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Traveta reviews
The Millennium Edition
Elite Entertainment
- Cert: Unrated
- Cat.no: EE4325
- Running time: 86 minutes
- Year: 1985
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 24
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: 2 * DVD 9
- Price: $19.96
- Extras:2 audio commentaries, new interviews with crew, 16 extendedscenes, deleted scene, theatrical trailer, 5 TV spots, Music Discussion,multi-angle storyboards, photo gallery, filmographies, and biographies.
Director:
- Stuart Gordon
Screenplay:
- Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris, and Stuart Gordon
Cast:
- Herbert West: Jeffrey Combs
Dan Cain: Bruce Abbot
Megan Halsey: Barbara Crampton
Dr. Hill: David Gale
Dean Halsey: Robert Sampson
Re-Animatorwas the suprise hit way back in 1985. Besting with the otherzombie film debuting that year: Day of the Dead. Re-Animator is moreprofessional than Day and you care alot more about the characters inthis one. Plus, the effects rival even Tom Savini at times. Another cultclassic for the ages has gotten the special edition treatment on DVD.
The film tells the story of medical student Herbert West (played verywell by Jeffrey Combs) who has successfully accomplished a way to bringthe dead back to life. No-one believes him until the student he isrenting his apartment from, Dan, sees him bring back his cat who diedearlier. Of course they kill the cat and inject him with the serum againand he revitalizes, snapped in two and all. Dan reports these findingsto the dean, who he happens to be entangled with his daughter, and isquickly expelled along with West. Later that day, West and Dan sneakinto the morgue and try the serum on a human patient. It works and theDean is killed by the zombie, West brings him back to life as well. Whatfollows is more dead being brought back to life until a gruesome endbattle in the morgue with newly revived zombies who don’t care if Westbrought them back.
Re-Animator is not the standard zombie film. Although fans of GeorgeRomero’s Dead films will find familiar ground here, there is still alevel of humor that works well. That’s what sets it completely apartfrom Day of the Dead, the sense of humor.
Into the disc. Elite Entertainment has retired their former DVD andbrought it back out in a great two-disc form with a lower price than theoriginal. The picture is a step up from the former release. Sporting anew anamorphic transfer, the film is free of pixelization and such. Theonly problem is a few spots of dirt very hard to notice and some minorgrain.
The sound is presented in DTS and dolby surround or stereo formats. It’svery audible with dialouge interlaced with the action.
The former release had the deleted scene and extended scenes along withthe trailers and TV spots. The rest is all new and plentiful. Consistingof informative segments and such, they did a fine job on the extras.
Overall, with the price tag so cheap you’ll get your money’s worth.Great effects and good characters make this film a good watch.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALLEmailTraveta
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.