Review of Resurrected (1989) by Edgar C — 26 Aug 2009

I have long enjoyed Stuart Gordon?s adaptations of HP Lovecraft tales, but was eager to see another director tackle one of these stories. Dan O?Bannon seemed to me a perfect fit. His involvement with Total Recall and the Alien franchise pointed toward a more serious approach compared to Gordon?s all-out madness.

The Resurrected follows the basic Lovecraft formula, sane individual stumbles upon mad scientist experimenting with some bat-shit crazy research. The expected serious tone of the film is not executed the best. Most of the investigation consists of either people talking about what is happening or voice over of someone reading from a diary, police report, or other documentation. The Resurrected has its moments although. The gory effects in this film are on par with anything Gordon has brought to the screen, they just don?t encompass enough of the film to keep the pacing from slowing to a crawl at times. The acting rarely surpasses average. All in all, I think the see-saw leans a bit to the positive mainly due to the highlights kicking major ass, but this film could have been so much more.

So, in the end, while I started the film excited to watch a new approach, I just kept wanting more Stuart Gordon.