Tags:
Film: Bride of Re-Animator
Year: 1989
Director: Brian Yuzna
Writer: Rick Fry, Woody Keith and Brian Yuzna
Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott and Claude Earl Jones
Review:
This film begins about six months after the first one and we are in Peru. There is a civil war going on. Running a medical tent are Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott. Someone they are working on dies, so Combs uses his re-animating formula. He comes back to life just as Fabiana Udenio enters. She watches as Combs shoots him in the head. The enemies enter and shoot out occurs.
We then return back to the hospital that the original film takes place in. Combs and Abbott are back working at the hospital. We meet the new head of pathology, played by Mel Stewart. He is met by a police officer, played by Claude Earl Jones. He brings in the head of the doctor from the previous film, played by David Gale. It was supposedly in a carnival sideshow and he wanted to know how this happens. We then see bodies and parts from all of the zombies in the first film in a cooler. None of them are decomposing.
Combs then enters the morgue, he takes a heart that we see is labeled to belonging to Abbott’s girlfriend from the original film. Jones is taken to the crematorium where they find a dead ballerina dancer, but her feet are missing. We learn from Michael Strasser that a lot of parts have been coming up missing.
Combs and Abbott still live together, this time in a former mortuary. They go into the basement where Combs has set up a laboratory. Combs shows Abbott that he has perfected the re-animating serum by using an embryonic fluid from an iguana. He creates a tiny monster of fingers and an eyeball. He tries to convince Abbott that they should make a woman. Abbott is against it; until Combs shows him that he has the heart. He wants to use it as the beginning. This convinces Abbott. They are then visited by Jones, but they do not give him much. He does end up killing the creation without knowing it with a book.
Udenio then shows up looking for Abbott. They are going to have dinner that night and we see that Udenio does not trust Combs. Udenio runs into Jones who shows her what Combs and Abbott did. There are still living zombies from the massacre. One of them is Jones’ wife, played by Marge Turner. There are two others played by Johnny Legend and David Bynum. Turner attacks Udenio.
Combs and Abbott work together in piecing the body together. When Udenio shows up this bothers Combs. He creates another creation of a leg and an arm together. We also see that there is a hole into a crypt that Combs climbs into.
Udenio and Abbott end up making love. Jones comes in and forces Combs to take him to the basement. Jones sees the creation they are working on and he is killed. Combs brings him back to life, but he is uncontrollable. He kills Udenio’s dog before he goes and she passes out. She freaks out more when she finds that Combs brought it back to life and to replace its missing leg with the arm of Jones.
Abbott has a patient that he is fond of, played by Kathleen Kinmont. She dies while he is in the room with her and Combs uses her head to finish his creation. This at first upsets Abbott, but he realizes she is beautiful and will have the heart of his love.
It should be pointed out though that Stewart has used the formula to bring back Gale. He won’t do what Gale wants and Stewart is no longer needed when Jones comes to the hospital. The other zombies are released and some other creations are found in the cryptic.
Can these monsters be stopped? What will happen with Kinmont, the new creation?
I have to say that this film is not a bad continuation of the previous film. You have all of the principal characters back and played by the same actors, which I really like. This one is not as bloody as the previous one, but it definitely does not shy away from it. Something else I like about this one is that it is very similar to the second part of Frankenstein, where he is asked by the monster to create it a bride. Now in the book the doctor refuses to do it, but in this one instead of creating a male they make a female to start. Combs also has a God complex and feels like he is the creator and all powerful, which makes it quite interesting. I also think some of the monsters that Combs creates are creepy, but are kind of fun. I do also find Udenio to be gorgeous and very nice to look at.
I do have some issues. I think Combs character is a little odd that when he gets bored he makes a creation that has no reason to be made. I think it is a little bit out of character to make some of the ones he does, since knows it works. My other issue is that how does no one suspect that Combs and Abbott were not involved with the previous massacre? I think it odd that they have jobs at the hospital despite that. It also is odd to me that Combs knows that they cannot control what he brings back, yet he continues to try. I guess that is the scientist in him, but I don’t see how he doesn’t realize that this woman will be any different. The updated formula for Jones couldn’t control him.
With that said, I would recommend this film if you like the original. These are cult classics. This one is not as good as the previous one, but still not all that bad. The acting is decent, the story is similar to Frankenstein and I like the concept. There is some blood, some odd creations that are made and this helps build the horror. There is nudity, which can be plus. Not the best horror film out there, but this one can be watched as a sequel or a film on its own. There is continuation of some things, but nothing too important.
My Rating: 6 out of 10