Re-Animator

This raw, bloody, low-budget horror-comedy was loosely based on stories by H.P. Lovecraft. The story deals with college med students reviving dead bodies with a serum which accidentally turns them into violent, bloodthirsty zombies. Jeffrey Combs is perfect as the obsessed Dr. West, and Bruce Abbott makes a good naive straight-man for Combs' nerdy lunatic. The late David Gale stands out as the jealous Dr. Hill, who ends up decapitated, then re-animated and wandering around with his head in his hands, only to perform a particularly foul act upon nude scream-queen Barbara Crampton. Director Stuart Gordon stages some impressive gore scenes and some very funny gallows humor; many consider Re-Animator as the best American splatter comedy of the '80s. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide