Last Updated on July 18, 2024

Way back in the 80s and 90s, there was one spin-off horror genre that consistently produced some highly memorable movies, often for better… Or worse; Comedy Horror. The genre has been hugely popular ever since it introduced audiences to films such as Dr. Pickle and Mr. Pryde and The Monster from the mid 20s, all the way to classic titles such as Young Frankenstein and The Rocky Horror Picture Show from the 70s. In the early 2000s the genre started poking fun at horror movies in general, plus specifically the Scream series, with the popular but ridiculous Scary Movie franchise. While those movies were fun, they were basically a polished piss-take of better movies and lacked the kitsch and schlocky fun of earlier, more inventive entries. Which brings us nicely to the Re-Animator series, which has its roots firmly set in those 20s and 30s flicks, with a sprinkle of influence from the likes of Evil Dead, The Howling and The Revenge of Frankenstein thrown in for good measure. The first movie was released to much praise from both critics and horror fans alike. Reviewers lauded the movies’ “indigenous American Junkiness” and picked out Jeffrey Combs’ performance in particular, with The New York Times saying, “The big noise is Combs, a small, compact man of terrific intensity and concentration.” Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator is rightly considered to be one of the greatest ‘80s horror movies. Not many other horror movies up until that point had successfully combined gore, humor, and horror quite like the first movie did. What made Re-Animator original is that it took the fear of death and poked fun at it, so with the success of the first movie, a sequel was inevitable. However, did part two manage to breathe new life into the series, or was re-animating it for a sequel a bad idea? Stick around, you wonderful gore-hounds, as we find out here on WTF Happened to Bride of Re-Animator.

In an interview from August 1986, Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon said that, “If we do a sequel to Re-Animator, we’ll call it Bride of Re-Animator.” He already had several ideas for the sequel and had indicated that it would be a homage to Bride of Frankenstein and because of the chosen title, Megan Halsey from the first movie would have to play a prominent role in the follow-up. One unused idea for the sequel would see Bruce Abbot’s Dan Cain taking the job of a buildings supervisor to continue secretly working on the body of Meg Halsey at night. When government agents discover his whereabouts, they whisk him off to the White House where he’s reunited with Herbert West, and instructed to reanimate the President of the United States. While this idea was also considered for the unmade sequel, House of Re-Animator, but ultimately not used, it would have been a fun premise for the series nonetheless.

Ultimately, Stuart Gordon didn’t return to the director’s chair for Bride of Re-Animator (get it HERE), with the task of continuing the series going to the first movie’s producer, Brian Yuzna, who’s most prominent movie as director was the fun, gruesome orgy cult movie Society from 1989. The film was officially slated to begin in June 1989, and because pre-production had only begun a few months earlier, the filmmakers had a small window of time to finish the script, hire cast and crew, and begin prepping the visual effects.

In terms of the cast, it wasn’t just a tight turnaround to prep the VFX and get everything else in place; the movie was also in danger of losing its leading man before the cameras had even started rolling. Jeffrey Combs was already attached to star in The Pit and the Pendulum, so it was looking unlikely that he would be able to reprise his role as Dr. Herbert West. However, fate soon played its part and due to the production being pushed back on Pendulum, Combs was swiftly hired to play the mad scientist again. Director Yuzna originally considered Night of the Living Dead 1990 legend Patricia Tallman for the role of the bride, but ultimately went with Halloween 4 star Kathleen Kinmont instead. Rounding out the cast are Bruce Abbott as Dr. Dan Cain, Claude Earl Jones as Lt. Leslie Chapman, Fabiana Udenio as Francesca Danelli, David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill and Mary Sheldon as Meg Halsey. Production on the movie was relatively short, with principal photography beginning in June 1989 and finishing by the following month, on July 18th.

So with the first movie being such a well received cult classic, could Yuzna’s follow up continue the macabre mayhem and bring some of its own charm and depraved goodness to the series? Well, after having revisited the sequel for this video, it’s safe to say that while there is some gory goodness to behold, there’s so many plot holes that it soon becomes apparent that some movies don’t necessarily need a sequel. The movie’s plot shifts forwards eight months from the events of the Miskatonic Massacre, in the first movie. Herbert West and Dan Cain are the only two survivors of the first movie and have somehow managed to escape the situation without any legal ramifications or at least being arrested. After working during the Internal conflict in Peru, where the two men have multiple bodies to experiment on, they find themselves back in Massachusetts, working in the Miskatonic University again, as if nothing ever happened just eight months prior.

West discovers that not only can he re-animate the dead, but he can also re-animate individual body parts; meaning he can therefore create the perfect woman! Of course, such a potentially risky venture would be nigh on impossible to take on alone so he enlists an initially reluctant Cain to help out. West eventually wins Cain over as he has the heart of his fiancee, and plans to use this as the heart for his perfect lady; plus it also means Cain gets his fiancee back. The plot complications don’t end there though. No siree. A journalist that Cain met in Peru, Fabiana Udenio’s Francesca, rocks up in Massachusetts, and her and Cain begin to get it on. However, once the Bride is re-animated and given life, she doesn’t take too kindly to her fella having a new lady in his life. Cain is subsequently torn between the undead monster with the heart of his former beau, and the real life, living human he’s just started dating. Tricky…

If the plot of the movie stopped there we’d be onto a bizarre, love-triangle centered winner, but unfortunately the narrative is muddled with further contrivances thrown in. We also get the somewhat unlikely return of Dr. Carl Hill, despite him being just a head, plus a vengeful police officer whose wife was animated during the Miskatonic Massacre. The movie gets lost within these various plot threads and although there’s some fun to be had in Dr Hill’s revenge on West, plus the cop ultimately becoming zombified, it’s just too much for the writers to successfully shoe-horn in. Luckily, what we do get are some great VFX that save the movie from being a mess, and at least elevate it to becoming a load of fun, if nothing more. The practical effects look great and fit within the messed up action perfectly. With the likes of Robert Kurtzman, Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero involved, you know you’re in for a treat, and the bride, in the way she moves and is stitched together, looks great. We also get a wonderful mix of weird creatures and monsters which all lead to a pretty chaotic finale. It doesn’t match the Miskatonic Massacre of the first movie, and despite some great visuals, the movie leaves you wondering what could have been had it featured some tighter writing.

Unlike its predecessor, Bride of Re-Animator had a very limited theatrical run, only playing in select cinemas and film festivals, so there’s no box office data to analyze for this one, sadly. However, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on twenty critics, with an average rating of 5.17/10. Critically, the film was met with a typically mixed reception with some lamenting it for being too gory, which let’s face it fellow gore-hounds, must be a piss-take, while others praised it for its bizarre zombie creations, and also Jeffrey Combs performance. Variety recommended it to fans of the first film, but noted that the abundance of gore “will turn off” mainstream audiences while The New York Times wrote that, “Bride of Re-Animator is less a sequel to the critically praised 1985 horror film Re-Animator than a rehash based on the same H. P. Lovecraft stories.”. In their book Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H. P. Lovecraft, Andrew Migliore and John Strysik write: “Bride of Re-Animator is a silly film that is fun solely for the fevered performance of Jeffrey Combs. Unlike the original Re-Animator, Bride’s script really suffers from a lack of cohesiveness and undeterminable character motivation.”

For this lover of all things macabre however, The Bride of Re-Animator is a largely disappointing sequel to the classic original. While I had fun with the visual effects and especially the bride, when she’s re-animated and causing all kinds of love-triangle mischief. But, the writing is poor and despite the best efforts of the cast and crew, the movie would have been a far worthier sequel with some ruthless excisions from the script, plus a greater sense of purpose for the characters. Still, it’s amusing watching the grotesque finger creature being crushed by a book on human anatomy! However, as usual, I’d love to know what YOUR opinion is of the movie. Am I being too harsh on the film, or does it indeed waste the talent at its disposal? Let us know in the comments and I’ll see you wonderful gore-hounds next time. Perhaps for Beyond Re-Animator. Thanks for watching!

A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!