Bride of Re-Animator [Blu-ray/DVD] [3 Discs] [1990]

If it's not obvious enough from the title, Bride of Re-Animator (1989) owes a much bigger debt to the Universal horror films than Lovecraft's complex mythology of inter dimensional monsters. It's essentially a Frankenstein story with Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) continuing their ethically questionable experiments on body parts lifted from the hospital pathology lab. Escaping any real fallout from the "Miskatonic Massacre" that ended the first film, Herbert is now creating a re-animated freak show in their basement lab, patching together limbs, digits and eyeballs with reckless abandon. Cain, meanwhile, still pines after his dead fiance, Meg (although Barbara Crampton doesn't return); so much so that he doesn't object too much when Herbert installs her heart into the latest conglomeration of body parts downstairs. But fate throws a monkey wrench into their scientific plans when the severed head of Dr. Hill (David Gale) plots his revenge, using several re-animated corpses and a grief-stricken cop to do the legwork. If all that sounds a bit choppy and disconnected, director Brian Yuzna admits he feels the same way. Starting with an odd sequence in Peru where Herbert and Dan are mixed up in a civil war, Bride of Re-Animator feels more like a pitch session than a finished script. The film never has a chance to build momentum, moving from one gag to another - like the "finger-monster" created by stop-motion animator David Allen and Dr. Hill's grafted bat-wings that improbably allow his severed head to fly - with the aim of pleasing the Fangoria crowd. And as a purely visceral re-cap of the first film, Bride of Re-Animator gets the job done admirably. Yuzna does a good job recapturing the slightly twisted tone, and Jeffrey Combs slips back into mad scientist mode without missing a beat. Even the constant barrage of practical effects - especially the quick parade of freaks created by Screaming Mad George - are sure to give an audience of like-minded fans their money's worth. But it's lacking the "spark" of the original, something that all the fluorescent green re-agent in the world can't seem to bring back. Arrow Video's Blu-ray DVD limited edition is well worth the investment for those who disagree. Featuring a brand-new 2K restoration of the unrated version (and a second disc of the R-rated cut), the two-disc set comes with a pair of commentaries, new featurettes on the effects, an on-camera interview with Yuzna, a pair of deleted scenes, a ton of behind-the-scenes footage, liner notes and new cover artwork. A sweet set for an average film.

Once in a while a horror film arrives that becomes an instant cult classic; Phantasm, Return of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, Re-Animator. For years, the outrageous sequel to Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator had a sub-par release on DVD. Now, Arrow Video brings the monster back in all its gory, uncut with a high definition transfer in a 2 disc set. The original 3 disc box set sold out in last than a month, but this set is a great substitute for those who were disappointed in missing the box set. #1, the box set had issues of creases while the new case is the sturdy clear Blu-ray case, still containing the Blu-ray, DVD and almost all the extras. Great artwork, and good looking print and sound quality. A must for horror aficionados.

Bride of Re-Animator is a 1990 American science fiction horror film directed by Brian Yuzna and was written by Yuzna, Rick Fry and Woody Keith. H. P. Lovecraft wrote the original serialized story, titled Herbert West–Reanimator, from which the characters were derived. The plot roughly follows episodes "V. The Horror from the Shadows" and "VI. The Tomb-Legions" of the original. The film stars Bruce Abbott, Claude Earl Jones, Fabiana Udenio, David Gale, Kathleen Kinmont, and Jeffrey Combs.

If you're a fan to the original Re-Animator, you'll love this one. The good doctor goes beyond just re-animating dead bodies to actually constructing one out of many body parts-kind of like when Dr. Frankenstein decide to create Frankenstein his own bride. Of course like every good intentions, things don't always goes according to plan. Check this movie out, you will love it.

Arrow's Bride of Re-animator is an excellent high quality blu-ray. The picture and sound quality are very good for a fairly low budget 80s movie. There are so many extra features included it would take days to go through them all. Any fan of the film should pick up this blu-ray immediately.

I love these Re-Animator movies. Despite the obvious ridiculous science behind it (part of why I love it!), it remains one of my favorite franchises from my childhood.

While Bride of Reanimator isn't as good as its predecessor, it still has a lot of the elements that made the original so good. This one is still a lot of fun to watch. And the special features in this edition are awesome. Kudos to Arrow for putting it out.

Simply put, the picture quality on this blu ray is stunning. Fans of the ReAnimator franchise shouldn't hesitate, you won't be disappointed! The picetag is a little steep, but honestly it's well worth it.