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Re-Animator
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Half]
While certainly not a new release, Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator is a DVD notably absent from the review archives and is a DVD worth tracking down. Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator playfully interprets the Frankenstein myth for a new audience.
Herbert West has only one goal in life, to reanimate the dead. He succeeds in his task, but finds the reanimated corpses are less than cooperative.
While it can be seen as a bloody, gore-fest from the eighties, thanks to the source material and attitude, it comes away as more than that. Director Stuart Gordon provides a playful and entertaining look at the consequences of playing God.
The video presentation on the DVD is not perfect, but respectable for such a low budget film. The transfer was supervised by producer Brian Yuzna and is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
The non-anamorphic video does cause quality problems with artifacts and color bleed appearing at the edge of the letterbox mask. Despite this, the color and contrast is perfect. The flesh tones, which play an important part in this movie, are superb and the rest of the colors appear vibrant and alive.
The sound on the disc, while presented in the original Mono format, sounds crisp and clean. Composer Richard Band's score, itself a playful allusion to Psycho, sounds crisp and clean despite the shortcomings of the Mono format.
Despite these facts, the DVD also includes some top-notch extras.
The DVD provides the 86-minute director's cut of the film, but it also includes 20 additional minutes of footage that was used in a R rated version that was previously released on video. Considered too intense, the original release had a few gratuitous scenes cut and replaced with additional dialog.
The movie also includes two full commentary tracks as well. The first is a single look at the film with director Stuart Gordon. His commentary provides insight to the reasoning behind the making of the film.
Studio heads told him that for his first film he should make a horror film. The reason being that horror movies that cost less than $1 million will always make their money back. Contradictory to this statement, Gordon's commentary highlights the time and research that he put into the film and how it was used to make it more than a quick moneymaker.
The other commentary included on the disc is much more informal conversation with producer Yuzna and the main actors and actresses from the film. This Mystery Science Theater style commentary runs perfectly with this film. The friendly fun behind the scenes relates extremely well to on-screen antics. Hilariously funny at times, it is one of the most enjoyable commentaries I've listened to.
This movie is not a masterpiece, but it accomplishes what it set out to do. It's a graphic and entertaining story perfect for a Halloween party. The outlandish situations of the film mirror the fun the cast and crew obviously had making this film. It's a great film that doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you while watching it.
Herbert West has only one goal in life, to reanimate the dead. He succeeds in his task, but finds the reanimated corpses are less than cooperative.
While it can be seen as a bloody, gore-fest from the eighties, thanks to the source material and attitude, it comes away as more than that. Director Stuart Gordon provides a playful and entertaining look at the consequences of playing God.
The video presentation on the DVD is not perfect, but respectable for such a low budget film. The transfer was supervised by producer Brian Yuzna and is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
The non-anamorphic video does cause quality problems with artifacts and color bleed appearing at the edge of the letterbox mask. Despite this, the color and contrast is perfect. The flesh tones, which play an important part in this movie, are superb and the rest of the colors appear vibrant and alive.
The sound on the disc, while presented in the original Mono format, sounds crisp and clean. Composer Richard Band's score, itself a playful allusion to Psycho, sounds crisp and clean despite the shortcomings of the Mono format.
Despite these facts, the DVD also includes some top-notch extras.
The DVD provides the 86-minute director's cut of the film, but it also includes 20 additional minutes of footage that was used in a R rated version that was previously released on video. Considered too intense, the original release had a few gratuitous scenes cut and replaced with additional dialog.
The movie also includes two full commentary tracks as well. The first is a single look at the film with director Stuart Gordon. His commentary provides insight to the reasoning behind the making of the film.
Studio heads told him that for his first film he should make a horror film. The reason being that horror movies that cost less than $1 million will always make their money back. Contradictory to this statement, Gordon's commentary highlights the time and research that he put into the film and how it was used to make it more than a quick moneymaker.
The other commentary included on the disc is much more informal conversation with producer Yuzna and the main actors and actresses from the film. This Mystery Science Theater style commentary runs perfectly with this film. The friendly fun behind the scenes relates extremely well to on-screen antics. Hilariously funny at times, it is one of the most enjoyable commentaries I've listened to.
This movie is not a masterpiece, but it accomplishes what it set out to do. It's a graphic and entertaining story perfect for a Halloween party. The outlandish situations of the film mirror the fun the cast and crew obviously had making this film. It's a great film that doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you while watching it.
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