Customer Reviews

Beyond Re-Animator

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Herbert West is a man on the cutting edge of science. He's revolutionized thought as he's walked that fine line between experimentation and "morality," bringing the dead back from the grave and all the while proving that demise is merely a disease and not a functional piece of punctuation added to the end of the living equation. He's taken that a step further, too, proving that life exists in every portion of the whole and that each specimen he collects can be introduced to his re-agent and returned from the grave. A combination of eyes and a few fingers, an organ stew with limbs; he's been there and he's done that with a type of "morbid doodling" that has been interesting to watch. And now, 13 years after he was imprisoned for his achievements, he's found the very thing that tells the cells of the body to grow.

While its not reflected here, this movie actually premiered on the Sci-Fi network months before it was released on VHS or on DVD, and many of these reviews are for it. I know that because I watched it myself, seeing the things that were cut out and left incomplete before checking this page for the DVD release date. When I did I also noticed the lack of gore in some places because it had been cut for television, the lack of a certain part of the male anatomy fighting a rat at the end because it could be considered tasteless, and I also noticed waves in the story. So, those were pitches for an incomplete viewing. Still, the negative reviews do have a point and that is that you might not enjoy this if you don't have the right mindset.

In order to actually enjoy yourself and what this brings to the table, you have to be able to do a few things, and one of those things is to tell yourself that this is the story of Herbert West. While many can't accept this fact, the first in the series has been done, is long gone, and its never going to be done again. Everything after-the-fact is going to seem like a sequel and you aren't going to find a carbon copy of the original. You also aren't going to get the same actors (save the most wondrous one, Jeffrey Combs, who is crucial to this series) and you are going to have some problems due to budget restraints. Still, if you liked the series itself, you should be happy if you've followed the story this far because the third chapter fits in rather well.

While the plot of the movie is a little sketchy if you catch bits and pieces of it and drifts a tad when you get toward the end, its actually not that bad of a theory when you get down to it. As Dr. West points out, the human body loses three to four grams of weight when it dies. According to him, this NPE, or Nano Plasmic Energy, is the very building block of what makes life "alive." It tells the cells to grow, making the byproduct who and what it is because it could very well be the component many dub a soul. Accordingly, NPE can overcome many of the problems Dr. West has had in the past with the reanimated monstrosities he's created, allowing him to endow true life to the things he's returning to this side of living. It works better than the Thorazine he's been using to sedate them, after all, or the straight jackets he's used to keep them in check. The only thing is that he gets excited and, as everyone knows, nothing works exactly as the scientist pictures it because this always has been an on-going process

As far the other portions of the movie goes, it goes from "not that bad" to "impressive, considering the budget."
As far as the gore, there are some good examples of prosthetic effects - considering the amount of gore has been stepped down. You have some blood that rushes out really well, some bodies stripping themselves down to base elements, and you have other "portions" popping up. You do have some cheaper CGI sometimes taking up residence, too, but those aren't really a bother because this is somewhat of a comedy founded in the science of slapstick horror. Besides, a male portion of the anatomy fighting off a rat at the end is pretty funny stuff.
As far as acting goes, you get what you expect. You have some people that are bad, the great Jeffrey Combs that is always on because he is Herbert West to everyone following the series, and you have some people in the middle. Still, your setting, a jailhouse, allows some of that to be overlooked because you aren't exactly expecting a drove of great people in that place.
And, as far as the little Lovecraft joke in the name Howard Phillips, I got a laugh.
Also, watching the commentary "special feature", I noticed that IT'S A CUT MOVIE. With some scenes missing that you are shown in the director's commentary, you know it was cut before having an American release That's always sad, too, and it also shows what a translation to English will often get you - despite the R rating.

If you want to gage whether or not you might like it, you should simply ask yourself what you thought of the last two as a whole and then go from there. You should also ask yourself what you want to see in the movie, what its all about, and if you're going to see the undead or something more try to take place. As I said before, it is the story of Herbert West thirteen years after he's gone to jail, his partner now turned state's evidence, so things are going to be different. Still, Jeffrey Combs is Jeffrey Combs and that, at the end of the day, that sells itself to me.

This Halloween my boyfriend and I rented something seasonal -- *Beyond Reanimator. We didn't get around to watching it right away; Blockbuster's newly lax late-regulations make our procrastination all the cheaper. And besides, what was the rush? How good could it possibly be?

Well, let's look at that small 4-letter word "good" for a minute, shall we? Traditionally-speaking, "good" tends to indicate something of quality, something of value -- or at least something of marginal usefulness. By this criteria, Beyond Reanimator hasn't really got much to offer. We were quite safe in assuming that it could gather dust on top of our DVD player for a week or two and we wouldn't be missing much.

However. If you were to redefine "good" to include such things as, "features a kung-fu fight scene between a prison rat and a dismembered zombie erection," well then. Now you're talking. Never fear, because Beyond Reanimator has all your zombie genitalia needs covered.

The "Reanimator" line is taken from H.P. Lovecraft's canon and centers around a mad scientist named Herbert West. Herbert sees death as a terminal illness, and in his own methodical, clinically-insane fashion, he seeks to cure it. He succeeds in restoring life to his unfortunate subjects, but he has a somewhat tougher time restoring them to rational behavior. Voila. Flesh-eating zombies, running amuck. In this third installment of the movie franchise, the flesh-eating, amuck-running zombies are largely confined to the prison where once again Dr. West is indulging his unholy experiments.

In addition to satisfying any mobile phallic curiosity you may harbor, Beyond Reanimator also fulfills your Recommended Daily Allowance™ of slutty nurses with visible granny panty-lines, orange-foam vomit, needles-the-size-of-railroad-spikes loaded with glowing green goo, the odd heaving nipple being bitten off, and nerdy mad scientists in jumpsuits.

Thank heavens this movie knows better than to take itself seriously. If you get hold of this DVD, be sure to watch the credits for a bonus shadow-puppet theater of prison rat karate taking on the free-range [organs]. Also, check the extras for the music video which (ostensibly) accompanies the film. Seriously. Watch it. I had to avert my eyes right about the time my boyfriend cried out, "GAY FRENCH ZOMBIE MIMES! HAHAHAHAHAAH!"

Anyway, It's outrageously stupid, but kind-of fun. Don't expect too much of it and you won't be let down.

Director Brian Yunza once again breathes life back into the Re-Animator series with this third installment, Beyond Re-Animator (2003). Shot on location in Spain, the only character to make it from the original movies was Doctor Herbert West (Jeffery Combs). While neither of the sequels was nearly as good as the first, this one, I thought, was a bit better than the last.

The film picks up where the last left off, with one of West's experiments attacking a young woman, which is witnessed by her younger brother. The movie then fast-forwards 14 years, and we see West as an inmate in Arkham prison, performing strange experiments on rats, ones not involving bringing them back from the dead, but having something to do with removing strange energies from their bodies. Seems West is trying to develop a means to not only re-animate the dead, but to also return the subjects back to their normal, mental states. You see, the re-animation formula does work, but the subjects are usually mindless murder machines once brought back from the dead. With his new research, West hopes to counteract this effect, and truly return his once dead subjects back to their normal, pre-par tem selves. The young boy who so long ago saw his sister attacked by one of West's experiments is now a doctor, and has taken up residency at the prison where West is incarcerated, requesting that West be assigned to assist him. This seemed like a set up so that the doctor could avenge his sister's death, but that wasn't how it was played out, which seemed weird to me. Anyway, West, with the help of his new benefactor, begins his re-animation experiments anew, with a slight twist in his development of returning sentient consciousness to his subjects.

The movie does follow the format of previous films, with West blindly pushing forward with his experimentation, while his reluctant partner follows meekly along, and also a woman getting into the mix. There were some new elements thrown in, but most of the movie stayed similar to the first two. The script was a bit on the weak side, but director Yunza manages to keep things interesting with a copious amount of gore and splatter, but I am sure fans of the visceral would have wanted more. West is always fun to watch, a man driven by his unrelenting desire for knowledge despite the consequences. As the movie progresses, the inevitable prison riot breaks out, and various 're-animated' test subjects do many nasty things. No big surprises in the end, but a suitable ending leaving the door open for another sequel. There is some nice eye candy (women) to look at in this nearly all Spanish cast, but the acting skills in some of the cast members, men and women, are pretty poor. The special effects, provided by Screaming Mad George, are nice and thoroughly grotesque, and the story does move along, so I would call this movie a successful sequel to the last one, especially since I really didn't have high hopes after seeing Bride of Re-Animator (1990) and hearing another sequel was on the way.

Special features include a director's commentary, a 'making of' featurette, a somewhat goofy music video featuring a techno song and some interesting visuals. There are also a few trailers included, one for this movie and a couple more for other Lion's Gate releases. All in all, not a bad follow up to the sequel, but still nowhere as good as the original film. I do wish someone would release some of Brian Yunza's other films to DVD, like From Beyond (1986) or Crying Freeman (1995).

Cookieman108

The original Re-Animator is deemed a classic of the genre, though to be honest, my admiration for it is only mild. Sure, it boasted a terrific performance from Jeffrey Combs, delivered tons of memorable gore, and featured a deliciously nude Barbara Crampton, but I always found the pacing a little off and I felt the movie took to long to get to the all-out carnage I expected. Is Beyond Re-Animator a "better" movie? Maybe not, but I enjoyed it more, and it's a rare sequel that actually remains true to its predecessor's roots.

Set thirteen years after the events of Bride of Re-Animator, Doctor Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is in prison for his crimes (makes you wonder what he was charged with, resuscitating the dead?), but the arrival of a new doctor, Howard Phillips (Jason Barry), proves interesting to West's studies. Apparently, Phillips was a first-hand witness to the results of West's re-agent years ago, and has arrived to work with him on perfecting the formula. Their studies further progress to the discovery of an electrical phenomenon that could restore a dead person back to its normal state, sans the rage that typically accompanies their revival. But not everything goes to plan, thanks to a nosy reporter (Elsa Pataky) Phillips is seeing and the sadistic prison warden (Simon Andreu) who's catching whiff of West's plans.

Like the previous movies, Beyond Re-Animator isn't plot driven, it's meant to play as a rollercoaster ride of extreme gore and dark comedy. The grue is even better than its predecessors and there are a couple of laughs to be had (even if they're also simultaneously wince-inducing). The f/x stand out, with loads of memorable gore effects; there's a jawless zombie in the opening, a prisoner who overdoses on the re-agent and literally explodes, and my personal favorite, a prisoner missing the lower half of his body who's lassoed around by West himself. Hilarious.

Brian Yuzna is confident at the helm, giving the movie a slick look and feel, while maintaining a fast pace that nicely builds and rarely lets up. That said, the film is still packed with flaws, a lot of it pertaining to the repetitive nature of the story, which is basically "kill person, revive person, then kill person again," a cycle that endlessly repeats itself. The script brings up the topic of the electrical phenomenon, but doesn't really do anything with it. Are we supposed to assume that (spoiler) the reporter is somewhat possessed by the warden because she was given his NEE? There also aren't as many "zombies" as the first film, or at least not as many who are in any position to harm our protagonist (there's a scene where West discovers quite a few undead bodies hanging from the ceiling)

Jeffrey Combs-whose character actually starts to look a little normal compared to some of the nutsos here-is as delightful to watch as ever, and is really the one element that holds the film together in between the gore-soaked scenes. Jason Barry is flat and unconvincing as Phillips, whose decidedly complex character is clearly out of the actor's range. Elsa Pataky is very pretty, but has a hard time passing off as an American journalist (her Spanish accent slips through more than once). The only other worthy performer of note is the foxy Raquel Gribler, playing the prison nurse who reveals a LOT of cleavage and wears an almost see-through uniform. Pure eye candy, but a successful one at that.

Beyond Re-Animator works simply because it's a lot of fun, no more and no less, and whether or not you enjoy it depends on whether you mind (literally) eye-popping violence. The ending leaves things open for a sequel, but I'm actually looking forward to the further misadventures of Herbert West. Let's just hope the next sequel boasts a tad more plot and variety to go along with all the fun, gory mayhem.

This movie takes place 13 years after "Bride of Re-animator". The movie starts with a little boy's big sister being killed by one of West his re-animated corpses. West is arrested and we move on 13 years later. He is still experimenting in prison, but of course he doesn't have the necessary ingredients to make his famous green serum that re-animates the dead. In comes Dr. Howard Philips(the same person who's sister was killed,13 years ago) and he still happens to have the injection needle full with the green serum which he found 13 years ago, after West was arrested. West of course takes this opportunity to start experimenting anew. Howard becomes his new assistent. Those 13 years, West has been working on extracting the lifeforce out of several rats, and thinks he might have found the solution to stabilize the corpses after they have been re-animated(after which they always become very aggresive and lose almost all intelligence) with his special serum. Does it work? Yes and no... The movie starts slowly(but is never boring), but builds up to a terrific climax. I really enjoyed this one. I won't say much about the rest of the movie because I don't want to spoil all of the gory fun. Although not as good as the first re-animator, this is still an excellent sequel. Definitely worthy of adding to your DVD collection, especially if you're a fan of these movies.

Beyond Re-Animator, the second sequel to the 80s horror classic Re-Animator, blew away my expectations- brilliant in every sense, intelligent, fresh, funny, energetic, everything that made the first great. Jeffrey Combs is back as the witty mad scientist Herbert West (he puts in a great performance as usual)... the story picks up 13 years later where he's confined to the walls of a prison. He doesn't let that stop him from carrying out more experiments though and soon teams up with a young doctor (who by chance was a follower of West and his research).

Now with advanced capabilities and improved ideas for re-animating the dead, the duo set out to perfect the process. Only problem is they get caught up in a prison break which escalates into an all out battle with the undead. Not only one of the bloodiest movies I've seen in a long time but very entertaining. This doesn't really feel like a horror movie, more like a sci fi freak fest and unique in that it takes place in a prison. Check this one out.

this film in the region 2 format? it had a little more.
1. the scene of the female zombie doctor impossing herself on her knees
to give the warden a personal favor is complete but a scene was cut from the us release.
2. the drug addict prisoner shooting herbert west' drug into himself in his cell and his chest cavity exploding is fully intact but some clips are cut from the us release.
3. the man being shot in the face to death in the beginning of the film is fully intact but chopped up a little from the us release.

p.s if you want your horror and gore uncensored get yourself an all region dvd player.

i finally had enough (of the) censorship and bought one right here at amazon and saved myself some big $$$. trust me region 2-6 dvds are often totally untouched
by foreign mpaa officers and rated for adults only. yet released limited in stock.

True, it doesn't attain the pinnacle that director Stuart Gordon reached with his RE-ANIMATOR (1985), but director Brian Yuzna's second sequel, BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR (2003), is indeed way beyond his abysmal 1990 sequel BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR.

This time we catch up with the morbid Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) at the prison in which he has been incarcerated for the criminal experiments in re-animating human corpses he conducted during his residency at the Miskatonic University Medical Center. (The plot seems to ignore many events that occurred in BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, especially the fact that West was killed during that film's climax.) West has gained the confidence and the admiration of the prison doctor (Jason Barry), who agrees to let him use the prison infirmary to continue his morbid experiments. At first the two only experiment on the literal prison vermin--the rats and mice and such. But it isn't long before they start injecting West's dayglo-green juice into some of the human denizens of the jail.

The plot of BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR is fairly tight and much more believable than the sequel that preceded it, and unlike that former film, the characters that populate this phase of perennial protagonist Herbert West's life are fairly interesting. The acting in this flick is pretty good, too. Jeffrey Combs is, as always, wonderful in the role of Herbert West, and Jason Barry does a pretty good job in filling the shoes of actor Dan Cain as West's new protégé. Elsa Pataky and Raquel Gribler--the only women around for most of the film--provide some eye candy for the males in the audience, though neither has the sex appeal of Barbara Crampton from the original RE-ANIMATOR.

Don't misunderstand--BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR certainly isn't Oscar material. But who cares? Fans of these types of tongue-in-cheek horror and splatter films don't watch 'em to see Pulitzer-calibre scripts, great thespians, or high-art set design & special FX. They watch flicks like this because they enjoy lots of fake blood and guts, topless or naked women, and black funeral-parlor humor, all without having to suspend their disbelief tooooo much. And for the most part, this flick delivers.

The DVD from Lionsgate offers a fairly clean digital transfer of the print in anamorphic widescreen. Bonus features include an audio commentary with director Brian Yuzna, a short making-of featurette containing interviews with the cast & crew, and a few other tidbits. All in all, its worth the price of admission for those who enjoyed the original 1985 film.

Ever since I began watching the original Re-Animator, I loved it. Soon it became one of my favorite films, and I watched Bride of Re-Animator, which was a horrible sequel. With average expectations I rented Beyond Re-Animator, and let me say I was blown away. It's been thirteen years since Herbert West's former assistant turned state's evidence against him, and sent the doctor to state prison. Now, an eager young doctor wants West as his assistant in the prison after seeing West's work during the final Miskatonic misexperiment. Soon, the doctor is the assistant and West is the doctor as he continues experimentation into re-animation of the dead: only this time, it's one step higher ... Jeffrey Combs is better than ever as the mad West, giving us a terrific performance. The rest of the cast is very good as well; Brian Yuzna's direction has improved, and the script is great; there's also a cool score by Xavier Cappellas. Beyond Re-Animator is one of my favorite films, and one of the best horror films of 2003. It features some quite funny comedy, mixed with great, gory horror in the tradition of the first film. It is completely entertaining and features some very nice story ideas. Think of it as Shawshank Redemption with re-animation and Dr. West - oh, forget it. I found that the film was almost as good as the first Re-Animator, and way above the Bride. It's great to
have West back again. And the ending is terrific - fans of the first film can sit back and smile with satisfaction ...I would highly recommend Beyond Re-Animator to any horror fan, and it is essential for fans of the firstfilm. Easily one of my favorite horror films. Be sure to stick around to see the hilarious end fight between a rat and the warden's severed limb.
"Religion has nothing to do with this!"

Reading some of these reviews, I was aghast. Let us not overlook, good people, the fact that a low budget, Spanish film co. named 'Fantastic factory" had to step in and bankroll this project before it could see the light of day. Normally, these are circumstances that spell dire misfortune for any film. However, in the case of this film, it was a blessing. Look, this is the third (and long overdue, I might add ) chapter of a series that was begun in 1985. The gore and the insanity are very much intact in this installment, and the last half hour equals anything the original film had to offer. Yes,as a total and complete fan I'll be the very first to admit that the original "Re-animator" is still the best, but after the dissapointing "Bride of Reanimator", this movie is a breath of fresh air. Jeffrey Combs is terrific, and the arcane situations and visuals more than make up for the fact that the supporting actors are not that talented. Overall, as these films go, this chapter deserves its kudos for being a legitimate, enjoyable coda to a series that has redefined horror for many fans. I tip my hat to all involved!!!