Last Updated on July 23, 2021
“STUART GORDON”
If I had to give credit to someone (aside from Arrow and this site) for making me the huge horror fan that I am today, I would give it to Stuart Gordon. Before I discovered his films I was a horror fan, but it did not reach the epic height’s that it is now until I saw Re-Animator and From Beyond. I pretty much owe Stuart Gordon for introducing me to gore, boobs and comedy in horror. He certainly is an interesting director, sticking mainly to horror and sci-fi, by making them different to everything else that’s out there. Whenever I see his name attached to something I get instantly excited, he’s a director that I wont hesitate to sit down and watch anything he’s worked on.
BEST WORK
This should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me; Stuart Gordon’s best film is Re-Animator. This also happens to be my all time favorite horror film, I adore this film so much I even still have it on VHS. Re-Animator is a perfect example of a film that manages to perfectly balance horror with comedy. The film is filled with some fantastic gore effects (most of them hold up), interesting and memorable characters, a sharp script and great actors. The film is based off of a story by H.P. Lovecraft (read it, good stuff), and Gordon adds his own spin to it. The story isn’t exactly gory and there certainly isn’t any nudity, but Gordon decided to add all of that in there and it works so damn well. The film has great visuals, if you’ve never seen a body walking around holding it’s own head, this film has that! It is a low budget film, but there are times during the film you can’t tell. The hospital location looks fantastic, somewhere you’d never want to go but fantastic all the same. The ending especially is well done, with over the top gore and craziness, it really is one heck of a ride.
What I love about this film is it adds something new and different to the already established zombie genre, and it doesn’t shy away from giving a credible explanation for re-animation of the dead. Add to that a completely insane scientist Herbert West (played to perfection by Jeffrey Combs), his unwilling assistant Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot) and the college Dean’s daughter Meg (Barbara Crampton) and you’ve got the perfect mix for a good time. Gordon knows exactly how to entertain with this film, the pacing is tight, never a dull moment, he makes sure there is always something to keep the audience interested and caring about what is happening. West is the perfect example of an anti-hero, he’s crazy and a character you shouldn’t be rooting for, yet throughout the entire film you are cheering him on and wanting him to progress with his research. It helps he has an awesome nemesis in David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill. Re-Animator is a film that can’t easily be forgotten, from the zombie’s to the characters to the quotable dialogue. If you love your horror gory, funny and the occasional female nudity, look no further than this.
WORST WORK
It is no easy task to determine which of Gordon’s film’s is his worst, Robot Jox for example which was a huge flop is not a good film by any means but it still remains fun, quite watchable and it feels like Gordon put in some effort. However Dolls does not feel that way, it is not a good film, it is hard to watch and it really isn’t all that much fun. This film probably feels the least like a Gordon film; we don’t get that injection of gore or the showing of some enjoyable bare skin. Dolls feels like it was aimed at a younger audience, I remember watching it was a kid and even then it wasn’t scary (despite the intention), however I used to think my dolls would come alive.
Gordon manages to get laughably bad performances from his cast; the only one who is somewhat enjoyable for all the wrong reasons is his wife Caroline Purdy-Gordon as Rosemary. She really chews the scenery and hams it up, it works because you aren’t meant to like her character, but it really feels like there was a huge mis-communication between actor and director. Now on to the worst thing about this film Carrie Lorraine as Judy. If you aren’t a fan of annoying kids in films steer well clear of this, because the character and performance will have you wanting to cut your own head off within the first 10 minutes. Perhaps if a better child actor were playing the role it might not have been such a painful experience, but as it now stands she really ruins the film big time. There really isn’t much to like here, it had the right ideas but the execution of it was really poor.
TRADEMARKS
Stuart Gordon is a man of many trademarks, he is well known for adapting works from H.P. Lovecraft (Re-Animator, The Beyond, Dagon) as well as Edgar Allan Poe (The Pit And The Pendulum). He also features his wife Caroline in just about every film he’s made, whether it be a main role (Dolls) or a smaller role (Space Truckers) you’ll be bound to find her. As I’ve mentioned Gordon loves putting gore in his films, but he also likes it to be over the top. Not satisfied with making it something simple, he really likes to take things to the extreme. Even if the film is one of his sci-fi efforts like Fortress, you’re bound to find something visually disgusting in there. Like some nudity in your horror? Well so does Gordon, he does not shy away from showing the female body (and male) in all of it’s glory. You will get boobs and you will get ass, he also doesn’t hesitate to show full frontal either! Gordon tends to work with Brian Yuzna who has produced some of his better-known films, and also with producer Charles Band. The music usually tends to come from Richard Band in his films, and most famous of those is the score to Re-Animator which sounds pretty similar to that of Psycho. My favorite of all of his trademarks is without a doubt Jeffrey Combs; he usually features in Gordon’s work both as a main character or a supporting one. No matter what the film is or what character he’s playing Combs makes every performance memorable. Gordon and Combs make for one hell of a team with everything they do, it just seems to work. Easily one of my favorite director/actor pair, they have yet to do something that has let me down.
HIDDEN GEM
One could argue that Gordon has many hidden gems, and he really does. However the standout for me is Stuck, a film so strange that you’d never believe it was based on an actual event. The film centers on a nurse, who runs over a homeless man late one night. He goes head first through her windshield; she drives home and leaves him there. Unable to come to terms with this, she tries to forget he is there, however the plot thickens, as he is still alive. This is definitely a unique film, the premise alone is horrifying and something I didn’t think would work as a film. Yet Gordon manages to pull it off quite well, he has two great leads with Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea who turn in top performances.
There is such a huge conflict at play as an audience member, knowing what Suvari’s character has done but also wondering how you would react in that situation. The sympathy though really lies with Rea, the man can’t catch a break and then BAM he’s hit with a car and left for dead. Gordon doesn’t hold anything back with this, the crash is done in such detail that you want to look away but just can’t. This was a brave move by Gordon, and I welcome the unusual and shocking into my regular film viewing rotation. This is a film I highly recommend for people to check out, one of Gordon’s best films to date and sorely under seen.
NEXT PROJECT
Currently it doesn’t appear that Gordon has any films in the works, however the man has been doing a stage show. Teaming with Jeffrey Combs, they put together the one-man show called Nevermore, where Combs portrays Edgar Allen Poe. The show was so successful that it has been touring North America, and it has gotten rave reviews. Gordon has stated he would love to turn Nevermore into a film version, but it would seem that both himself and Combs are enjoying the stage show. I really hope we won’t be waiting too long for another Stuart Gordon film.
OVERALL
Whenever I feel like forgetting my troubles and having a good time, I tend to watch a Stuart Gordon film. He’s certainly crafted some great films, and others that are great for being so bad they are good. To me he really feels like he’s the King of the B-Grade, both for horror and sci-fi. He doesn’t take things too seriously with his films, and when he does the results are also good (Edmund). He will forever hold a special place in my heart as the man who made me into the horror fiend you see today.
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