Film review: Bride of Re-Animator

Review by David Paul Hellings

@HellingsOnFilm

“Arrow Video is thrilled to announce the release of Bride of Re-Animator, coming to Blu-ray and DVD on 11^th April in a stunning new 2K restoration, featuring both the unrated and R-Rated cuts of the film. This new deluxe set comes director approved and features a wealth of bonus content.

The success of Stuart Gordon’s hit horror-comedy Re-Animator meant that a sequel was all but inevitable. The resulting follow-up, Bride of Re-Animator – this time helmed by director Brian Yuzna (Society, Return of the Living Dead III) – would prove that there was a good deal more life (and death) left in the story of Dr Herbert West and his ghoulish exploits.

It has been eight months since the bloody massacre at Miskatonic Medical School. Unperturbed by the disastrous outcome of his previous meddling with the dead, Dr West (again played by Jeffrey Combs) continues his research into the phenomenon of re-animation; only this time, he plans to create life – starting with the heart of his young protégé Dan’s dearly deceased, Meg Halsey. Surely nothing could go wrong?

With special effects master Screaming Mad George (the man behind the infamous “shunting” sequence of Society) on hand to contribute a host of characteristically weird and wonderful creations, Bride of Re-Animator is a more than worthy successor to Stuart Gordon’s original cult classic”.

– via Arrow Video

DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON A SINGLE DISC WITH THE UNRATED VERSION ON.

Review:

Director Brian Yuzna now looks for reasons as to why the sequel to the Stuart Gordon helmed “The Re-Animator” didn’t work as well as the original: a rushed script and too little pre-production time being the key ones. He’s aware, gazing back, that it could have been a stronger outing. With Gordon passing on the chance to direct a sequel, Yuzna (“Society”) stepped into the breach to create the first of his two follow-ups to the highly successful original.

Still based on episodes from HP Lovecraft’s “Herbert West – Re-Animator”, Yuzna’s “Bride…” has a welcome return for Jeffrey Combs, whose Herbert remains one of the most amusingly cold and cynical characters to grace horror; a man who has nothing but pure disdain for anybody who fails to see the importance of the scientific work and puzzles over people who have any kind of emotional attachment to person or beast. Combs’ Herbert is as watchable as ever, if lacking the amount of witty lines from the first film.

Depending on your view, either “Bride of Re-Animator” or “Beyond Re-Animator” is the worthier sequel. Both are immense fun and ridiculous in all the best ways. “Bride of Re-Animator” pulls out all of the stops visually and shows the same stylist aspects that Yuzna presented in “Society”. It’s a crazy, bloody watch and one that Lovecraft purists can enjoy without feeling guilty. “The Re-Animator” series have proved to be popular and “Bride…”, whilst not being as strong as the first or final films, is still well worth the time. It’s sick, gory and full of the Lovecraftian ideas that fans enjoy.

The restoration of “Bride of Re-Animator” looks excellent on Blu Ray, the colours bright and vivid, retaining that almost Bava/Argentoesque pallet of rich reds, purples and greens, the images brought back to life, making it a must have addition for fans of the series.

Special Features

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 3-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Brand new 2K restorations of the Unrated and R-Rated versions of the film, approved by director Brian Yuzna
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Stereo 2.0 audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Digipak packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth
Re-Animator: Dawn of the Re-Animator – the official comic book prequel to the original Re-Animator

DISC 1 [BLU-RAY] & DISC 2 [DVD] – UNRATED VERSION

Brand new 2K restoration of the Unrated version
Brand new audio commentary with director Brian Yuzna
Audio commentary with Brian Yuzna, star Jeffrey Combs, special effects co-ordinator Thomas Rainone and the effects team including John Buechler, Mike Deak, Robert Kurtzman, Howard Berger and Screaming Mad George
Audio commentary with stars Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott
Brian Yuzna Remembers Bride of Re-Animator – brand new featurette in which the director looks back at the making of the first Re-Animator sequel
Splatter Masters: The Special Effects Artists of Bride of Re-Animator – brand new FX featurette with a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Robert Kurtzman of KNB, Screaming Mad George, Tony Doublin and John Buechler
Getting Ahead in Horror – archive making-of featurette
Meg is Re-Animated – deleted scene with behind-the-scenes footage
Carnival Sequence – the cast and crew discuss this excised sequence

DISC 3 [BLU-RAY] – R-RATED VERSION – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE

Brand new 2K restoration of the R-Rated version
Behind-the-Scenes Reel

‘RE-ANIMATOR: DAWN OF THE RE-ANIMATOR’ – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE

Perfect-bound booklet containing Re-Animator: Dawn of the Re-Animator, the 1992 comic prequel to Stuart Gordon’s original Re-Animator, reprinted in its entirety