Review of Beyond Re-Animator (2003) by Alice . — 11 Nov 2004

[font=Arial][color=white]It's so damned cold. I need hot cider or something.[/color][/font].

[font=Arial][color=#ffffff]So I finally got around to seeing [i]Beyond Re-Animator[/i]. It isn't that I didn't want to, it's that several other films ([i]Suspiria[/i], for one) took precedence. I'm awfully glad I did eventually get to it as I loved it to campy, gory pieces. As soon as it ended I got up to get a glass of water, came back and played it again. Jeffrey Combs is such fun to watch as the quietly intense Herbert West. As in the original [i]Re-Animator[/i] (incidentally a film I count among my most favorites), he owns every second he's onscreen and when he's not onscreen, you want him to be. He underplays his mad scientist flawlessly - in a scene in which new doctor Howard Phillips addresses West rather frantically as "doctor", West's reaction is note-perfect. The original film is a tough act to follow and this sequel doesn't try to match its predecessor in gore and pure weirdness, but it's quite daft in its own right and there's plenty of messy stuff to splatter around. Lots of love, is all I can say. Lots of love, lots of blood, and lots of fun. [/color][/font].

[font=Arial][color=#ffffff]Hot cider sounds really good, actually. I hope I have some. If I don't, I might have to go get some. Yes. It's that cold. [/color][/font].