Jeffrey Combs is back as my personal favorite mad scientist
of all time, Dr. Herbert West! “Beyond Re-Animator” is the third movie
involving this arrogant but brilliant “Frankenstein” style scientist, this time
serving time in prison for his crimes against humanity, but dead and alive.
Directed by Brian Yuzna, it comes at no surprise that the movie was filmed and
produced in Spain, including a cast of supporting local actors. I was lucky
enough to first see this movie at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in 2003, and
I was one of many who loved how Dr. Herbert’s new assistant was lovingly named
Dr. Howard Phillips. Like “Dagon”, this was the perfect place to see this
movie, surrounded by fans who loved every Lovecraft reference and forgave every
cheesy moment.
Young Howie watches his sister get killed by a runaway
corpse that wandered away from a local cemetery after being reanimated by Dr.
Herbert West. Finding a single syringe of Dr. West’s reanimation solution,
Howie internally decides to dedicate his life into becoming Dr. Herbert’s
assistant. Thirteen years later Howie is now a young physician and is now
called Dr. Phillips. He becomes the resident physician at the prison that Dr.
West is serving time in. Howie meets Dr. West when one of the inmates has a
heart attack; Howie gives West his old syringe and they try the 13 year old
solution on the dead inmate. It works and he comes back but not before wounding
a guard and attracting the attention of the Warden. Howie also attracts the
attention of a visiting reporter, Laura Olney.
During his time in prison, Dr. West has continued his research
and has developed a way to extract “NPE” (Nano-Plasmic-Energy) from the living.
With this energy and the solution, the dead that are brought back appear normal
and retain their memories and regular motor functions. This of course only
causes more problems when chaos breaks out in the prison, including the death
of the Warden who has the “NPE” of a rat infused into him. The colorful cast of
inmates take full advantage of the chaos and reanimation solution, and the
ending is a fun chaotic mess. During the buildup to the big climax, Laura is
killed (for a second time), Howie goes insane, and Dr. West escapes into the
world to continue his research (aka cause trouble) once again.
Favorite moment – One of the inmates reminds me of Tom
Savini and after he dies and is brought back, he runs around the prison missing
his lower half. He hates Dr. West for killing his pet rat and tries to get his
revenge.
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