Why Dead Should Stay Dead: The Teratology of Beyond Re-Animator

 

Horror comedy is a strange beast—if dying is easy and comedy is hard, it is a film genre that must do both at the same time. After brief glimpses of its potential in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) and Young Frankenstein (1974), the genre bursts out of its slimy cocoon in the '80s (see Fig. 1).

"Fig. 1. Source: the wiki page on horror comedy films.  Not credible enough?  Tough shit."

 American Werewolf in London in 1981, Basket Case a year later, Ghostbusters two years after that—people wanted to scream laughter and laugh screaming. Then comes 1985 and Re-Animator. It had everything: terror, slapstick, gore, tits, the living dead and Jeffery Combs. It was new, inventive, fresh—it tingles, it shocks, it thrills. Compared to that, Beyond Re-Animator (2003) is a paint-by-numbers, slap-dash, ho-hum last-gasp of a franchise gripped in its death throes. What happened in 18 years? Let’s begin the dissection.

"Like all bad things, it starts with a neon-green syringe."

 Beyond Re-Animator begins, as all the films in the Re-Animator series do, with the brilliant but narcissistic Dr. Herbert West forcing the recently dead back to life with his fluorescent "reagent." His reagent works, with side effects: It grants new life, but those given this gift are also filled with confusion, rage and ungodly strength. After fleeing failed experiments in Switzerland, New England, Peru, New England again, West is back in the States doing what he does best—reanimating. Unfortunately, his experiment breaks into a suburban home and murders a teenage girl in front of her younger brother. This incident lands West a 13-year stint in prison (reanimation without a license carries a minimum penalty of 15) where he continues his work. In the film's first act, a new doctor arrives at the penitentiary: Howard Philips (Jason Barry), the boy whose sister was murdered 13 years ago. He’s dedicated his life to curing death and becomes West’s clandestine assistant in a new group of experiments centered around West’s latest finding, Nano-plasmic energy, the missing link in perfect reanimation. The two are hindered by the ever-watchful warden and a nosy journalist, Laura Olney (the delightful Elsa Pataky). West and Philips succeed and usher in a utopia of eternal life.

"The beauty of science."

Naw, just kidding. The experiments fly out of control and hundreds of people die in agony.

"The beauty of science."

 It is a premise that should work: a misunderstood genius striving behind bars aided by one of the victims of his past mistakes. The production values are good; Brian Yuzna, the director, filmed in an abandoned Spanish prison to stretch the budget. The gore is good; most special effects come from make-up artists instead of computers. Even the theme music is good; it's still the spooky clarinet from the first film. But Beyond Re-Animator is beyond watchable. Even with the same elements as Re-Animator, this sequel doesn’t just fall short, it didn’t even know it was competing. Like West, it lacks one crucial piece, one spark which turns it from a smashing success to a dismal failure.

"I'll take 'Crucial Narrative Elements that Beyond Re-Animator Lacks' for 200, Alex"

The missing cinematic Nano-plasm is pacing. The first Re-Animator, just like its iconic theme music, starts slow and builds to climatic intensity before fading to an uneasy silence. Beyond starts big and stays there, shouting when it should whisper. Its conclusion tries to top scenes which are already over-the-top, turning the far-fetched to the absurd. Even Jeffery Combs, a consummate performer in a variety of roles, can’t save this failed experiment. Horror-comedies are tricky things; pull too far towards horror and its humor is out of place. Push too far into comedy and it becomes the worst kind of farce. Beyond Re-Animator is both extremes at different points in the film, which is why it fails. Re-Animator is ripe for resurrection, but it will need a much lighter touch to bring it back to life.