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

In the year 1920 two Miskatonic University graduates are practicing medicine by day and trying to revive the dead by night. Herbert West is prepared to go to great lengths to see his ... See full summary »

Director:

Christian Matzke

Writers:

H.P. Lovecraft (story), Christian Matzke

Stars:

Bob Poirier, Jason Waron, Amanda Huotari

Cast

Credited 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

Storyline

In the year 1920 two Miskatonic University graduates are practicing medicine by day and trying to revive the dead by night. Herbert West is prepared to go to great lengths to see his theories through to fruition, and when his fellow doctor is called away Herbert takes advantage of a golden opportunity. But with Dr. Helder's return we learn how imperfect Herbert's solution really is.

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Plot Keywords:

miskatonic | 1920s | zombie | h.p. lovecraft | cthulhu

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Taglines:

Every problem has a solution. Even death.

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Genres:

Short | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

An Imperfect Solution

Filming Locations:

Brunswick, Maine, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beyond Books, Crawling Chaos Pictures

Technical Specs

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

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.".

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Crazy Credits

'No rats, millipedes, or door-to-door salesmen were harmed in the making of this film.'

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Connections

References Anatomie (2000)

User Reviews

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.