Stuart Gordon's satirical Horror masterpiece "Re-Animator" of 1985 is a personal favorite of mine, and Brian Yuzna's 1990 sequel "Bride Of Re-Animator" was a sequel as gory, hilarious and great as one could possibly hope. While Yuzna's second sequel, "Beyond Re-Animator" does, in my opinion, not quite reach the quality of its predecessor, it is nonetheless a gory, funny and outrageously entertaining film that no Horror fan should miss. Our favorite obsessed scientist Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) has been serving the last thirteen years in prison, which is ruled by a mean and sadistic warden (Simón Andreu). West has since been working in the prison's medical station, and secretly experiments on rats. The young Dr. Howard Phillips (Jason Barry)then begins to work as the prison doctor, and he shows great interest in West's work... Once again the film is full of extreme gore and macabre humor. Jeffrey Combs is once again great as Dr. West. The guy is a great actor, and he has played many other memorable roles, but Herbert West was the role he was born to play. Someone other than Combs to play the role is simply not imaginable. Jason Barry is also good as the young doctor (basically a replacement for Dan Caine played by Bruce Abbott). David Gale (who died in 1991) is severely missed as the evil Dr. Carl Hill, but Simón Andreu is a very good replacement as the scumbag character. The stunningly beautiful Elsa Pataky is very welcome as the new female character, the sexy and ambitious journalist Laura. The prison setting is, in my opinion, not quite as cool as the settings in the predecessors (simply because it is more limited), but they made the best out of it. While sequels to masterpieces often tend to disappoint, the opposite is the case with the "Re-Animator" sequels, probably because they kept the style and humor of the original. The great score, the gore, the humor, and, above all, the wonderfully obsessed Dr. West. I am already looking forward to "House Of Re-Animator" which is due in 2010, and for which Stuart Gordon will return in the director's chair. "Beyond Re-Animator" is a must-see for all my fellow Herbert West fans, and a treat for every Horror fan. Do not miss!
Review of Beyond Re-Animator
