Beyond Re-Animator: 20 Years Later

Since the 4th of April this year it has officially been 20 years since the release of Beyond Re-Animator, a film and a sequel many are unaware exists. All breeds of horror fan know of the original Re-Animator from 1985, some Bride Of Re-Animator its 1990 sequel, even fewer its 2003 follow-up.

Despite the continuous whispers of a fourth film, Beyond Re-Animator is the closest we have to a conclusion to Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon’s rendition of H.P. Lovecraft’s story. For all we know this is the last we’ll see of Jeffrey Combs’ Herbert West.

So, as a Re-Animator sequel and potentially a Re-Animator finale, how does Beyond perform 20 years later?

How Has It Aged?

Being the most recent of the Re-Animator films it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Beyond is the best looking of the three. What is a surprise is how bigger in scale it is compared to the first two. You’d think the budget would be tight, not only for a film in a series as niche as Re-Animator but for a sequel released 13 years after its predecessor. It shouldn’t have been made at all let alone look so good.

Beyond Re-Animator boasts an orchestral score, hundreds of extras and dozens of makeup effects and animatronics, all under the roof of a massive prison.

Does it look as good as any mainstream blockbuster from the period? I wouldn’t go that far, there are some visible goofs in the film. Camera operators are reflected in windows, boom mics dip into the frame on a few occasions and the makeup effects vary in quality.

However, was the original Re-Animator devoid of goofs? Absolutely not. In fact, did those goofs not add to the film’s tongue-in-cheek charm? In this respect, despite its larger budget and setting, Beyond’s goofs only solidify its place in the Re-Animator canon.

The biggest distinction between Beyond and its two predecessors is its setting and supporting cast. The story still takes place in Lovecraft’s fictitious town of Arkham but with the film being a mostly Spanish production, Beyond's look and feel is very conflicting when compared to Bride and the original.

With the exceptions of Combs as West and Jason Barry as his protégé Howard, all the cast are Spanish. While they do speak English, their lines appear to be dubbed. The little we see of the outside world looks a lot warmer and Iberian than the New England city we’re used to.

This does hinder Beyond as a sequel to the first two but fortunately, with the bulk of the film taking place inside the prison, it's not too alienating as a follow up.

Sequel Or Reboot?

It’s interesting to look back at Beyond in the current era of reboots. Beyond could be considered the first ‘soft reboot’ using RedLetterMedia terminology. Like The Force Awakens and the recent Halloween, Beyond takes the canon of its predecessors and presents it in a story that anyone can follow. Easter Eggs will go unrecognised but it is possible to watch Beyond having not seen the previous films and still follow the story.

Howard Phillips works as a protagonist for both fans and non-fans of the series. He’s a great avatar for non-fans as through him they learn of the lore of Herbert West and his reagent. At the same time, he stands in for the fans as his backstory and reasons for being at the prison indicate what happened after Bride and the 13 years that followed.

Another reboot tactic Beyond utilises is the ‘grass roots’ approach i.e., telling a story that is similar to the original.

Howard’s dilemma is very reminiscent of the one Dan experiences in the first Re-Animator. Like Dan he has a girlfriend, Laura (Elsa Pataky), who he’s very protective of. The last thing he wants is Laura to involve herself in his and West’s dangerous research. Like Dan, Howard is torn between the joys of a normal life and the jewels of scientific achievement.

Warden Brando (Simón Andreu) is our Carl Hill. He, like Hill, is suspicious of Phillips and West’s activities and has a deep, perverted desire for a woman (for Carl it was Meg, for Brando it’s Laura).

Unlike some reboots that use this approach, Beyond isn’t so much like the original that it borders on being a remake. The characters are distinct enough on their own to make Beyond believable as a continuation of the original. Unlike Dan, Howard has former knowledge of West and his experiments. Unlike Meg, Laura is a journalist who chooses to delve into her boyfriend’s research. Unlike Hill, Brando is more violent in the pursuit of his goals and desires.

Is This The End Of Re-Animator?!

Like Bride did following on from the first one, Beyond shows that West’s work has progressed since we last saw it. In fact, here we see an attempt to remedy the core problem of West’s reagent. When West and Phillips begin their partnership, their primary goal is to establish “rational behaviour” in their reanimated subjects.

By the end of Beyond it seems the two have achieved a solution somewhat in the form of an electric energy that can be extracted from a living organism, inserted in a corpse and, with the help of the reagent, restore its living demeanor. Complications occur of course but, perhaps with some more experimentation, a refined version of this approach could work.

Beyond’s final shot sees Herbert West, alive and free, stroll into a foggy night.

Like the endings of The Last Crusade and Star Trek VI, this shot could be the intended conclusion to the series. Like those endings however, that intention can easily be dismissed by another film.

Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon have spoken at length about their unrealised ideas for a fourth film, House Of Re-Animator being the most well-known. The chances of another entry or a trilogy (as Yuzna originally planned) getting produced seem very unlikely today. With the advent of social media and streaming services, the Re-Animator brand may've become a tad less niche than it was in 2003. Less enough for a studio to invest? Hard to tell.

If another film were to be produced, it would be a wise decision to make the fourth entry the last. The absolute conclusion to the series. Making it with the pretext of producing more sequels would be too risky.

But what would it be about? The horror and comedy of the films arise from West's failures in his experiments. A logical step after Beyond could be for West to finally perfect his reagent and have it distributed. An interesting idea but delivering the deadpan humour and over-the-top gore that fans expect with that premise could be difficult.

However, if audiences have to make-do with Beyond Re-Animator as the only conclusion to the series, and that does seem likely, is that a bad thing?