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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Experiment is Over!!!, January 30, 2004
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.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
outrageously stupid, but fun, November 9, 2004
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to Arkham Prison...the doctor will see you now..., March 6, 2004
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
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