An Imperfect Solution: A Tale of the Re-Animator (2003)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Christian Matzke

Writers:

H.P. Lovecraft (story)
Christian Matzke (writer)

Genre:

Short | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Every problem has a solution. Even death.

Plot:

In the year 1920 two Miskatonic University graduates are practicing medicine by day and trying to revive the dead by night...

Plot Keywords:

Miskatonic | 1920s | Zombie | H.P. Lovecraft | Cthulhu

Cast

Bob Poirier	...	Herbert West
Jason Waron	...	Simon Helder (as Jason C. Waron)
Amanda Huotari	...	Mary Helder
James Noel Hoban	...	Robert Leavitt
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Harrod	...	Walter Sutton
Megan Holden	...	Prostitute
Laree Love	...	Leather Apron
Christian Matzke	...	Cadaver
Morgan Maurer	...	Miskatonic University Student
David Meiklejohn	...	Man With Newspaper
Sherry Whitemore	...	Amputee

Also Known As:

An Imperfect Solution (USA) (short title)
Cry of the Cadaver: A Tale of the Re-Animator (USA) (working title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Filming Locations:

Brunswick, Maine, USA

Company:

Beyond Books

Trivia:

The head of the corpse has also been in two other films: The Yellow Sign (2001), and the spoof documentary "A Shoggoth on the Roof" (2001).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Dr. Helder reads the telegram from his sister the state abbreviation for his address is "MA". In 1926, the two letter all caps abbreviations had not yet been introduced and the abbreviation for Massachusetts was "Mass.".

Movie Connections:

Version of Re-Animator (1985)

Excellent Lovecraft adaptation

This short film is based on "The Scream of the Dead", a chapter in H.P. Lovecraft's story 'Herbert West-Reanimator'. Bob Poirier's performance as Herbert West is perfect. It's like the character walked off the page onto the screen.

I'd like to see Crawling Chaos Pictures try a full-length adaptation of 'Re-Animator'. The best thing about their vision of it is that they set it in the 1920's, around the time the original story was set, instead of 'updating' it like a lot of larger-budget filmmakers feel impelled to do.

I saw this at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. On the big screen, the graininess of the film takes a moment to get used to. This is, after all, an amateur production. But even that adds to the feel of watching a story set in the past. I give this 9/10 stars.