Zombies in film: Re-animator

"Death is just the beginning..."

Film: Re-animator
Directed by Stuart Gordon

Written by H.P. Lovecraft and Dennis Paoli
Produced by Empire Pictures and Re-animator Productions

Story: A collage student, Herbert West, tries to defeat death with a serum he creates to reanimate the brain. He moves to a new town where his experiments quickly gain him the trust of a fellow student and their search for a suitable test subject leads on a winding trail of death and chaos as events get more and more complicated until finally Herbert and his roommate and the dean's daughter must face off with a headless mastermind zombie in a morgue where all of the bodies have been infected.  

Zombies: The zombies in this film evolve through out the film. That is to say the science used to create them evolves. The first zombie simply has his eyes explode. After that zombies simply show enhanced strength and toughness. Although they can be killed by extreme means, surgical drills through the chest, etc. The zombie mastermind is a scientist who's head was cut off but he was instantly given the serum which revived him and he still retained control over his body. He then combined the zombie serum with his technique of destroying the part of a person's brain where the willpower is, and then he could create the final version of zombies in the film. The mindless killing machines who obeyed his orders, and also felt pain whenever he did... Mastermind zombies can also explode their chests on command and their intestines can be used as lassos and drag people to their doom. Mentioned before is the zombie serum, a strange re-animator which causes any creature who hasn't had their brain destroyed to come back to life although if they are reanimated six minutes after death they will come back with only the most base instincts, the instinct to kill and feed.

Survival Lessons:

• Wear clothes that don't easily rip. Especially pants.
• Destroy the head, don't just cut it off.
• Head isn't always fun.
• Mocking zombies doesn't kill them.
• Don't leave your strange roommate alone with your dead cat.
• Pencils snap really easily and disrupt scientists.
• The personality dies roughly 6 minutes after the brain.

Warnings: The R rated version is rated that for good reason. Not all people look good naked. Just saying.

 

In the end this movie is very raunchy and as a film maker there are too many things wrong with it to even list. That aside, not a bad mood. Entertaining and definitely shows how anyone who keeps their wits about them has a good chance to survive. Also shows the dangers of playing with things best left in the hands of God.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.