Bride of Re-Animator
Encyclopedia
Bride of Re-Animator is an American horror film
released in 1990. It was directed by Brian Yuzna
and was written by Yuzna, Rick Fry and Woody Keith. H. P. Lovecraft
wrote the original series of stories, 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 series. The film stars Bruce Abbott
, Claude Earl Jones, Fabiana Udenio
, David Gale, Kathleen Kinmont
and Jeffrey Combs
.
Bride of Re-Animator is the sequel to Stuart Gordon's
Re-Animator
(1985) and is followed by Yuzna's Beyond Re-Animator
(2003).
, Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs
) and Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott
) are working as medics in the middle of a bloody Peruvian civil war
. In the chaos of battle and with plenty of casualties to work on, they are free to experiment with West's re-animation reagent
. When their medical tent is stormed by the enemy troops, West and Cain return home to Arkham
, Massachusetts
. There, they resume their former jobs as doctors at Miskatonic University
Hospital, and West returns to the basement laboratory of Cain's house to continue his research.
Using parts pilfered from both the hospital's morgue and from the cemetery conveniently located next door, West discovers that his reagent can re-animate body parts by themselves. He becomes determined to create an entire living person from disparate body parts. West discovers the heart of Megan Halsey, Cain's fiancée, in the hospital morgue. With the promise to use her heart to re-animate a new Megan, West convinces Cain to help him with his project. Also stored in the morgue is the rest of the evidence from the previous "Miskatonic Massacre". Inside, pathologist Dr. Wilbur Graves (Mel Stewart
) discovers a vial of West's reagent and the severed head of Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale). Using the reagent, he re-animates Hill's head.
Meanwhile, police officer Lt. Leslie Chapham (Claude Earl Jones) begins investigating West and Cain. He bears a grudge against the pair, as they were the only unaffected survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre; the dead body of Chapham's wife was re-animated into a crazed zombie
during the incident. Chapham suspects West and Cain were responsible. When he stops by their house to question them, he discovers West's corpse-filled lab and the two get into an ugly confrontation. A fight ensues and West ends up killing Chapham by suffocating him with a cloth. West then re-animates the police officer with the intention of covering up his crime. Chapham violently wanders out of the house and into the cemetery next door.
Hill also bears a grudge against West, as West was responsible for his decapitation
; the destruction of his body; taking away Megan, whom he was obsessed; and having better theories about reanimation than himself. Using hypnotic powers
, Hill commands Chapham to force Dr. Graves to stitch bat wings onto his neck, giving him back his mobility. He also extends his mental control to all of the zombie survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre.
When one of Cain's patients, the beautiful Gloria (Kathleen Kinmont
), dies, West collects the last piece he needs for his creation: her head. With a complete body stitched and wired together, West and Cain inject the re-animation reagent into Meg's heart. While waiting for the reagent to take effect, a package is delivered to their house. West retrieves and opens it. From inside, Hill's winged head flies out. Simultaneously, all of the zombies he controls break into the house. West retreats back to the basement lab, where his creation, the Bride, has awoken.
A catfight
breaks out between the Bride and Cain's current girlfriend, Italian journalist Francesca Danelli (Fabiana Udenio
), whom he met in Peru. Cain rejects the Bride's love and sides with Francesca. Heart-broken, the Bride rips Megan's heart out of her own chest and then literally falls to pieces. West diagnoses this as tissue rejection
.
Hill and his zombies force West, Cain and Francesca to retreat through the wall of the lab and into a crypt in the neighboring cemetery. Inside, all of West's prior test subjects arise and make their way towards him, stopping only when Herbert commands them to. The unstable crypt begins to collapse, trapping Hill, West and the zombies. Cain and Francesca manage to escape the debris and claw their way to the surface of the cemetery together. Hill, stuck in the debris, laughs manically, while Megan's heart, still in the hand of the bride, stops beating.
and Jeffrey Combs was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.
.
Stuart Gordon
has been quoted on several occasions as expressing a desire to make a fourth installment in the series, entitled House of Re-Animator; this film would, he claims, be a political satire wherein West moves into the White House
and re-animates the deceased Vice President. However, the project was supposedly cancelled. The idea may not be totally dead as is hinted at in the final issue of the Hack/Slash
vs. Re-Animator crossover where government agents approach West claiming his country needs him because the president is dead.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
released in 1990. It was directed by Brian Yuzna
Brian Yuzna
Brian Yuzna is a director, writer and producer of films.- Life :Yuzna grew up in Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Panama before moving to the United States in the 1960s.- Career :...
and was written by Yuzna, Rick Fry and Woody Keith. H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
wrote the original series of stories, 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 series. The film stars Bruce Abbott
Bruce Abbott
Bruce Paul Abbott is an American actor. He has appeared in movies such as Re-Animator, Bad Dreams, The Prophecy II, Out of Time, and Bride of Re-Animator, and the TV series Dark Justice....
, Claude Earl Jones, Fabiana Udenio
Fabiana Udenio
Fabiana Udenio is an Argentine/Italian character actress and sex symbol who has appeared in film and on television. She is best known for her role as "Alotta Fagina", a Bond girl parody in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.Udenio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Italy ...
, David Gale, Kathleen Kinmont
Kathleen Kinmont
Kathleen Kinmont is an American actress who starred in film and on television. Kinmont is perhaps best known for starring in horror movies.-Career:...
and Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
.
Bride of Re-Animator is the sequel to Stuart Gordon's
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
Re-Animator
Re-Animator
Re-Animator is a 1985 American science fiction horror film based on the H. P. Lovecraft story "Herbert West–Reanimator." Directed by Stuart Gordon, it was the first film in the Re-Animator series. The film has since become a cult film, driven by fans of Jeffrey Combs and H. P...
(1985) and is followed by Yuzna's Beyond Re-Animator
Beyond Re-Animator
Beyond Re-Animator is a horror film, directed by Brian Yuzna. It is the second sequel to Re-Animator. The film premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel . This showing was cut to a TV-PG rating...
(2003).
Plot
Eight months after the events of Re-AnimatorRe-Animator
Re-Animator is a 1985 American science fiction horror film based on the H. P. Lovecraft story "Herbert West–Reanimator." Directed by Stuart Gordon, it was the first film in the Re-Animator series. The film has since become a cult film, driven by fans of Jeffrey Combs and H. P...
, Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
) and Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott
Bruce Abbott
Bruce Paul Abbott is an American actor. He has appeared in movies such as Re-Animator, Bad Dreams, The Prophecy II, Out of Time, and Bride of Re-Animator, and the TV series Dark Justice....
) are working as medics in the middle of a bloody Peruvian civil war
Internal conflict in Peru
It has been estimated that nearly 70,000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and, although still ongoing, had greatly wound down by 2000. The principal actors in the war were the Shining Path , the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the government of Peru.A great...
. In the chaos of battle and with plenty of casualties to work on, they are free to experiment with West's re-animation reagent
Reagent
A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Although the terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, a reactant is less specifically a "substance that is consumed in the course of...
. When their medical tent is stormed by the enemy troops, West and Cain return home to Arkham
Arkham
Arkham is a fictional city in Massachusetts, part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft and is featured in many of his stories, as well as those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. There, they resume their former jobs as doctors at Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham; a fictitious town which is said to exist in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River . After first appearing in the H. P...
Hospital, and West returns to the basement laboratory of Cain's house to continue his research.
Using parts pilfered from both the hospital's morgue and from the cemetery conveniently located next door, West discovers that his reagent can re-animate body parts by themselves. He becomes determined to create an entire living person from disparate body parts. West discovers the heart of Megan Halsey, Cain's fiancée, in the hospital morgue. With the promise to use her heart to re-animate a new Megan, West convinces Cain to help him with his project. Also stored in the morgue is the rest of the evidence from the previous "Miskatonic Massacre". Inside, pathologist Dr. Wilbur Graves (Mel Stewart
Mel Stewart
Milton "Mel" Stewart was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Henry Jefferson on the popular television series All in the Family...
) discovers a vial of West's reagent and the severed head of Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale). Using the reagent, he re-animates Hill's head.
Meanwhile, police officer Lt. Leslie Chapham (Claude Earl Jones) begins investigating West and Cain. He bears a grudge against the pair, as they were the only unaffected survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre; the dead body of Chapham's wife was re-animated into a crazed zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
during the incident. Chapham suspects West and Cain were responsible. When he stops by their house to question them, he discovers West's corpse-filled lab and the two get into an ugly confrontation. A fight ensues and West ends up killing Chapham by suffocating him with a cloth. West then re-animates the police officer with the intention of covering up his crime. Chapham violently wanders out of the house and into the cemetery next door.
Hill also bears a grudge against West, as West was responsible for his decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
; the destruction of his body; taking away Megan, whom he was obsessed; and having better theories about reanimation than himself. Using hypnotic powers
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
, Hill commands Chapham to force Dr. Graves to stitch bat wings onto his neck, giving him back his mobility. He also extends his mental control to all of the zombie survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre.
When one of Cain's patients, the beautiful Gloria (Kathleen Kinmont
Kathleen Kinmont
Kathleen Kinmont is an American actress who starred in film and on television. Kinmont is perhaps best known for starring in horror movies.-Career:...
), dies, West collects the last piece he needs for his creation: her head. With a complete body stitched and wired together, West and Cain inject the re-animation reagent into Meg's heart. While waiting for the reagent to take effect, a package is delivered to their house. West retrieves and opens it. From inside, Hill's winged head flies out. Simultaneously, all of the zombies he controls break into the house. West retreats back to the basement lab, where his creation, the Bride, has awoken.
A catfight
Catfight
Catfight is a term for an altercation between two women, typically involving scratching, slapping, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding as opposed to punching or wrestling . However, the term is not exclusively used to indicate a fight between women, and many formal definitions do not invoke gender...
breaks out between the Bride and Cain's current girlfriend, Italian journalist Francesca Danelli (Fabiana Udenio
Fabiana Udenio
Fabiana Udenio is an Argentine/Italian character actress and sex symbol who has appeared in film and on television. She is best known for her role as "Alotta Fagina", a Bond girl parody in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.Udenio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Italy ...
), whom he met in Peru. Cain rejects the Bride's love and sides with Francesca. Heart-broken, the Bride rips Megan's heart out of her own chest and then literally falls to pieces. West diagnoses this as tissue rejection
Transplant rejection
Transplant rejection occurs when transplanted tissue is rejected by the recipient's immune system, which destroys the transplanted tissue. Transplant rejection can be lessened by determining the molecular similitude between donor and recipient and by use of immunosuppressant drugs after...
.
Hill and his zombies force West, Cain and Francesca to retreat through the wall of the lab and into a crypt in the neighboring cemetery. Inside, all of West's prior test subjects arise and make their way towards him, stopping only when Herbert commands them to. The unstable crypt begins to collapse, trapping Hill, West and the zombies. Cain and Francesca manage to escape the debris and claw their way to the surface of the cemetery together. Hill, stuck in the debris, laughs manically, while Megan's heart, still in the hand of the bride, stops beating.
Cast
- Jeffrey CombsJeffrey CombsJeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
as Dr. Herbert West - Bruce AbbottBruce AbbottBruce Paul Abbott is an American actor. He has appeared in movies such as Re-Animator, Bad Dreams, The Prophecy II, Out of Time, and Bride of Re-Animator, and the TV series Dark Justice....
as Dr. Dan Cain - Claude Earl Jones as Lt. Leslie Chapham
- Fabiana UdenioFabiana UdenioFabiana Udenio is an Argentine/Italian character actress and sex symbol who has appeared in film and on television. She is best known for her role as "Alotta Fagina", a Bond girl parody in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.Udenio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Italy ...
as Francesca Danelli - David GaleDavid Gale (actor)David Quentin Gale was a British actor.He is primarily known for his role as the evil, autocratic Dr. Carl Hill in the 1985 cult classic film Re-Animator, and its 1990 sequel Bride of Re-Animator...
as Dr. Carl Hill - Kathleen KinmontKathleen KinmontKathleen Kinmont is an American actress who starred in film and on television. Kinmont is perhaps best known for starring in horror movies.-Career:...
as Gloria - Mel StewartMel StewartMilton "Mel" Stewart was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Henry Jefferson on the popular television series All in the Family...
as Dr. Graves - Irene Forrest as Nurse Shelley
- Michael Strasser as Ernest
- Mary Sheldon as Meg Halsey
The Re-Animated
- Marge Turner as Elizabeth Chapham
- Johnny LegendJohnny LegendJohnny Legend is an American Rockabilly musician, film producer, actor and wrestling manager.-Biography:Johnny Legend was born Martin Margulies on October 3, 1948, in San Fernando, CA.Inducted into the "Rockabilly Hall of Fame"...
as Skinny Corpse - David Bynum as Black Corpse
- Noble Craig as Crypt Creature
- Kim Parker as Crypt Creature
- Charles Schneider as Crypt Creature
- Rebeca Recio as Crypt Creature
- Jay Evans as Crypt Creature
Reception
Bride of Re-Animator was nominated for two awards by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films in 1991. It was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Horror FilmSaturn Award for Best Horror Film
The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:...
and Jeffrey Combs was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Sequels
The film was followed by a third movie in the series, Beyond Re-AnimatorBeyond Re-Animator
Beyond Re-Animator is a horror film, directed by Brian Yuzna. It is the second sequel to Re-Animator. The film premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel . This showing was cut to a TV-PG rating...
.
Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
has been quoted on several occasions as expressing a desire to make a fourth installment in the series, entitled House of Re-Animator; this film would, he claims, be a political satire wherein West moves into the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and re-animates the deceased Vice President. However, the project was supposedly cancelled. The idea may not be totally dead as is hinted at in the final issue of the Hack/Slash
HACK/slash
Hack/Slash is an ongoing comic books series, launched from several one shots of the same name, published by Image Comics ....
vs. Re-Animator crossover where government agents approach West claiming his country needs him because the president is dead.