BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR (2003)

Awaited by some with baited breath, ‘Beyond Reanimator’ is the continuation of the Herbert West saga originally conceived by H.P. Lovecraft in his short story ‘Herbert West: Reanimator’ (see H.P Lovecraft ‘Omnibus 2: Dagon and Other Stories’). For those unfamiliar with the tale, West is a doctor who believes death is a disease that can be cured and accordingly performs all kinds of macabre experiments with human and animal corpses. Stuart Gordon was the first to take up the challenge of bringing West and his necrotic experiments to the big screen, succeeding in fine style with the superb splatterfest ‘Reanimator’ (1983). Several sequels followed over the years and now Brian Yuzna’s crack at the series has West (Jeffrey Combs) incarcerated in a maximum-security prison, as assistant to Dr. Howard (Jason Barry) the new prison M.D.
Howard soon reveals to West that he has a sample of his original zombie making serum and the two covertly begin a partnership seeking the answer to life’s greatest question. Along the way Yuzna utilises the talents of Screaming Mad George for some good special effects, and there’s some interesting intra-cortical C.G.I. Jeffery Combs (‘Deep Space Nine’, ‘Enterprise’, ‘The Frighteners’) is also outstanding in his role as the crazed doctor, gibbering and contorting as he electrocutes a rat or reanimates a corpse.

However, a major flaw of this film is the quality of the supporting cast. Simon Andreu aside, who is entertaining as Warden Brando, the sadistic pervert in charge of the prison, the rest of the players are badly chosen and bring little to their roles. Both Barry and Elsa Pataki (as Laura, a journalist seeking an inside scoop from the prison) fail to inject any passion or sincerity into their characters and act their way through the movie as though they are actually starring in some kind of American sitcom. Hence, the chemistry is stale, the humour dumb and their scenes together are tedious. In fact, much of the film is dull; a basic retread of tried and tested formulaic horror that at its best has some cool gore and at its worst is flat and unimaginative.
In closing, it seems that ‘Beyond Reanimator’ is a very dualistic film; it’s well worth watching to witness the antics of West and the scene in which Warden Brando forces Laura to bark like a dog was good fun, along with the effects which deliver the promised gore. Yuzna’s direction also gives the film a stylish look, sadly unmatched by most of the onscreen performers. Overall, ‘Beyond Reanimator’ is watchable but nothing new, horror of this type has been done before, and much, much better.

Score

4 / 10