Re-Animator (1985)

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

H.P. Lovecraft (story)
Dennis Paoli (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 October 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of horror

Plot:

A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Experiment | H.P. Lovecraft | Scientist | Death

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jeffrey Combs	...	Herbert West
Bruce Abbott	...	Daniel 'Dan' Cain
Barbara Crampton	...	Megan Halsey
David Gale	...	Dr. Carl Hill
Robert Sampson	...	Dean Alan Halsey
Gerry Black	...	Mace (Miskatonic security guard)
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon	...	Dr. Harrod
Peter Kent	...	Melvin the Re-Animated
Barbara Pieters	...	Nurse
Ian Patrick Williams	...	Swiss professor
Bunny Summers	...	Swiss doctor
Al Berry	...	Dr. Gruber
Derek Pendleton	...	Swiss policeman #1
Gene Scherer	...	Swiss policeman #2
James Ellis	...	Psycho Ward guard #1

Runtime:

86 min (unrated version) | USA:95 min (R-rated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | West Germany:18 (video premiere) (heavily cut) | West Germany:Not Rated | Singapore:(Banned) | UK:18 (re-rating) (2007) (uncut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating) (2007) | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | France:-12 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 (Banned) | UK:18 (cut) | USA:Open (rating surrendered: 1986) | USA:R (cut version: 1986) | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Empire Pictures

Trivia:

The "brains" in the severed head were made up of steer meat by-products, ground beef and fake blood and when they shot the scene in the autopsy room with the severed head being thrown out the door and then smashing onto the hallway wall, the crew were all behind the cameras with garbage bags over their clothes because no one knew just how much the brains would splatter.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Dean Halsey is re-animated, the "re-agent" can been seen reflected in Herbert's glasses off of the table's surface.

Quotes:

Dan Cain: [Dan's cat has died and been found in Herbert's refrigerator] You can call, or write a note.
Herbert West: I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know and what would a note say, Dan? "Cat dead, details later"?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Frighteners' (1998) (V)

hilarious!

when i first saw re-animator in 85, i hadn't been introduced to the likes of the evil dead series, dead alive, or any of that horror/comedy genre. i thought horror/comedy went together as well as military intelligence...

i was aghast and appalled. i just didn't get it. i was a classic horror fan; so when i heard the obvious rip from psycho's theme, it irritated me even more.

well, now i'm an older, wiser horror fan. i just saw it again for the first time since 85 and i laughed my bum off! homage, homage, homage! honouring everything from hitchcock to raimi, from day of the dead to frankenstein. this in-your-face send off is a great double feature with dead alive. jeffery combs' over the top performance is reminiscent of colin clive and cronenberg found his very own ash in bruce abbott. so sit back, relax (as much as you can...) and enjoy re-animator.