Sunday, August 10 screening: Re-Animator (1985) d. Stuart Gordon

Despite the popularity of both genres – and the involuntary reactions they both try to invoke – threading a needle tying together the comedy and horror genres might seem like a fool’s errand. Afterall, don’t jokes undercut the scares, and the dread outweigh the humor? A good horror comedy, however, doesn’t need to call attention to itself. It lets the ridiculousness of its premise do the heavy lifting, letting the viewer decide if they’re either along for the ride or not.

Few horror comedies have ever been as successful as Stuart Gordon’s debut film, Re-Animator, precisely because the material is plaid straight. Loosely based on one of H.P. Lovecraft’s least beloved works, Re-Animator follows medical student Herbert West who develops a serum that can reanimate dead tissue. As is often the case with bringing back the dead, complications arise. As West's experiments spiral out of control, he and his fellow classmate face undead horrors, ethical dilemmas, and a power-hungry rival seeking to upend West's discovery.

Re-Animator doesn’t include a lot of what most audiences might expect from a film checking the horror-comedy box. There are no corny one-liners, hammy acting, or fourth-wall breaking asides. You can watch Re-Animator as standard 80’s gorefest – and be warned, this film’s got a lot of blood! – and get the requisite kicks you would expect to find from the genre. In fact, part of the ridiculousness of Re-Animator, is how willing it is to push the boundaries of good taste until it makes your stomach weak from laughter or revulsion. Gordon leaves it up to the viewer to decide how they’ll react to the sight of an undead corpse holding its own severed head up to the crotch of a naked woman strapped to a lab table.

In other words, Re-Animator is decidedly not everyone. But for filmgoers who can appreciate sublime trash as much as good art, it can be a jolt of a good time.

If you like Re-Animator, check out…

Evil Dead (1981)

d. Sam Raimi

Like Re-Animator, it’s hard to know how seriously to take the debut film of Sam Raimi. Evil Dead, as opposed to its much campier sequels, plays its story of the re-awakened dead attacking a group of teenagers stranded in the woods relatively straight. But like Re-Animator, the story is secondary to what makes Evil Dead so much fun. Instead, it’s a serious of frantic set-pieces, quick editing and rapid camera movement – shot on a shoestring budget no less – that sometimes gives Evil Dead the feel of a Looney Tunes cartoon possessed by the devil. It’s another example of taking a simple premise and elevating it through clever, ingenious, and yes, over-the-top imagery.

Braindead (1992) d. Peter Jackson

For those who find Re-Animator’s gore quotient nauseating – be warned: stay far away from Braindead. This early film from Peter Jackson, who’d later achieve mainstream fame from directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, tells the story of one man’s struggles to keep his overprotective mother’s zombie infection a secret after she’s bitten by a monkey. Film critic Peter Rainer described Braindead as “the most hilariously disgusting movie ever made.” He added that it made “Re-Animator seem like a UNESCO documentary about Mother Teresa." You can decide for yourself it that’s high praise or not.

The Substance (2024)

d. Coralie Fargeat

One of the stranger “Best Picture” nominees in recent Oscar history, The Substance is Coralie Fargeat’s incredibly grotesque homage to American horror classics ranging from Brian De Palma’s Carrie, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, and yes, Re-Animator. The titular “substance,” a neon yellow goop delivered in clear plastic syringes, even bears a striking resemblance to Herbert West’s serum. Where The Substance’s originality shines, though, is the way it flips the standard horror trope of exploited women into something so barf-inducing, it practically dares you to find it titillating. The Substance’s climax involves a body-transformation so ludicrous, it has to be seen to be believed.