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RE-ANIMATOR Screens at The Hi-Pointe in 35mm Midnights this Weekend!
“Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow! “
Any film that features scream queen Barbara Crampton tied up and stripped down while a live, lascivious severed head drools all over her luscious bod has gotta be doin’ something right! The guys at Destroy The Brain.com have dusted off RE-ANIMATOR for their monthly Late Night Grindhouse midnight series this weekend (June 7th and 8th)
RE-ANIMATOR was the stylish and wonderfully wild 1985 feature film debut for Stuart Gordon, based on H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 story “Herbert West, Re-Animator”. West is an arrogant young medical student who believes he’s unlocked the secret to reanimating dead tissue, thanks to his glowing-green liquid known as “Re-Agent”. West, played by Jeffrey Combs, comes into the life of promising doctor-to-be Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) and thoroughly changes his life for the worst, as bodies and body parts start to come to demonic life.
Where RE-ANIMATOR succeeds is in its gleeful no-holds barred approach. The story is extremely preposterous and Gordon and his cast do not attempt to lend proceedings any gravity, opting instead for an over-the-top, anything-goes, tongue-in-cheek style. From the opening pre-credits scene, in which a characters eyes bulge and burst from his skull, viewers know that this is going to be all about the gore. And what a lot of gore we get!! Highlights include a brain removal, a juicy finger biting, a bone saw through the torso, a decapitation with a spade, a crushed head thrown at a wall, an exploding stomach with writhing intestines, and that infamous scene in which a stark naked Miss Crampton receives a bit of (severed) head!
I saw RE-ANIMATOR opening night at the old Creve Ceour cinema opening night back in ’85 and had no idea what to expect other than what I’d read in the newest Fangoria, which described the film as “moist”. I remember laughing so hard at the ‘head’ scene. I was literally rolling in the aisle, slapping the theater floor. RE-ANIMATOR just goes to show us how well horror and comedy can coexist in the same film. I saw it again a few days later and that scene was cut out! I’m sure the 35mm print showing at the Hi-Pointe this weekend will be uncut.
RE-ANIMATOR will be screened midnights in a 35mm print at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Avenue) this Friday and Saturday ((June 7th and 8th). The pre-show begins at 11:30.
The Friday night Facebook Invite can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/512263378836351/?fref=ts
The Saturday night Facebook Invite can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/440190522740524/?fref=ts
The Destroy The Brain.com site can be found HERE
http://www.destroythebrain.com/
The Hi-Pointe Theater’s site can be found HERE
and check out this vintage trailer for RE-ANIMATOR:
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