 Bride of Re-Animator, 1989The name Jeffrey Combs is synonymous with some great cult horror movies. From Beyond, Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator. From director Brian Yuzna, who is the king of the H.P. Lovecraft film adaptions (Re-Animator (producer), From Beyond (producer), Necronomicon (director)), comes a tongue in cheek film following Dr. West and his continued experiments.Yuzna has also done other great films, including his first movie which I saw for the first time over Halloween of 2000, Society (1989). If you've never seen this film, rent it. Hell, buy it. It's worth the money and the time watching it. You can't help but enjoy this movie. From the cheesy sets of the 'front lines' in the beginning, to the great special effects by Screaming Mad George and team. The DVD itself has some great extra features including both the R-rated and Unrated versions of the film, an audio commentary from Yuzna, Combs and the entire visual effects team! Also, deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage (rehersals, outtakes, bloopers, etc), coverage of the entire process of make-up effects and a whole bunch of just incredible stuff. I've been a huge fan of cult horror for as long as I can remember. But these guys pioneered the field. Yuzna, who has a great eye for horror, is in the process of wrapping up one of the most eagerly awaited films adapted from a comic book, Tim Vigil and David Quinn's Faust. If you haven't gotten acquainted with that comic book (the original series of 12 issues), you really should. The writing, the artwork... all of it is top notch, and should translate very well, with Yuzna's help, onto film. For more information about the film, visit Comics2Film.com. Bride of Re-Animator is one of those genre defining films that sticks with the fans. From Dr. Carl Hill's head trying to get revenge on Dr. West, to the five-fingered-eye thing. Whew, freaky. The acting goes from just ok to over the top funny. Jeffrey Combs has become a horror icon just as Bruce Campbell was. I say was because now he's doing TV to pay the bills and I'm just not a fan of Bruce Campbell any more. But Combs has been around a lot longer and, I think, has just as large a following. Combs' career looks like it was thrown into a blender and then pieced together, piece by piece. To the naked eye, that is. But if you look closely, his career takes giant steps. From cheese in the beginning, to the huge step in Re-Animator (1985) that made him a star. Then to From Beyond (1986), Bride of Re-Animator (1990), The Guyver (1991), Castle Freak (1995), and then in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners (1996), which he played just a great role as an FBI agent who's specialty is the super-natural. He's run the gambit and isn't about to stop, with Beyond Re-Animator coming out in 2003, directed by Brian Yuzna again. This should make a really interesting and, above all, fun movie. The two have worked closely together in the past, and the magic doesn't seem to be diminishing at all. I think that once you get a love of that kind of horror, it sticks with you, forever. Worth buying for the DVD extra's alone, Bride of Re-Animator is a great movie on par with the original, that is so much fun to watch, it's not even funny. J.P.
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