Brian Yuzna follows up his clever,
cosmic-Grand Guignol debut SOCIETY with a sequel to a film, then directed by Stuart Gordon, he had produced five years prior. Of course the sequel in question is BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, which like its predecessor(s) has gone on to be regarded as a cult favorite – enough of one to warrant a recent release from Arrow Films, which is packed (and that’s putting it lightly). But does such a film deserve such a package, and vice versa? Let’s begin the autopsy and find out.
Picking up eight months after the
events of the first RE-ANIMATOR, BRIDE finds our beloved, unlikely
heroes Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot)
fleeing Peru amidst a chaotic civil war – a travesty which they (or
at least Mr. West) were quick to exploit in the interest of further
exploring their now-well-established method of reanimation. They
return from whence they came (that being Arkham, Massachusetts) and
take up their old jobs once again, but of course West isn’t one to
just settle down that easily.
West discovers that the reanimation
reagent works on single body parts – as exemplified in a wonderful
scene involving human fingers and an eyeball – and is determined to
create an entire human being comprised in this way. While both men
are hard at work trying to cover up their mischief, a persistent
police officer is hot on their tail and the diabolical Dr. Carl
Hill’s reanimated head seeks vengeance on the lot of them once
again.
What this all amounts to is a genuinely
exhilarating finale in which Yuzna’s go-to-effects guru Screaming
Mad George lets loose more of his grotesque creations – more than
we can handle, even! In fact, BRIDE OF REANIMATOR is arguably at its
best when Yuzna is content to revel in sheer FX spectacle.
Unfortunately, there’s not quite enough of this to compensate for
everything else.
I recall finding BRIDE to be a bit of a
slog from years ago when I first saw it, and as it turns out, little
has changed over time to change that. Yuzna ultimately can’t decide
on a tone, the pacing is botched by an accumulation of uninvolving
side-stories, and it doesn’t feel like he understands the
characters completely. West, or rather Combs, feels significantly
toned down from the first film as does Cain, whose grief following
that film’s events is left unexplored to service other, simpler
indulgences. Even in horror-comedy, however subtle, there must be
some emotional thread to cling to, and here there is none, which
leaves it bland and messy though not without its momentary pleasures.
Nevertheless, Arrow has lived up to the
deservingly high expectations and delivered a package that is sure to
please fans both new and old. The quality of the restoration is
solid, and very well might be the final word on this film as far as
that goes, and it sounds beautiful as well. But the meat of this
release is in the extras, of which there are more than enough to
satisfy BRIDE enthusiasts for a while. For starters, there’s a
reprint of a 1992 RE-ANIMATOR prequel comic that is sure to delight
the die-hards. Moving on to the first of three discs, we get the
expected cast/crew commentaries and walks down memory lane courtesy
of Yuzna and company. Then we move on to behind the scenes footage,
deleted scenes, and of course a theatrical trailer. These extras
provide valuable insights and are a lot of fun, though they don’t
quite compel me to reevaluate my stance on the film itself.
BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR is a very
watchable, though deeply flawed sequel to Stuart Gordon’s
legendary, very fun original. It’s not difficult to imagine many a
genre fanatic finding plenty to admire and even enjoy from this
offering, but those already critical of Yuzna will likely find that
we share several of the same issues. But I’ll give credit when and
where it’s due; Arrow has done a marvelous job with this release,
as per usual, giving the fans what they want out of a Special
Edition. If this is to be the final word on BRIDE, then I truly have
no complaints. Highly recommended for those already initiated, and
more of a “rental” recommendation for those who are not.
-Ryan Marshall
-Ryan Marshall