This is the fifth installment of a series of DVD reviews of motion pictures adapted from stories written by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937).
BASIS:
The short story "Herbert West- The Re-Animator" written in serialization form for "Home Brew" magazine 1921-1922.
PRODUCTION:
The success of "Re-Animator" in 1985 almost assured that there would be a sequel. Unfortunately, Director Stuart Gordon was not available, so the original Producer Brian Yuzna stepped in to fill his partners shoes. Big shoes to fill indeed! The screenplay was written by Woody Keith, Rick Fry & Brian Yuzna, utilizing some original elements from the short story that were not used in "Re-Animator" (1985).
THE STORY:
The story begins eight months after the end of the original film. Now, Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Daniel Cain (Bruce Abbott) are now doctors who have volunteered during a bloody Peruvian civil war. During this time, with all of the dead & dying troops, West has had plenty of time to work on his reagent.
West & Cain experiment with body parts.
After returning home to Arkham, the two go back to being doctors at Miskatonic Medical school. West discovers that his reagent can brings body parts to live and sets out to "create NEW life" by piecing together various parts of cadavers - a "bride".
The Bride (Kathleen Kinmont) self destructs.
-Dr. Hill's severed head is accidentally discovered & reanimated by pathologist Wilbur Graves (Mel Stewart) and then the chaos begins!
Lt. Chapham & pathologist WIlbur Graves.
A sub-plot involving police Lt. Leslie Chapham (Claude Earl Jones) investigation West & Cain brings about more chaos & the inevitable "tomb legions" (mentioned in the original Lovecraft short stories).
The "Bride", being constructed by various cadaver parts and 'glued' together using the reagent, is given final life by an injection into the heart. The bride, confused by their creators rejection of her, tears her own body apart in a gory climax.
Body parts, blood, a mix & match humanoid creation and other similar creepily created reanimated corpses return for vengeance against West.
THE DVD's
"Bride of Re-Animator" Pioneer Special Edition (1999)
Cover art for first release on DVD in 1999.
The DVD is presented in full-screen with a very annoying option to "matte" out the top & bottom to simulate a theatrical presentation. All is really does is cut off a shit-ton of picture. Not good, Pioneer, not good.
The good news is that the disc includes the R-Rated version (96 minutes) AND an Unrated Version coming in at a whopping (97 minutes). Whoever decided to save those split second trims must've felt real good when Pioneer called them in 1998 to put this DVD together.
Special Features:
Audio commentary with Director brian Yuzna, Jeffrey Combs, Visual Effects Supervisor Tom Rainone and his effects team (including KNB's Bob Kurtzman!)
Deleted Scene in which Meg is Re-Animated from the first film.
Behind the scenes pictures.
Prop Gallery.
Conceptual Drawings.
Promotional Materials.
I recommend that you should watch this movie, just don't watch THIS version of it. I know there has been a Blu-Ray Edition issued with tons more material, picture restoration and new sound. That'll probably be the way to go on this one, folks.
-Nash
No comments:
Post a Comment