RateItAll: The Opinion Network

If this is a B movie, it is the standard by which all other B movies should be judged. It has everything, the blood and gore, the sexy girl, and something offensive for everyone. Strong performances all the way around. HP Lovecraft would have been proud.

A great film! What negative sentiment could anyone possibly have about a movie wherein the villain removes his severed head that has been soaking in radiator fluid for the purpose of performing oral sex on a girl tethered to a gurney?

Definitely a demented classic, and easily one of the best horror films of the last 30 years. Lovecraft's written work generally doesn't translate well to film, but director Stuart Gordon succeeds brilliantly in this unique cinematic interpretation of the Frankenstein theme. He also manages the nearly impossible task of blending horror and black-comedy together in flawless fashion. You'll laugh even as you cringe or shake your head in astonished revulsion. "Herbert West, Re-Animator" is my favorite of the Lovecraft Depression-era "Penny Dreadfuls"...still potently disturbing and eerie all these decades later (even though Lovecraft himself took a dim view of it). Jeffrey Combs is perfect as the gifted but mad doctor, simultaneously earnest and terrifying, and he's ably supported by a cast that includes Bruce Abbott and the lovely Barbara Crampton. I guess I should warn the more timid that there are some pretty sick images in this film (some of which Lovecraft himself probably never imagined in the most feverish of his dark dreams), and more than enough blood and gore to completely satisfy today's jaded horror-movie audience. Still, if you want a rock-'em, sock-'em, no-hold-barred horror movie that's both chilling and good, irreverent fun, you should run, not walk, to your nearest video and/or DVD store and grab it. It's one of my favorites.