Review of Resurrected (1989) by Brian S — 08 Nov 2010

A faithful but flawed adaptation of HP Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Chris Sarandon stars as Ward/Joseph Curwen, chewing the scenery throughout in ways that would have made Vincent Price blush. The acting here is otherwise adequate, but the real star is Brent Friedman's screenplay, which does an excellent job of bringing the story to life.

CD Ward gets an inheritance from a long-lost uncle that contains everything he needs to raise the dead. He throws himself into the task, buying the remains of European occultists and having limited success, the results of which we meet late in the film. When he brings back his great grandfather, though, things get messy and great grandpa takes over. Detective John Marsh and Ward's wife want to get to the bottom of things. The bottom here, though, is a pit full of monsters. The monster effects are a bit dated but still effective.

Slow in a number of spots, but still a worthwhile of a story that Lovecraft himself was never happy with (it was only published posthumously). Fans of the author will approve of, if not always be entertained by, this one.