Re-animator 4K (1985)

"Fantastic 4K Restoration of an All-Time Classic"

Second Sight have produced a gorgeous, extras-packed edition of Stuart Gordon's classic film of H P Lovecraft's story for RE-ANIMATOR's 40th anniversary, and are releasing a new 4K restoration of the film as both a limited edition UHD / Blu-ray combo and separate standard UHD and Blu-ray editions.

Medical student Herbert West, fresh from a gory fracas in Zurich, joins Miskatonic Medical School to continue his research into the reanimation of dead tissue on the sly with the assistance of his slightly unwilling colleague Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott). However his reagent doesn't work terribly well, except in the worst possible case, and soon he has to deal with his recently decapitated research rival and lecturer Dr Carl Hill (David Gale) who has designs on Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton) the Dean's daughter and Dan's girlfriend. 

A frenetic, frenzied approach to adapting Lovecraft that skilfully adds generous doses of humour and sex to produce a work of manic genius on a par with Herbert West himself, Stuart Gordon’s RE-ANIMATOR made deserved instant stars (at least in the exploitation world) of some of its cast. Along with George A Romero’s contemporaneous DAY OF THE DEAD it also elevated the reputation of both mad scientist and zombie movies to new levels. The nifty screenplay takes the essence of Lovecraft’s story (something Gordon and screenwriter Dennis Paoli would later do successfully with DAGON, their adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth) and deftly turns something pretty turgid (try reading it) into one of the classics of the genre. 

        Gordon works wonders with an obviously small budget (rehearsal time and Gordon’s theatre experience helped) and credit should be given to Richard Band’s score which, while derivative in places (especially that main title theme), hits just the right note of twinkle-in-the-eye ‘you won’t believe what’s coming next’ so many times that he can be forgiven the steals from Bernard Herrmann. But the film belongs to Jeffrey Combs, who in his performance as Herbert West created an icon of modern horror – one who refreshingly could talk, didn’t solve all his problems with a machete, and had actually been to university. Even if he had been thrown out for making his professor’s eyeballs explode.

REANIMATOR has always looked a little grainy (and a lot grainy on VHS transfers) but Second Sight's 4K restoration is a thing of beauty. Even if you have every other version of REANIMATOR on disc, in fact especially if you do, you're going to want this to marvel at what a terrific restoration job has been performed, with clearer image, more vivid colours and deeper blacks with no picture noise. Really excellent.

New extras kick off with a commentary track by Eddie Falvey who literally wrote a book on the film and knows his stuff, offering a fact-packed track that's well worth a listen. Mike Muncer provides a 10 minute 'primer' video essay on H P Lovecraft using THE THING, FROM BEYOND and others as illustration. Reanimator at 40 has Combs and Crampton in conversation with producer Brian Yuzna for 45 minutes, and there are new interview with editor Lee Percy (15 minutes) and actor Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (14 minutes). Legacy & Impact is 18 minutes in which film-makers Joe Lynch, Mike Mendez, Nicholas McCarthy and others talk about the impression the film made on them. 

Older extras include Barbara Crampton in Conversation - a record of her 2015 Frightfest interview with Alan Jones (37 minutes) and Nucleus Films' Guide to Lovecraftian Horror from 2016,  nearly hour long piece in which Chris Lackey guides you expertly through the sub-genre. Reanimator Resurretcus is an Anchor Bay piece with cast and crew from 2007 (69 minutes) and oldest of all are interviews from 2002 with Gordon and Yuzna (49 minutes), writer Dennis Paoli (11 minutes), composer Richard Band (15 minutes) and Fangoria editor Tony Timpone (5 minutes). Also included is the 'Integral Cut' which runs 104 minutes, 23 minutes of extended scenes, one deleted scene and the usual trailers, TV spots and still galleries. Second Sight's limited edition also comes with a 120 page book with new writing on the film, six art cards and a slipcase to keep it all in.

 

Stuart Gordon's REANIMATOR in 4K is being released in a limited edition UHD / Blu-ray combo as well as standard edition UHD and Blu-ray editions on Monday 15th September 2025

Dolls (1987)

Just released on DVD and Blu-ray by 101 Films is this Stuart Gordon-directed curio from 1987. 

      Little Judy Bower (Carrie Lorraine) and her awful parents (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon and Ian Patrick Williams) break down in the middle of nowhere, only to spot the kind of house you should never go near in these films through the trees. Pausing only to throw away Judy’s favourite teddy bear (which then comes back giant-sized to tear off Purdy-Gordon’s arm in a weird fantasy bit) the three of them break into the house, only to be confronted by its owners, Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason, effortlessly showing up all the other ‘actors’ in this film). 

      Gabriel is a toymaker whose dolls exhibit very special properties indeed, including giving Charles Band the idea for at least another twenty or so movies based on the concept. Before you can say ‘we need more Doll fodder’ traveling salesman Ralph Morris (Stephen Lee) has turned up with two of the absolute worst actresses in living memory, whose English accents have one yearning for the far more accurate tones of Dick van Dyke. Soon the dolls are chasing people around the house, popping out eyeballs and causing general mischief, before Stephen and Judy have a final confrontation with the dolls, and the more unpleasant members of the cast end up as part of the doll collection, possibly as a punishment for not being able to act terribly well.

Filmed before Stuart Gordon’s FROM BEYOND but released after because of the amount of post-production animation that was required, DOLLS was a curious follow-up to the director’s previous REANIMATOR. Produced by exploitation legend  (and tiny people movie enthusiast) Charles Band at a time when the long-running PUPPET MASTER series and its multitude of spin-offs were still a twinkle in his eye, DOLLS does at least have one thing in common with all the future Full Moon product that was to follow, in that it’s only 77 minutes long. Even at that length it still drags a bit, although once the animated dolls start doing their stuff it actually becomes quite disturbing for a couple of minutes. Sadly we get little explanation for why Rolfe and Mason would want to trap people and turn them into dolls, which is a shame as it’s not as if this film is overlong and some fleshing out of their characters (and some more screen time) would have been most welcome.

101 Films’ presentation of DOLLS on Blu-ray looks very nice. There are some scratches on the print at the start but other than that it’s nice and clean. The only extra is a director’s commentary.

101 Films released Stuart Gordon's DOLLS on Blu-ray and DVD on 17th February 2014