Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageRe-Animator 2 (1989)
Director: Brian Yuzna
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Five years after the 'Miskatonic Massacre', mad scientist West (Combs) conducts Frankensteinian experiments in creating human life: mixing re-animating serum with an iguana's amniotic fluid, he bypasses the brain to inject new life into autonomous body parts. Sadly, the film has the same quality, its spastic, sloppily assembled plot jerking around with no hint of governing intelligence. After an hour, some semblance of direction is achieved as West and his partner Cain (Abbott) graduate from limb grafts to produce a splendidly ghoulish 'bride' (dead patient's head, metal-clasped torso, dancer's feet, hooker's legs, the heart of Cain's dead lover) as the object of Cain's perverse desire. Meanwhile a maniac cop, assorted loons and hordes of mausoleum mutants besiege the basement lab, and West's arch-rival Dr Hill (Gale) - undeterred by the loss of his body - plans a flying visit. The excessive blood-spurting gruesomeness and cartoonish stop-motion effects trivialise the horror and undercut the would-be black humour in this travestied sequel to Stuart Gordon's hugely enjoyable film.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Brian Yuzna
Producer: Brian Yuzna
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Claude Earl Jones, Fabiana Udenio, David Gale, Kathleen Kinmont, Mel Stewart full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 96 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now