Yesterday, Stuart Gordon passed away at the age of 72. Best known for directing RE-ANIMATOR, Gordon was also the mad man behind classics such as FROM BEYOND, CASTLE FREAK, DAGON, DOLLS, ROBOT JOX, FORTRESS, SPACE TRUCKERS, KING OF THE ANTS, STUCK, and EDMOND. He was also an accomplished screenwriter with credits including HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS, BODY SNATCHERS, and THE DENTIST.
Like many of you out there, my favorite Stuart Gordon movie is RE-ANIMATOR, which centers on
Scientist Herbert West who has discovered a fluid which brings living tissue back to life. After the death of his professor, West moves to a new university to continue his research. He involves a fellow student and the student's fiancée in his research by experimenting on their dead cat. Dan, fascinated by West's research, agrees to smuggle him into the hospital morgue…
RE-ANIMATOR was directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzna from a screenplay by Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris, and Gordon based on "Herbert West–Reanimator" by H. P. Lovecraft. It stars Barbara Crampton as Megan Halsey with Bruce Abbott as Dan Cain, David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill, Robert Sampson as Dean Alan Halsey, and Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West. Empire International Pictures released it back on October 18, 1985.
The film sports a 93% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: "Perfectly mixing humor and horror, the only thing more effective than Re-Animator's gory scares are its dry, deadpan jokes." If you don't already own the classic on Blu-ray (yeah, right) you can go ahead and snag a copy over on Amazon RIGHT HERE. What's your favorite Stuart Gordon flick? Let us know. RIP Stuart Gordon!