Beyond Re-Animator (2003) Review

"She's not getting any fresher."
-Dr. Herbert West



For the past thirteen years, since the end of the previous film, Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) has been in prison.  When the new prison doctor, Dr. Howard Phillips (Jason Barry), who idolizes West, takes the mad scientist on as his assistant, West quickly convinces Phillips to help him start up his experiments again.


What Works:

I can't say enough good things about Jeffrey Combs.  He plays Dr. West so brilliantly, I sometimes forget he's just acting.  He's always been perfect in the role, even if other parts of the film aren't so perfect.

I also really like Elsa Pataky's performance as a reporter, Laura Oleny.  She's actually pretty similar to West in that she's willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, but doesn't necessarily consider the consequences.  Her character gets heavily traumatized over the course of the film and Pataky gets to show off a very wide range and it's impressive and effective.

While not as over-the-top as the previous movies, there is still plenty of gore to go around here.  We get a few gruesome kills and horrific experiments.  It's pretty standard stuff for this series, but it's still fun.

Finally, I like the evolution of the plot.  It makes a lot of sense for this movie to take place in a prison.  West definitely deserves to be in prison for what he did in the second film, so I liked the setting and it didn't feel forced.


What Sucks:

Not all of the acting is great.  In the opening sequence there are a couple of kids actors who are just atrociously bad.  Jason Barry and some of the supporting actors aren't great either, though Barry does have one really funny moment when he gets fed up with West.

Like I said, the gore isn't as over-the-top as the previous movies and neither are the experiments.  I loved how bats**t insane the previous films were and Beyond just never reaches those heights.

The relationship between West and Phillips isn't as well developed as West's relationship with Dan Cain in the first two movies.  I would have liked a couple more scenes developing their partnership and seeing how they work together.


Verdict:

I enjoyed Beyond Re-Animator, but it is easily the weakest of the three movies.  The setting is solid as are both Combs and Pataky, but some of the other actors aren't great and it never reaches the greatness of the earlier films.

 6/10: Okay 

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