If "Re-Animator" was very realistic, it would be unwatchable. After all, there are gallons and gallons and gallons of blood and enough internal organs to satisfy Andrew Zimern's cravings for the next 200 years! But the effects are mostly pretty cheesy and the story never takes itself seriously--two things that make the film worth seeing. However, even with cheesy gore, there is a lot of gore.... A LOT. So, it's obviously not a film for many viewers. I would not show this to young viewers, my mother or anyone I am trying to impress with my intellect!
The film is about a goofy med student who thinks he's smarter than all his professors (he's probably right, actually). So, on his own he works on his own project--to create a serum for the reanimation of the dead. At first he tries it out on animals, but like all true mad scientists, he cannot stop there. Unfortunately, the serum has a minor side effect--it seems to make many of the recipients crazed killing machines or blithering idiots. Plus, it reanimates TISSUE--meaning that even parts can become moving, living and killing machines.
So is it worth seeing? Well, if you are an H. P. Lovecraft fan and you want to see HIS version of the Re-animator short stories, you'll be disappointed. Some of the film is reasonably close to Lovecraft--most is not. Also, if you are looking for a film reminiscent of something from the Criterion Collection of a Merchant-Ivory film, you should avoid the movie at all costs. If, however, you have a high tolerance for gore, LOTS of explicit nudity and violence and have a sick, dark sense of humor, then by all means this film is for you! Well made despite being cheesy, sick and twisted. You KNOW this is a bloodbath of a film when it makes the Living Dead films seem like Disney pics!!
The film is about a goofy med student who thinks he's smarter than all his professors (he's probably right, actually). So, on his own he works on his own project--to create a serum for the reanimation of the dead. At first he tries it out on animals, but like all true mad scientists, he cannot stop there. Unfortunately, the serum has a minor side effect--it seems to make many of the recipients crazed killing machines or blithering idiots. Plus, it reanimates TISSUE--meaning that even parts can become moving, living and killing machines.
So is it worth seeing? Well, if you are an H. P. Lovecraft fan and you want to see HIS version of the Re-animator short stories, you'll be disappointed. Some of the film is reasonably close to Lovecraft--most is not. Also, if you are looking for a film reminiscent of something from the Criterion Collection of a Merchant-Ivory film, you should avoid the movie at all costs. If, however, you have a high tolerance for gore, LOTS of explicit nudity and violence and have a sick, dark sense of humor, then by all means this film is for you! Well made despite being cheesy, sick and twisted. You KNOW this is a bloodbath of a film when it makes the Living Dead films seem like Disney pics!!