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Re-Animator (1985)

Synopsis: Mad scientist Herbert West has developed a glowing green serum that can bring the dead back to life. The formula hasn’t quite been perfected yet resulting in corpses that return angry, violent, and leaky. Things get ugly when an ethically challenged fellow scientist combines West’s notes on re-animation with his own theories on mind control, and all hell breaks loose in the hospital’s morgue.

Killer Scene: If you’ve seen Re-Animator then you know the scene ahead… The evil (and headless) body of Dr. Hill straps an unconscious Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton) to the table while her zombified father rips the clothes from her body. Hill’s hands begin to play with her generous and fleshy orbs while daddy zones out in the corner. The doctor’s bloody and decapitated head, eager for some tongue action, commands the body to pick him up and face-plant him between her legs…

KILLSHEET

Violence: Eyeballs inflate and explode, fingers are chewed off, a bone-saw is driven into a guys back and out through his chest, a head is severed by way of a shovel, and intestines burst from a body with a vengeance.

Sex: Crampton gets naked, has sex, and gets head. There are also numerous re-animated and nude corpses. And we all know how irresistible nude corpses can be… Right?

Scares: This is not a scary movie. There may be one or two scenes that might make you jump, but only if you’re not used to horror films. And between the comedy and the over-the-top gore, violence, and action, there’s not really any palpable dread either.

Final Word: Re-Animator is a classic of gore and dark comedy. Really good horror comedies are notoriously rare, but this one works because it’s balls to the wall nuttiness. It’s gory, campy, gooey, funny, gross, and a definite conversation starter. Watch it with your friends and lovers and a fun night is guaranteed.

What’s your favorite horror comedy?