Beyond Re-Animator (2003)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Brian Yuzna

Writers:

Xavier Berraondo (script collaborator)
José Manuel Gómez (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 July 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

They Thought Prison Would Be The Death Of Him. But For Dr. West, Death Is Only The Beginning.

Plot:

Everyone's favorite mad scientist Herbert West is currently in jail after having state's evidence turned against him by his former assistant...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Jail | Experiment | Mad Scientist | Scientist

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jeffrey Combs	...	Dr. Herbert West
Tommy Dean Musset	...	Young Howard 'Howie' Phillips
Jason Barry	...	Dr. Howard Phillips
Bárbara Elorrieta	...	Emily Phillips
Elsa Pataky	...	Laura Olney
Ángel Plana	...	Kitchen Zombie
Javier Sandoval	...	Cop 1
Santiago Segura	...	Speedball
Lolo Herrero	...	Sergeant Moncho
Enrique Arce	...	Cabrera
Nico Baixas	...	Moses
Simón Andreu	...	Warden Brando
Joaquín Ortega	...	Officer Falcon
Raquel Gribler	...	Nurse Vanessa
Daniel Ortiz	...	Winni

Also Known As:

Beyond Re-Animator (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence/gore, sexual content and language.

Runtime:

Germany:95 min (Fantasy Film Fest) | Spain:96 min | Argentina:96 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Netherlands:16 | Canada:(Banned) (Prince Edward Island) (DVD rating) | Singapore:(Banned) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | Finland:K-18 | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:R (Ontario) | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Trivia:

Jason Barry's character is named Howard Phillips. The movie is based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, whose full name is Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Also, the last name of Elsa Pataky's character is Olney, which is the last name of the main character (Thomas Olney) in Lovecraft's story "The Strange High House in the Mist."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Howard is talking to Laura (Elsa Pataky) after she has been revived, he calls her Elsa.

Quotes:

Howard Phillips: I want to help people, not create mindless... freaks!
Herbert West: Having second thoughts, Doctor?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Angry and Moist: An Undead Chronicle (2004)

Soundtrack:

The Very Best

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blood Red

This third Re-Animator movie delivered what any fan of the series would expect. The formerly dead jitterbug about after receiving a dose of reagent from Herbert West. West again has a love stricken assistant. West's assistant is again in a love triangle with West's would-be nemesis. So, why not pop Re-animator or Bride of Re-animator in if there is nothing new? Good question. Here are some reasons

1- The effects in this film are top notch.

2- Jeffrey Combs again shows his acting chops playing Herbert West.

3- There is a new twist to the re-animation process that shows some promise in `clinical trials'.

There are some really convincing effects throughout the film. Makeup and effects are more than window dressing in a film of this nature. Inadequate attention to either would have dropped the value of this film immediately. You believe that these guys have been dead and now no longer are. They are much more believable than JarJar Binks.

Herbert West is over a decade older in this film. Combs takes this maturity and adds it to the character he molded in the previous efforts. It's obvious that he is the same Dr. West yet it is also obvious that time has added to the character. Even more interesting, at the beginning of the film is a flashback where Combs plays the younger West. It's an opportunity to compare the two portrayals almost side by side. The essence of West remains, the speech pattern, the physicality remain. What Combs added to West's character is a veil to the intensity. What was once a roaring fire is now under control. He is no less determined, just a bit more subdued in expressing it.

The addition to the re-animation process, which I will not discuss in particular, adds another moral dimension to the question of the correctness of bringing back the dead. Although this moral dimension is directly addressed in the film, Medical Ethics 101 it is not. The ethical question is covered briefly and in the context of the fate of West's nemesis. As with all Re-animator activity conducted by West time is valuable and little of it is wasted. Events are happening rapidly and under less than ideal circumstances.

The DVD version has an music video on it, which was a surprise. It also has a `making of' short that should have had about another five or six days of work done to it before including it. It does have interviews with the principle actors and with the director. Have your subtitles turned on, the actors, with two exceptions speak Spanish even during the clips from the movie included in the short.

As any good sequel will, this one leaves open the possibility of yet another Re-animator movie. Hopefully the production quality will continue its improvement. Maybe Bruce Abbott and Barbara Crampton can be re-animated for the fourth film.