As we all try to come up with last minute Halloween plans, it’s easy to recall some of the most memorable homemade costumes we’ve seen. For me, it happens to be that of a reanimated corpse carrying their own head. How did that person rig that costume? And how can that person top this gem next Halloween? Also, who is this person? I can’t see their real face.
Clearly the costume makes any cult film fan think of Dr. Carl Hill carrying his own head in the 1985 movie ‘Re-Animator’, which is today’s Throwback Thursday, a look at sci-fi of the past.
Based on the H.P. Lovecraft novella ‘Herbert West—Reanimator’, fan favorite Jeffrey Combs stars as West, a medical genius who creates a reagent that can bring the dead back to life. After one “minor hiccup” in Switzerland, West makes his way to Miskatonic University where he shows his roommate Dan Cain how the reagent works on a dead cat. (Take note, screenwriters. This is a real ‘Save the Cat’ moment.)
After creeping out the dean (and the father of Dan’s fiancé), West and Dan sneak into the medical lab to prove the reagent works. They test it out on a corpse, only to have the corpse come alive in the form of a zombie that kills the dean. After that, things only get more complicated. There’s more gore, humor and iconic screenshots that make for the most entertaining nightmares.
‘Re-Animator’ spawned two sequels, a few comic book adaptations and crossovers, and a Broadway musical. If you haven’t seen it and plan on staying in this Halloween, ‘Re-Animator’ is highly recommended.
