Bride of Re-Animator

Plot synopsis:
Eight months after the events of Re-Animator, doctors Herbert West and Dan Cain are working as medics in the middle of a bloody Peruvian civil war. In the chaos of battle and with plenty of casualties to work on, they are free to experiment with West's re-animation reagent. When their medical tent is stormed by the enemy troops, West and Cain return home to Arkham, Massachusetts. There, they resume their former jobs as doctors at Miskatonic University Hospital, and West returns to the basement laboratory of Cain's house to continue his research.
Using parts pilfered from both the hospital's morgue and from the cemetery conveniently located next door, West discovers that his reagent can re-animate body parts by themselves. He becomes determined to create an entire living person from disparate body parts. West discovers the heart of Megan Halsey, Cain's fiancée, in the hospital morgue. With the promise to use her heart to re-animate a new Megan, West convinces Cain to help him with his project. Also stored in the morgue is the rest of the evidence from the previous "Miskatonic Massacre". Inside, pathologist Dr. Wilbur Graves discovers a vial of West's reagent and the severed head of Dr. Carl Hill. Using the reagent, he re-animates Hill's head.
Meanwhile, police officer Lt. Leslie Chapham begins investigating West and Cain. He bears a grudge against the pair, as they were the only unaffected survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre; the dead body of Chapham's wife was re-animated into a crazed zombie during the incident. Chapham suspects West and Cain were responsible. When he stops by their house to question them, he discovers West's corpse-filled lab and the two get into an ugly confrontation. A fight ensues and West ends up killing Chapham by means of cloth treated with a chemical which causes cardiac arrest when inhaled (a product of West's research into obtaining the freshest possible corpses for his experiments). West then re-animates the police officer with the intention of covering up his crime. Chapham violently wanders out of the house and into the cemetery next door.
Hill also bears a grudge against West, as West was responsible for his decapitation, the destruction of his body, taking away Megan (with whom he was obsessed), and having better theories about reanimation than himself. Using hypnotic powers, Hill commands Chapham to force Dr. Graves to stitch bat wings onto his neck, giving him back his mobility. He also extends his mental control to all of the zombie survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre.
When one of Cain's patients, the beautiful Gloria, dies, West collects the last piece he needs for his creation: her head. With a complete body stitched and wired together, West and Cain inject the re-animation reagent into Meg's heart. While waiting for the reagent to take effect, a package is delivered to their house. West retrieves and opens it. From inside, Hill's winged head flies out. Simultaneously, all of the zombies he controls break into the house. West retreats back to the basement lab, where his creation, the Bride, has awoken.
A catfight breaks out between the Bride and Cain's current girlfriend, Italian journalist Francesca Danelli, whom he met in Peru. Cain rejects the Bride's love and sides with Francesca. Heart-broken, the Bride rips Megan's heart out of her own chest and then literally falls to pieces. West diagnoses this as tissue rejection.
Hill and his zombies force West, Cain and Francesca to retreat through the wall of the lab and into a crypt in the neighboring cemetery. Inside, all of West's prior test subjects arise and make their way towards him, stopping only when Herbert commands them to. The unstable crypt begins to collapse, trapping Hill, West and the zombies. Cain and Francesca manage to escape the debris and claw their way to the surface of the cemetery together. Hill, stuck in the debris, laughs manically, while Megan's heart, still in the hand of the bride, stops beating.

Tags: comedy, cruelty, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, insanity

Review:
In Peru, Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) are medical volunteers in a civil war with the assistant Francesca Danelli (Fabiana Udenio) and they are researching how to create human life from dead tissue using wounded soldiers as guinea pigs.
It has some plot holes that aren't explained on from that of the first film- but it didn't fault the story, the humour or pace of the film.The director this time around was the producer from the original, Brian Yuzna- he brings some nice added touches and a morbid sense to the film, though it might have been much better if Stuart Gordon held the realm.The performances are good, with the ever-reliable Jeffrey Combs delivering the eccentrically insane Herbert West, Bruce Abbott as the sympathetic Dean Cain, Claude Earl Jones as the mischievous police detective, Fabiana Udenio as Cain's concerned girlfriend Francesca Danelli and finally David Gale as Dr West's Nemesis the deviously evil head (Yep, that's right) of Dr. Carl Hill.The atmosphere is truly stunning- from the dark basement filled with enthusiastic experiments and West's bizarre creations to the coldness of the eerie mortuary and hospital.
I will instead try to concentrate on the things I like about this film, namely, some snappy (and extremely DRY) one-liners, hilariously over-the-top gore effects and another great turn by Jeffrey Combs as the titular "re-animator".
"Re -Animator" extremely well received (quite rightly so) at the time of issue,still stands as a classic of the horror and fantasy genre.Who cared if it was not faithful to Lovecraft?Were the sixties Corman's movies that much faithful to Edgar Allan Poe?Crazy situations,witty lines,and above all an extraordinary skilled actor,Jeffrey -West,Herbert West-Combs who managed to be at once sinister and hilarious.The sequel is not so exciting;like in most of the follow-ups ,the surprising effect has disappeared.Besides ,the script is too derivative ,borrowing from "the bride of Frankenstein" (James Whale,1935) and from "night of the living dead" (Romero,1968).Only Jeffrey Combs remains.They put the weight on him and he carries it honorably.During the cast and credits,we can hear the same music ,which is absolute plagiarism:Hermann's "Psycho"..
Dr. Cain grows attached to a young girl dying of cancer and West is secretly stealing all the best body parts to make his own complete woman using the heart of Cain's dead girlfriend from the first movie.A nosy Detective interferes and starts poking around as well as delivering the head of long dead Dr. Hill to Dr. Graves, the new Chief Pathologist at Arkham (there sure are loads of Doctors in this film huh?).
Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dean Cain (Bruce Abbott) are up to their old tricks again--reanimating dead corpses and causing tons of gory fun to ensure.
It also should be noted that "Bride..." actually out gores the original, making it a real treat for gore hounds.The plot is as follows: Herbert West and Dan Cain have both recuperated from the chaos at the end of the first Re-Animator, and are doing experiments on the dead again.
This time,Herbert West is aiming not just to restore life,but to create it from spare body parts.His twisted genius has given birth to hideous and disgusting combinations,both animal and human.Yet,still the ultimate triumph of rebuilding an entire woman from assorted limbs and organs eludes him...until now!Dr.Carl Hill is also back!Oh yeah,but it's just his head returning this time.As for the title "Bride of Re-Animator",it takes its reference from James Whale's horror classic "Bride of Frankenstein".The acting is far above average and there is plenty of gore.Overall,"Bride of Re-Animator" doesn't come as close to perfection as the original,but it does have some nice qualities that make it worth seeing.Recommended..
The film, to its credit, has several storylines including Dan Cain's attempts to revive his old-girlfriend and Herbert West's desire to fuse body parts into new grotesque combinations.
As far as a sequel can go Bride of Re-Animator is definitely a solid sequel when it not stray too far from the original plot and follow an icon of horror Dr. Herbert West played by equally brilliant Jeffrey Combs on yet another quest for the resurrection of the human body but because the return of an unwanted and annoying as hell character named " Dan Cain " this movie at least for me feel less enjoyable than the first one.
I have to say that I love the original RE-ANIMATOR, which I think is a sterling adaptation of the Lovecraft story and a minor classic of '80s horror cinema complete with all the gore and gooey effects that you could wish for.
Instead we get Brian Yuzna and special effects man Screaming Mad George, and together they produce what is simply a weak imitation of the first film.Actually, the problem isn't so much with Yuzna, whose direction is fine, but the story, which simply retreads familiar material from the first movie.
Neither are the perpetrators: Dr Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is still opportunistically snatching the recently-deceased for his experiments, while Dr Carl Hill (David Gale) is still a talking head, and he's looking for a spare set of bat-wings to sew to his temples so that he can fly.Welcome back to the unique world of Re-Animator, where Lovecraft meets splatterhouse.
Brian Yuzna, producer on the first film, is promoted to director duties.Bride plays to the series' strengths: imaginative gore, the madness of West, and the feeble reluctance of his partner in crime, Dr Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott).
YEAH!Here we go again..The door to the gore store is now open as hurbert west returns to create one slick chick.The movie involves all the back to basic sick humor that the original Re-animator charmed us with back in good old 85.
I love the Re-animator series as it has a bit of everything in it, Gore, Blood, Sex and real dark characters.All the sick scenes are pulled off with a laugh by Geoffry combs to give you a sense of unease, As if to question yourself if you should really be watching this, But i can't help it as it's too much fun.Great Horror 8/10.
While the film is certainly not without its moments, particularly during the final act, a muddled script, uninspired direction and some so-so performances all contribute to its downfall.Jeffrey Combs is back as Herbert West and does his usual credible job, but alas, has little to work with.
Many sequels' titles start with the words 'Return of' or 'Revenge of', but Brian Yuzna, producer of the first film and director of this one has opted for the far more campy, and more classic, 'Bride of'.
West convinces Cain to help him build a new woman, with Meg's heart at the centre...meanwhile, Dr Hill plans his revenge; and the fact that he hasn't got a body isn't stopping him...Going into a film called 'Bride of Re-Animator', you cant expect anything resembling high quality - and it's a good job, because this film is anything but.
After eight months in Peru experimenting on war victims, Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) return to the Miskatonic University Hospital where they continue working on their reagent, this time adding a new ingredient: the amniotic fluid from an iguana.
With their new batch of glowing green goop ready and waiting, the pair construct the body of a woman (from bits and pieces half-inched from work), into which West hopes to inject life (in more ways than one, or so it seems at one point).Bride of Reanimator, Brian Yuzna's sequel to Stuart Gordon's 1985 Lovecraftian gorefest Reanimator, sees the director striving hard to match the original in terms of sheer lunacy, invention, and style, and very nearly succeeding: he certainly hits the mark on more than one occasion, delivering some delightfully silly scenes packed with splattery OTT effects (courtesy of Screaming Mad George and KNB FX) and blessed with a satisfying manic intensity; and even many of the more subdued moments prove highly effective, having a wonderful camp/Gothic atmosphere redolent of the classic monster movies of yesteryear—most obviously, James Whale's Frankenstein films.It's only towards the end, as matters come to head, that things spiral out of control; Yuzna ultimately loses his grip on proceedings, events become too chaotic, and the film falls apart almost as quickly as it's titular bride.Still, it's a fun ride and one I wholeheartedly recommend to fans of Reanimator, and Yuzna's work in general.
The director ensures that everything moves at a brisk pace, the performances are solid (Jeffrey Combs is always watchable), the visuals are suitably absurd (amongst the weird treats: Dr. Hill's bat-winged severed head, a creature consisting of an eyeball perched atop three severed fingers, and a reanimated dog with a policeman's arm), we get plenty of bright red blood squirting from arteries, and there is even time for a touch of female nudity courtesy of busty babes Fabiana Udenio and Kathleen Kinmont (just boobage, though; neither girl gives a 'full Crampton').7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb..
Hopefully this isn't much of a plot point, but in this movie West can animate body parts, not just bodies, and that makes the horror science feel more fresh and freaky.Biggest Flaw: Not providing any resolution or explanation for the previous film's ending (for both West and Meg)..
While retaining the talents of original cast members Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and the irreplaceable Jeffrey Combs, Yuzna turns "Bride of Re-Animator" into a completely forgettable sequel that borrows generously from "Bride of Frankenstein" and the original "Re-Animator." This time out, Herbert West (Combs) and Dan Cain (Abbott) piece together a female monstrosity with the use of Meg Halsey's heart; the typical side-effects and nail-through-the-foot hijinks ensue, though there's not a funny or inspired moment to be found (save for the cyclops finger-spider).
Bride of Re-Animator (1989) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Dr. West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dr. Cain (Bruce Abbott) are working in South America when they make another important discovery, which will help their bizarre treatments.
Once back in the States they go to work for a hospital and a Detective soon notices that several body parts have gone missing.BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR is a sequel to the 1986 cult classic, which was a rare example of where a horror movie was popular with not only fans of the genre but also critics who usually hated gory films.
I thought the film had a rather flat feel and it just never comes to life.With that said, there are some good things here including the performance by West who is a lot of fun in the lead role.
Now working for a local hospital, Herbert West and Dan continue their experiments on reanimating dead tissue in order to bring a patient back to life only to run into the same complications as before when the side effects appear.This here was a rather impressive and enjoyable sequel that holds up quite well.
This is where it really lets loose with the demented air of the Frankenstein-like quality of bringing the girlfriend back to life along with the frantic fight with the new girlfriend, a series of fine action set-pieces with the reanimated bodies coming back for revenge and the utter fun of the destruction of the lab caused by the newly revived creatures brought along by the spilled serum that gives this a truly outstanding finale that captures the fun, humor and glee of the original.
This one goes for a more Frankenstein type theme - Herbert West discovers that he can revive parts so he decides to take re-animation a step further into creating a life: ah yes a woman for the ever smitten Dan Cain using what else but Meg's heart.
Most of the original cast is back in this sequel to the cult favorite about re-animating dead tissue...and in this one Dr. West creates a "bride" of dead parts and tries to animate the parts as one being...with the usual gory and violent results.
Herbert West decides on creating the ultimate bride from dead tissue, and that's when things predictably go awry.Re-Animator is a favorite horror film of mine.
But that is part of the charm of these old classic horror movies.There is a good amount of sublime humor and dark humor in "Bride of Re-Animator" and it is a good mixing of Lovecraftian storytelling mixed in with Shelley's "Frankenstein".Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott and David Gale return to reprise their roles from the previous movies - one being nothing more than a mere head.
Doctors Herbert West and Dan Cain discover the secret to creating human life and proceed to create a perfect woman from dead tissue.You might think this sequel has nothing to do with the original story, but you would be wrong.
Jefferey Combs is a pleasure and he carries the movie when it starts to get tedious.The ending has an interesting scene but I just can't help but see this film as largely tedious and not near the classic that its predecessor remains to this day.Watch the original and then if you happen to have access to this, throw it in.
At least in this case, nobody would have seen two sequels shot them and are purely for human well is not possible to look at.The second film begins in Peru, where Herbert West and Dan Cain are the nurses volunteered during the Civil War. For them, this is the right place.
Good ol' Dr. West (Jeffrey Combs) is at it again with his ever put-upon sidekick Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) re-animating the dead.
The characters played by Jeffrey Combs and David Gale (killed off at the end of the original) have inexplicably been revived for the second installment in the series (another entry  BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR  which I haven't watched, followed in 2003)though, in Gale's case, this re-appearance only extends to his disembodied head (subsequently fitted with a pair of bat wings)!
"I will not be shackled by the failures of your God." Thus says mad genius Dr. Herbert West, who is back along with partner Dan Cain - only this time, they're creating life.The story involves West (Jeffrey Combs) and Cain (Bruce Abbott) returning from war in Peru.
Having not learned anything from his experiences in 1985's "Re-Animator," the mad scientist continues to simultaneously play both doctor and God. Culling spare body parts from the local university, West promises to his loyal buddy Dan (Bruce Abbott) to restore the love of his life, Megan (who you may remember as being played by Barbara Crampton in the original).
Soon, an Italian woman who had assisted West and Cain in Peru, Fancesca Danelli shows up and falls in love with Dan. However, as we all know from the previous movie, Dan can never have anything good in his life without it being destroyed.Hill's head is soon re-animated and he is back to his old tricks again.
Using Gloria's head, Meg Halsey's heart, and various other parts from other women.Soon another massacre takes place under the cemetery, the re-animated corpses, Chapham, the bride, Hill, and all of West's experiments are involved.
If you're considering watching this movie, you probably already know what you're in for, but it's worth saying that Bride of Re-Animator is a very rare thing: a great horror sequel.
Bruce Abbott (as Dan Cain) and Fabiana Udenio (as Francesca Danelli) are the slightly weaker links in a cast of scenery-chewing greatness, but when a film's primary antagonist (David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill) is an angry disembodied head, you have an idea of the kind of hilarity to expect, and Bride of Re-Animator does not disappoint..
Thank goodness this movie can be re-discovered this way.For those unaware the first film dealt with Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and his search to re-animate the dead with a serum he had developed.
Built from those various body parts West has been stealing and completed with the head of a woman Cain was treating (played by Kathleen Kinmont) she does rise from the table and at moments resembles in look and movement the classic Bride of Frankenstein we've all come to know at love.
A "Re-Animator" sequel which is, in many aspects, a tribute to "Bride Of Frankenstein" - can the premise of a film be more promising for a Horror fan?
"Bride Of Re-Animator" is not quite the masterpiece the original was, but it is doubtlessly a great sequel and a treat for every Horror fan.
Bride of Re-Animator is set eight months after the events of the original Re-Animator that have become known as the 'Miskatonic Massacre', after returning from Peru as volunteer Doctor's in a bloody civil war Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) & Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) take an internship in Miskatonic Hospital.
There Dan works as a caring doctor while Herbert continues with his experiments on re-animating the dead using all manner of body parts stolen from the Hospital.
The sequel to Stuart Gordon's wonderful Re-Animator (1985) this had a lot to live up to & I think it does a great job at being sufficiently different & taking the story & character's in another direction yet still undeniably remaining a Re-Animator film & keeping the core ingredients which made the original the cult classic it is today.
Anyway, how can you not love a film that features a living decapitated head with Bat wings surgically grafted onto it's side which lets it fly around!?Besides a good solid story that is often surprisingly well written & played what makes Bride of Re-Animator so much fun are the outstanding gore & special effects.
In this film Dr. Herbert West(Jeffrey Combs)& Dan Cain(Bruce Abbott)return from the civil war of a Latin country experimenting of dead soldiers trying to perfect the power of his reagent serum for reanimating dead tissue and organs.
***END OF SPOILERS***  All, in all, a nice attempt as a sequel to a great cult classic, but, unfortunately, the first movie was not a film to be Re-Animated into a part two.