But not before the reanimations start to get out of hand, beginning with Rufus the cat. In a scene both funny and chilling at the same time, West reanimates Cain's pet after Cain and his girl friend, Dean Halsey's daughter, find it in West's room, dead and in his refrigerator (dead things do go better with Coke!).
Reviving the dead Rufus in the basement, the cat soon experiences the usual side-effects of West's reanimation serum and comes back to frenetic life only to attack them. All hell breaks loose as West and Cain fend off the attack with anything at hand. The lone hanging light that illuminates the room is knocked back and forth, alternately casting the basement, and the action, in light and darkness. One good swing of the bat and the cat is now minced pie sliding down the wall. Cain, still disbelieving his own eyes, watches as West once again reanimates the now mashed-up feline. "Don't expect it to tango," quips West, as he injects the serum, "it has a broken back." While the cat doesn't tango, it does, once again, come back to screeching life. Now convinced that West's serum can reanimate the dead, Cain joins him in finding fresher subjects to experiment on. They go to the morgue to find a fresh cadaver, and settle on one fellow who died from unknown circumstances. West injects the serum, they wait, and he then injects a greater dose.
It comes to life! And as usual, all hell breaks loose as the newly reanimated body wreaks havoc and mayhem (two staples of any good horror film, to be sure). Dean Halsey, unfortunately, manages to walk into the havoc and mayhem, and gets some fingers bitten off in the process. (Hmmm...it seems the horror films I've been watching lately all involve finger-biting or eye-gouging--interesting. There's a lesson in there for all of us, but damned if I know what it is.)
In an orgy of gory, West brings down the reanimated cadaver with a skull-saw through the chest move, but not before Dean Halsey is killed. What's that you say? Why yes, he does. Dean Halsey is quickly injected with the serum as West keeps trying to make it work right. Meg, Dean Halsey's daughter happens upon the gruesome scene as her dad is reanimated with less than ideal results. West tries to reassure her: "He's not insane: he's dead." Good job there.
Dr. Hill, while examining Dean Halsey, realizes he is as dead as a doornail, and goes after West for the serum. While he gloats over HIS discovery, West takes the flat end of a shovel to him, and Dr. Hill's head is soon flying through the air. Trying to prop up the not so good doctor's head in a pan, West eventually gives up and grabs a paper spike to impale the head on. He injects the head with his serum, and decides to inject the headless body too, quipping, "I've never done parts."
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
Ah, Re-Animator. One of the finest. If you see it on film (like at a revival theatre), there are a whole bunch of scenes where you can see the boom mike at the top of the screen. Classic.
2 - Mat Brewster
Classic!
3 - Aaron Fleming
Tis indeed an excellent film - good fun, as are the inferior sequels. Although I must admit that I actually prefer From Beyond, which I consider the best of Gordon's Lovecraft flicks.
4 - Iloz Zoc
I can hardly wait for From Beyond to get the DVD treatment, especially since they found the cut footage with Combs having a field day with that p gland sort of thing sticking out of his head.
The uncut version was to run on the Horror Channel, but I don't get that. Damn.
5 - Iloz Zoc
Interesting link: looks like someone tivoed the movie off of the horror channel. Thanks for leaving the link.
6 - Tanbir Hassan
I watch this movie on mvtv few days ago.But the channel shows a fool like activities. they made the scene of something scrached/fade by editing. for example - they showd whisky bottle by fading,nude scene alo. but it was still perceptable that what is going on.
if they think its harmful,then why u telecast it?otherwise use non-cut/edited version of the film.