(2003)

review by:

4-21-04

Written by: José Manuel Gómez Directed by: Brian Yuzna Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Jason Barry, Elsa Pataky, Simón Andreu

Our favorite Doctor (Combs---YAH!) is serving in prison for his hideous crimes some 13 years ago. He keeps busy by doing research, in secret, mind you, on the concept of bringing back those who are departed (his mother must not have hugged him as a child). His test subjects: rats. On the verge of a breakthrough, the prison gets a new MD to care for the prisoners, Dr. Phillips (Berry—YUK!). As a child Phillips was witness to some of Dr. West’s previous work; he watched his sister die from one of the many experiments. Phillips wants to work with West, whose new concept of introducing a donor “soul” may be the key to fixing the zombie chaos following the administration of West's “reagent”. They must work in secret, not letting the warden know, and like previous Re-Animators, a girl always gets in the way. Of course all hell breaks loose and we have on our hands a prison riot, a Mexican torso zombie, a rat warden with no penis, and a freaked out chick who bites off penises. Before I get into this review I want to apologize to the great Jeffrey Combs. This is the second BAD review I have given him (the first being Feardotcom), and I feel awful. If you ever find your way to our little site, let me say that you are one of the creepiest mother-fuckers out there in Hollywood and we need more villains and scary doctors on screen like you. Comb’s acting in this movie was one of the few good things about it. His love of the character shines through like nothing I have ever seen. I love Dr. West, and I think that all future Dr. Frankenstein type characters will have to be measured to this guy. Combs has set the bar, people. Production value was good; someone put money into it, that’s for sure. I was even surprised that it wasn’t done digital. However, the acting and screenplay is what suffered, not to mention it was obvious the location was overseas. All actors were from Europe, and it showed (this is excluding Combs of course). Many tried desperately to cover up their accents. The story was very slow. Last time I checked, when riots START-- fights, fire, and chaos happen IMMEDDIATLY. It took a good 15 min. for it to reach the normal level of a prison riot. That is just an example of how slow the movie is. I will give credit, though, to Dr. West’s lines. I could tell Gómez had at least seen the other 2 movies (although I wouldn’t be surprised if Combs had to improvise a bit). And for an example of how creative Gómez is, how about a boxing match between a rat and severed dick (my money is on the rat). The characters (beside West) were just annoying. I wanted everyone to die, come back, and die again horribly, especially that chick. I thought the one girl from They was bad. And the warden, all I have to say is, "Why?" (see it and you’ll understand). This movie didn’t feel like a Re-Animator movie. It's hard to explain. Even the theme music had been altered, not a lot, but enough to throw you off. I do recommend seeing it, just to complete the story, especially if there will be another. However this movie does take third place in a trilogy about zombies. I have and forever shall be a fan of Re-Animator. Speaking of a whole series, I think this is my favorite comedy about the walking dead (and you all know of my love for them). If you have not seen any of this series and don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, go to you video store and rent Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator, and Beyond Re-Animator, make some popcorn, invite some friends, stock up on cokes, and have yourself a little marathon. This movie does serve a purpose, it kept Dr. West alive and in our hearts, hopefully in future movies, he will be even greater than before.

Rating



Comments

From: Hammer Rating: Bad I totally agree with your review, Ms. Queen. Dr. West rules all and that is the only reason why this movie should exist. I hope to god there is another one, and PLEASE do not be produced, written, and directed by foreigners.