(In memory of David Gale [Dr. Carl Hill] 1936-1991)
So the sequel to Reanimator is of course Bride of Reanimator. Bride is just like another film with the same title: Bride of Frankenstein. Same premise except the female body it created by the Reanimator, Herbert West but is actually meant to be the “bride” of Dan Cain. It also could be said to have taken some elements from the movie Pieces (http://thecinemasnob.com/2011/05/25/pieces.aspx), of course, you could say the Frankenstein theme also inspired Pieces.
This film starts out with West and Cain fighting in the Peruvian Civil War. The original story is talking about a war in Africa. The point is though; the second movie brings in more elements from the short story. This is where West, working with the biology of certain reptiles, begins to perfect his Re-agent. Cain is still depressed about the death of his girlfriend (this is not a spoiler because I always assume you read the review about the first movie and see that movie before reading the sequel review, if you do not it is not my problem). Herbert finds her heart in the storage in the mortuary at the hospital from the last film where they are both now employed, going off to be doctors in the war after they graduated. West is on to new experiments and seems more science for sciences sake driven than in the last film where it was all for the greater good. In a way, he seems like Albert Wesker from the Resident Evil games—not movies, which is obsessed with science, and has no morals. Wait a moment…could it be that Albert Wesker is loosely based on Herbert West? Think about their names. Both their first names end in Bert and their last names both start with Wes. Hmm…I wonder.
As you can probably guess, West is making a woman out of various parts from female bodies taken from the morgue. He seems to be manipulating Cain a bit more than usually to get him to help. I do believe he genuinely cares about Cain as a friend and that is why he pushes him—without Cain, West has no friends or family and even worse (in his mind) no one on his side, no one that understands his work and his good intentioned goal.
This movie also gives us some fun stop-and-go claymation effects with West’s little morbid experiments. Things get heated when a detective shows up (who is also in the short-story) and starts snooping around the old funeral home West and Cain now live in adjacent to a cemetery (also in the short-story). Things get even worse when one of the most obvious continuity errors attacks: Dr. Hill is still alive. In the previous movie, he was decapitated, his head and body reanimated, his body destroyed, and then his head crushed. The part where his head is crushed was retcond and now he only is a head seeking revenge.
Cain also gets a new love interest and once again, West sees it only as a distraction.
There is a reference in the movie to another Lovecraft story when West suggests the sounds they are hearing are probably just rats in the wall, which is the title of Lovecraft’s story Rats in the Walls.
The end of the movie is great. The ending (as well as the whole film, but especially the ending) has that old 50’s sci-fi B-movie feel to it as well as early 80’s camp and gore. It is a decent film, nowhere near as great as the first but still fun. In addition, I really do love this ending. It is full of deep emotions and it has elements from the short story.
I give Bride of Reanimator 2.75 out of 5 stars.
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