Bride of Re-Animator

Returning are now doctors Herbert West (Jeffery Combs), Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), and even Doctor Carl Hill (David Gale) makes an appearance, despite the fact he has no body (see the first movie). The film tries to build on the original showing doctors West and Cain, nine months after the hospital massacre in the first movie, working in Peru on the bloody frontlines of a civil war, still experimenting with the luminous, green life-giving juice. The notion is that in this backwater part of the world, they can work unfettered, not bothered by legal constraints. Things get a little hairy, and the boys decide to return stateside, working at the hospital with the first unpleasantness took place (I guess the hospital administrators have short memories).

Taking up residence in a house that was once a mortuary, located next to a cemetery, the doctors continue their work with creating life, using various body parts from the hospital morgue. Dan is reluctant, but Herbert proposes they create a woman, using various body parts, centered around the heart of Dan's deceased girlfriend, Meg, who bit the big one in the first movie.

Weird experiments and bloody body parts fill the screen, as a police lieutenant with a personal stake continues the investigation of what originally happened even though the case has been officially closed. Even the head of Dr. Hill makes a kept alive with the living giving juice.

Do Herbert and Dan succeed in bring Meg back to life from spare parts? From the title of the movie, you'd think so, but their creation is less than perfect...the movie may not be up to par with the original, but there is a really great scene where Herbert Combs goes into a nice rant about picking up where God left off, taking the refuse that is humanity and creating new life. Seeing that scene alone was worth watching this movie.

I did enjoy this film, but felt little of what made the first so enjoyable. If they were going to make a sequel, it was only natural to take the course that the filmmakers did, but I wish they would have infused more of a story into the film, and not gone whole hearted campy on us. The first movie did have its' humor, but it was well balanced with the rest of the story. I know sequels are rarely as good as the movie that spawned them, but I did have high hopes here. There's plenty of gore and blood, if you enjoy that kind of thing, but the movie is light on story. I felt much of it was patched together, tying elements together with the weakest of threads. The story may not hold up well, but it was fun to watch, especially the effects of Screaming Mad George and K.N.B. EFX Group.

My real disappointment is with Artisan, the company that released this disc. There are absolutely no special features, and all we are provided with is a full screen format. This movie was released on DVD before by Pioneer Video, loaded with special features, including two separate versions (one being a minute longer than the other), deleted scenes, bloopers, photo galleries, production information, commentary, and more. Also, the original release had both full screen and wide screen letterbox format, while we only get full screen here. You may be able to find that release, but you will most likely have to pay a premium, at least for a nice copy. This film was followed by a third movie, Beyond Re-Animator (2003).

Cookieman108