and more or less in working order).  Heck even the kitty with the broken back didn't bother me too much as it just lay there and growled.  But the whole premise kind of threw me when they reanimated a decapitated head and it could talk and drink blood, etc.  And the beheaded body could "see" to walk around and do things.  What happened to the science?  Did this bother anyone else or is this just me?  Overall a really good movie though.  Kind of a fun new take on the Frankenstein theme.

[Steve.]

Re-animator is one of the best splatterfests around. It's based on a HP Lovecraft story called Herbert West: Re-animator. Director Stuart Gordon had to put in a few knowing winks to try and defuse the mounting horror of the original story - the decapitated head scene is a good example. It's by far the best adaptation of a Lovecraft tale. It's similar ground to Frankenstein in that Lovecraft's story also served as a warning against tampering with mother nature.

[Mofo Rising]

I think the "science" was just a convenient way to get a bunch of zombies running around.  I never worried about the conistency of it.  I think it had something to do with the fact that the serum glowed bright green, a schlock movie staple.  What's next, retromutagen?

RE-ANIMATOR is great though.  I was able to catch both it and it's sequel a few months ago.  I was somewhat disappointed with the latter.

"Who's going to believe you?  You're just a talking head."