‘Beyond Re-Animator’ Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Jeffrey Combs is back as Dr. Herbert West in the second sequel to Stuart Gordon’s 1985 horror classic Re-Animator.  In the latest installment, West finds himself serving a prison sentence following the events of Bride of Re-Animator.  During his incarceration he secretly works on ways to expand on the progress he’s made in re-animating the dead. In an attempt to not rehash the same story, each of these films takes the idea of re-animation to a new level.  In the 1985 original we are introduced to Herbert West, then a medical student at Miskatonic University, and his glowing green “re-agent”.  After recruiting fellow med student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) as an apprentice, West is finally able to move on from animals and begin testing his new serum on humans.  While he is successful at re-animation, West’s subjects are mostly transformed into mindless zombies who he is unable to keep under control. The first sequel, Bride of Re-Animator (1989), reunites West and Cain who have somehow managed to obtain medical degrees after causing the massacre at Miskatonic University. This time around, the duo attempts to “create new life” by assembling various body parts from different donors and injecting West’s re-agent into the bloodstream. Using the heart of Cain’s deceased girlfriend along with parts from various other subjects (stolen by West of course), the good doctors grant life to a sort of “Bride of Frankenstein” creature with disastrous results.

Bride director Brian Yuzna (who also produced the first film) returns to the helm for the third entry in the series. Beyond Re-Animator opens immediately after the finale of its predecessor. The prologue features two young boys in a tent telling scary stories and is somewhat reminiscent of an opening you might see in an 80s slasher flick, but things start to get weird when the sister of one of the boys is attacked by one of Dr. West’s ghouls. The police manage to subdue the creature via a bullet throught the eye, but not before the poor girl is killed by the monster. West is taken into custody, while the kid whose sister was just killed by a re-animated corpse looks on.  West and the boy appear to make eye contact before the police car drives away. The boy then picks up a syringe containing the re-agent that Dr. West famously uses to bring the dead back to life.

Flash forward 13 years and West’s experiments from his prison cell now include attempting to capture the nanoplasmic energy (NPE) from rats, which he believes is the essence of each individual’s unique personality and character traits (i.e.: the soul). Naturally it’s only a matter of time before Dr. West decides to test his theory on humans. With the help of the new prison doctor, Howard Phillips (yes, as in H.P. Lovecraft), West is now ready to expand his experiments from rats to people. Fortunately, Dr. Phillips has brought with him a syringe of re-agent and we soon learn that he is in fact the boy whose sister was killed at the beginning of the movie (although as an adult the character inexplicably sports an Irish accent). West’s first opportunity to see if his serum still works after 13 years comes when a fellow inmate named Moses is pronounced dead in the operating room. It takes a little while for the re-agent to kick in, but once it does Moses becomes just as erratic as every other fresh specimen that came before him. Now West and Phillips set out to use the re-agent along with collected NPE to restore his re-animated subjects to their former selves. The theory is that whether the NPE is administered rodent-to-rodent, human-to-human, or interspecies, the results will be the same. As West himself says though, it is only a theory, and you can probably predict how things turn out.

Beyond Re-Animator follows a narrative structure similar to those of the first two films.  Dr. Phillips is clearly meant to be the “Dan Cain” character.  He takes a liking to a nosey reporter named Laura Olney (Elsa Pataky). Laura channels Barbara Crampton’s “Megan Halsey” from the first Re-Animator and Fabiana Udenio’s “Francesca” from Bride, as the sidekick’s annoying girfriend who unwittingly stands as an obstacle to Herbert West and his work. There is also the sinister Warden Brando (Simón Andreu), who fills the villain role previously occupied by David Gale (as “Dr. Hill” from Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator). Brando is somewhat rat-like to begin with, but this is amplified when West gives him a hearty dose of nanoplasm from an actual rat. While performances from the supporting cast are passable, there isn’t quite the same chemistry among the players that we saw in the first or even the second film of the trilogy. This is mostly due to the fact that the majority of the cast is comprised of Spanish actors, some of whom had their dialogue dubbed in post-production. Yuzna and Combs go into some detail about this in the bonus features on the Blu-ray. However, given the budgetary restraints and the fact that the film was shot entirely in Spain, Beyond Re-Animator manages to deliver the goods with regard to the craziness that Re-Animator fans have come to expect. The third act is especially insane as the prison descends into chaos thanks to Dr. West’s antics. There is a generous amount of gore on display and Screaming Mad George (Bride of Re-Animator, Society) is on hand once again to provide the special makeup effects.

The Blu-ray:

Lionsgate brings Beyond Re-Animator to Blu-ray via their Vestron Collector’s Series line. Overall the 1080p, 1.78:1 HD presentation is a good one, boasting deep blacks and nice shadow detail. Colors are bold enough without ever becoming oversaturated. In particular the blood reds stand out, as well as the neon green of Herbert West’s re-agent. Skin tones look accurate, and there is no evidence of oversharpening by way of noise reduction or edge enhancement. Detail levels are very good and grain structure is mostly well-resolved. There are some mild instances of compression artifacts which are evident in the backgrounds of a few darker scenes, but these are kept to a minimum and never become too intrusive.

Audio on the Blu-ray is an English language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. Dialogue comes across clear and crisp. Most of the film’s early action sequences on this surround track are contained in the front channels, leaving the rear channels for thunder crashes and some subtle sound effects such as wind blowing.  However, the surrounds do pick up in the third act during the prison riots when things start to get louder. Music also sounds good and features elements of Richard Band’s original Re-Animator score combined with new arrangements by composer Xavi Capellas.

Bonus Features include new interviews with director Brian Yuzna, actor Jeffrey Combs, and author S.T. Joshi.

• Beyond and Back – Interview with Director Brian Yuzna. In this interview the director discusses the intention of making more Re-Animator films and some of the obtstacles he faced trying to get funding for Beyond Re-Animator.  He describes how he was finally able to make a deal in Spain with Filmax to develop Fantastic Factory, the difficulties of working with a mostly non-English speaking cast and crew, and how – unlike Bride of Re-Animator – he and Jeffrey Combs were the only ones on set who were familiar enough with the franchise to really know what they were doing. Yuzna also addresses the reasoning behind his decision to set the film inside a prison.
• Death Row Sideshow – Interview with Jeffrey Combs in which the actor talks about the appeal of Herbert West, his fondness for playing the character, and the ways in which West has evolved over the course of the three films. He also expands on some of the topics Brian Yuzna discussed in regards to working with a Spanish production company, the desire to make more Re-Animator films, and some of the issues with special effects and being the only American actor in the movie. Combs has kind words for his Beyond co-stars and expresses some disappointment over the fact the movie made its U.S. debut on the SyFy channel instead of receiving a wide theatrical release. This is an entertaining and informative interview with good insight and behind the scenes info on the making of the film.
• Six Shots by Midnight – Interview with Lovecraft biographer S.T. Joshi. In this segment the author of I am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft discusses the series of short stories which inspired the Re-Animator films. He talks about Lovecraft’s fascination with life after death despite being an atheist and Lovecraft’s reluctance to write the Herbert West – Re-Animator short stories because they were driven by commission rather than pure inspiration. Joshi also covers the connections between the short stories and their film adaptations and Jeffrey Combs’ portrayal of the Herbert West character. Another informative interview worth checking out.

Other extras include a music video by Dr. Re-Animator entitled “Move Your Dead Bones” (which contains clips of the film interspersed with some rather amusing dance moves), isolated score selections & audio interview with composer Xavi Capellas, production art and still galleries, vintage EPK featurette, international and U.S. theatrical trailers, and an audio commentary with director Brian Yuzna. 

The disc is region free so its contents will be playable worldwide. It should also be mentioned that this Blu-ray features the unrated cut of the film despite what is listed on the packaging. There are several snippets of gore that were not present on the old DVD from Lionsgate. Definitely recommended for fans of the Re-Animator series.

(Note: The screen captures contained in this review are for reference purposes only and do not represent the way this Blu-ray Disc will appear on your display.)