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Re-Animator Review

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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. This is Rumor Control, here are the facts. Now, I'm just gonna come out

and admit it: I'm not as crazy about Re-Animator as the rest of the world (audience

gasps). Now I'm not saying it's a bad movie, on the contrary it's far from that. It is an

enjoyable and entertainingly grisly movie, however I can never shake that feeling, you

know the one where you are enjoying something but not as much as you wanted to? The two

major problems I have with this movie are its characters (for the most part) and some plot

elements. The characters, like I said for the most part, are incredibly unlikeable, at

least to me they are. For starters we have Meg, the love interest. What I can't stand

about her is the fact that it just seems all she does throughout the film is whine and

scream. I know for the most part she's trying to lead her love interest Dan down the safer

path, however the way she goes through with it is just annoying. Another bothersome trait

about her is her distrust of Herbert West. OK yes, he's not all too trustworthy, but at

least he's not villainous or anything like that. It kind of reminds me of Psycho: Remember

how Vera Miles had a sneaky suspicion that Norman was responsible for Jamie Lee Curtis'

mother's death? She really had nothing to go on and yet she kept pestering him. Sure she

found out that Norman did indeed kill her, but she was going on all the wrong reasons.

That's what I think of when I see Meg being suspicious and hateful towards West, nothing

more but a bothersome nuisance. Then there's the trait of blaming Dan and West for other

people problems, instead taking her anger out on them then the appropriate party. Another

character sharing these similar traits is Meg's father, the Dean. Now he starts off

alright, however after a certain confusing plot element (more details in a bit) he soon

becomes angry and suspicious towards Dam, due mostly to the fact that he's dating his

daughter and living with West. Now the part where his character goes downhill is when he

tells Dan to stop seeing Meg. Now that's not what annoys me, what annoys me is when Dan

changes the subject and  tells him that West has found the secret to bringing the dead

back to life, and what does the Dean do when he hears this wonderful revelation? He

suspends Dan and expels West. Why? Because he's an idiot! And then the dumbass train just

keeps rolling, and if you've seen this then you know what I mean. Next is our villain Carl

Hill. Now Hill isn't a bad villain at all, on the contrary he becomes quite scary and

intimidating towards the end. However, he has this certain trait that is never explained

and makes no sense and yet it is crucial to the plot, something I like to call the Jafar

Stare. Essentially he stares at someone and talks slowly and somehow manages to get them

under his control (like in Aladdin when Jafar hypnotized the sultan). How does he do this?

When did he acquire these powers? Is it supernatural or simple science? Who knows, the

film never explains and it's a fact that annoys me to no end. Dan… well he is somewhat of

a likeable character, he never really gets on my nerves… except for that one scene when he

stated that he was going to pin a murder on West, one that in my eyes neither were truly

responsible for. But then he's cool again. To me, the only really likeable character is

West. Now the film does try to makes us hate me, and it's all for not really. The film

shows him as inhumane, cruel and emotionless, but really that doesn't stick with me. I see

him as obsessed and eccentric, much similar to Dr. Frankenstein is any. His character is

helped by the marvelous performance of Jeffery Combs, who brings every trait of West to

life. But what about the rest of the cast? Since they have bad characters are they bad?

No, not at all. Each does a fine job in his or her role and I do have to applaude the

performance of David Gale as Carl Hill, they (well with the exception of Gale) just had

rather bad or bland characters to deal with. As for the plot elements most of them don't

make sense nor are most of them explained, like Hill's Jafar Stare. Another thing is the

Re-Agent. What's it made of? How did West come across it? What about the beginning? How

did Hans Gruber die? (Audience in unison: He got shot in the chest and fell out of a

window, dumbass!) No, no, no! Not that Hans Gruber, the doctor one, the one that predated

that great villain. Did he die of natural causes? Did West murder him? Or did he go

willingly? It's never truly explained. But other then those things Re-Animator is still a

good movie. The F/X and makeup are just astounding, many of it is so simplistic and yet it

looks absolutely incredible. The movie moves at a nice even pace so there's really no dull

parts and not to mention it has one hell of bloody yet entertaining climax and a bone

chilling ending. Yes I did have quite a bit to criticize, but overall I did enjoy Re-

Animator. If you haven't seen it then I recommend it.


Verdict: Matinee.


That was Rumor Control and those wer- (*knock* *knock*)

Oh crap… It's October and that was an ominous knock at the door… this won't end well.

(HttC slowly opens the door and sees that it is the present Jeffery Combs dressed as a

doctor.)

HttC: Jeffery Combs?... Good God you're short in person.

(Combs quickly takes out a scalpel and moves it all over HttC's face at supernatural

speed. HttC looks shocked for a moment, but then the flesh of his face slowly falls off

revealing the muscle beneath.)

HttC:….. That Killed me somehow.

(HttC falls over dead. Combs whistles for two undead creatures to drag his corpse away.)
Dr. Carl Hill: [Dr. Hill's head has just *awakened*] Wesssssssssst...
Herbert West: Yes, Doctor, it's Herbert West. What are you thinking? How do you feel?
Dr. Carl Hill: [wheezing] Youuuuuuuuuu...
Herbert West: [eagerly taking notes] "You..."
Dr. Carl Hill: Bassssstaaaaaarrrrrd!
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Nemesis12's avatar
I also really, really hated Meg (and thus I really, really like Herbert). And Dan gets annoying in the second film.