From: kmrc@ellis.uchicago.edu (Melanie A. Miller)
Subject: Re: Horror/Fantasy Flicks
Reply-To: kmrc@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 17:00:41 GMT

In article <0095DABF.6524B180.3412@ait.physik.uni-tuebingen.de> kuhnle@AIT.PHYSIK.UNI-TUEBINGEN.DE (Volkmar Kuhnle) writes:
>I remember a movie called "Reanimator" (based - obviously - on Lovecraft's
>Story "Herbert West - Reanimator". They placed the story in a college
>of today and modified the characters a bit (e.g. they added a girlfriend
>for Herbert West). In despite of being a B-Movie, it wasn't so bad at
>all. I would rate it a high +1 (or even a low +2) on the -4 to +4 scale.
>
>Volkmar

No. No, no, no, no, no.

Sigh.  Dr. Herbert "Women?  Well, I suppose they're useful as spare
body parts" West did not have a girlfriend in "Reanimator."  Dan
Cain, his ROOMMATE, did (and I wonder if Dan was a character in the
original stories or another Gordon plot device.  But I digress).
The character was awfully misogynistic, at least towards Megan
Halsey (Dan's girlfriend), and I really had to start wondering
about his orientation when he started hanging all over Dan.

This, of course, is quickly rectified (sarcasm alert) in "Bride of
Reanimator," where Dan gets it on with a beautiful photographer and
Herbert apparently develops a Pygmalion complex with his latest
creation, a female built around the heart of Megan Halsey who
promptly falls in love with Dan.  I actually felt a little sorry
for the poor schmuck--anyone who has to resort to jigsawing a woman
together just to get a date, only to lose her to his roommate Steve
Studly, is going to be understandably bitter about women.

Simply because I'm an English major who enjoys deconstruction, I
have to wonder why Herbert turned out the way he did (to quote
Thomas Harris, "Monsters aren't born--they're made").  I can't find
the original "Reanimator" stories so I don't know if they supply
any of his background, but I came up with the following thesis for
a story (which blatantly stole the Burroughs continua device from
Heinlein to permit interuniversal travel, but that's for another
time):

Herbert was an only child.  His father was a doctor who raised his
son away from his own parents (his mother in particular, who
suffered from schizophrenia).  Herbert's parents were killed in a
car accident, and the little boy was sent to live with his paternal
grandparents.  

Grandfather West was an undertaker and completely under the
domination of his wife, a woman who covered an increasingly
psychopathic interior with the facade of being a pillar of the
community.  Young Herbert was convinced by his grandmother that God
killed his parents because he had been bad, and that the only way
to save them from Hell was to become a doctor and "fulfill his
father's destiny."  The boy was subjected to further psychological
and physical abuse, such as being locked in the basement/mortuary
overnight as punishment, being humiliated by his grandmother when
he tried to make friends with the local children, and general
beatings. 

Herbert developed a compulsive fascination with the dead bodies he
spent so many nights with--combining that with the child's desire
to have his parents alive again and his growing interest in
science, he begins to plan his search for a serum that can bring
life back to dead tissue.  As can happen with obsessive-compulsive
personalities, he restricted all his attention to this one goal,
and let his natural fear and hate of his grandmother build into a
general disdain for all women.  

The culmination of his adolescence occurs when his grandfather
dies, leaving him and his grandmother alone together.  Herbert
sneaks down to the basement to attempt his first experiment in
reanimation.  His grandmother discovers him and flies into a
psychopathic frenzy, chasing the teenager out of the basement.  At
the top of the stairs, however, something finally breaks in
Herbert.  He turns around to face his approaching grandmother, and
as she comes into range, he pushes her back down the basement
stairs.  Her scream is silenced by the abrupt snap of her neck.

The insurance money is enough to send Herbert to Switzerland, where
he meets up with Dr. Hans Grueber.  The rest is history.

It may not be what Stuart, Jeff, et al came up with, but hey, it
works for me.  Now if we could only see a prequel along these
lines. . .

MAM 

 
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* Department of Pediatrics   * what I post.                      *
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