The Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, 1985)

The Re-animator is like Talking Heads meets David Cronenberg so of course I loved it! The Stop Making Sense Talking Heads poster featured nicely in a sex scene impulsed me to buy a whole lot of Talking Heads posters on eBay (I didn’t need too much encouragement).

There’s not much to say about the movie except that it needs to be watched. It is more in the style of Frankenstein than say 2001 as it is a movie set on earth about the scientific process of bringing people back to life from the dead. And while the movie insists that it uses science to bring people back to life from the dead, it really is a sort of magic, a special juice if you will. But since the insanely awkward and somewhat disturbing leading scientist says it is science, I believe him and take his word as fact. This is science fiction horror.

This mad scientist could be David Byrne if David Byrne didn’t have a Psycho Killer music career. I mean, just look at the picture. He even looks like David Byrne!

If you are not as in love with David Byrne and the Talking Heads as I am, you will still enjoy this movie. From the opening sequence, there is an insane amount of awesome body horror ala David Cronenberg style. Eyes popping out of heads, heads exploding, decapitation, blood, guts, sex, molestation, you name it, The Re-Animator has it.

This is a movie that has aged perfectly. 1985, I love you based on this movie and others from your time. Can you re-animate me when I die?