A ground-breaking horror/black comedy that reintroduced HP Lovecraft to a new generation, and set a new level as to how far on-screen outrageousness could go.
Full of black humor and startling shocks, the feature film debut of experimental theater director Gordon is arguably his best and easily his most fun (a kinky, sick sort of fun, mind you) ...
a retelling of Frankenstein with a psychosexual spin... an infectiously fun foray into science at its most insane and least ethical, as the mind's higher goals are repeatedly driven by the body's basest desires.
To call "Re-Animator" campy and leave it at that seems a knee-jerk reaction to discredit, or disregard, the clear skill behind an excellent American horror movie. Even at its most outrageous, it's controlled by a steady, confident hand with a plan.
Because Re-Animator is so poorly acted and directed (by Stuart Gordon, whose first film this is), there is no tension to break. So the gruesome scenes are just clinical and dull.
