Re-Animator is a 1985 film about a brilliant but obsessed medical student who stumbles upon the secret to bringing the dead back to life. Based on the H. P. Lovecraft story Herbert West--Reanimator, it is the first in a series of three horror films.
- Directed by Stuart Gordon. Screenplay written by Stuart Gordon, William Norris, Dennis Paoli.
Herbert West has a good head on his shoulders... and another one on his desk.
Herbert West
- We can achieve every doctor's dream! You'll be famous, and live lifetimes. [whilst trying to convince Dan to assist in his research]
- Do you agree he's dead now? [picks up the dead cat and drops it with a clunk] Do you agree that he's dead now?
- Don't expect it to tango; it has a broken back. [regarding the dead cat he is reanimating]
- Dan. [Dan turns to find West wielding a bone saw] Look out.
- [Dean Halsey] interrupted an important experiment in progress! Granted, it was an accident, but this is the freshest body that we could come up with save for killing one ourselves and every moment we spend talking about it costs us results! Now will you give me a hand??
- Yes... Parts. I've never done whole... parts. [whilst preparing to reanimate Hill's head and body]
- Dan... Dan... Dan! [pulls Dan up and discovers a nasty head wound] ...Oh. Well, you'll be all right.
- I must say, Dr. Hill, I'm very disappointed in you. You steal the secret of life and death and here you are, trysting with the bubble-headed co-ed. You're not even a second-rate scientist. [upon catching Hill's Head molesting Megan]
- You'll never get credit for my discovery. Who's going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow. [to Hill's Head]
- I am not through here! I told you I have a theory: overdose!! [wields two full reagent hypodermics]
Other
- Mace: [regarding the morgue] Don't know why they keep locked doors around here. Nobody wants in, and ain't nobody gettin' out.
- Dr. Hill: Mister West. I suggest you get yourself a pen. [regarding the two pencils West has just deliberately snapped]
- Dan: This is a dream. Fiction. [Dan, referring to the death & reanimation of Dean Halsey]
- Dan: He's not insane. He's dead. [regarding Dean Halsey]
- Dr. Hill: Hmm. Interesting little la-bor-ah-tory you have here. [regarding West's basement lab]
- Dan: I love you. [whispered to Megan, in the film's final line.]
Dialogue
- Swiss Woman Doctor: You killed him!
- Herbert West: No I did not. I gave him life.
- Cain: What were you researching?
- West: Death.
- Megan: You... didn't say why you left Switzerland.
- West: There was nothing more I could learn there.
- Dan: You couldn't call, or write a note. [regarding the death of Rufus, his cat]
- West: I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know. And what would a note say, Dan? 'Cat dead; details later'?
- Dan: You haven't done this on people!
- West: [telling silence]
- Dan: God, why does it make that sound? [as Rufus is being reanimated a second time]
- West: Birth is always painful.
- Dan: It was dead! [regarding the reanimated Rufus]
- West: Twice.
- Mace: You haven't got my lunch under there have ya? [reaching for the sheet covering the body Dan is moving]
- Dan: You got one meatball run over by a semi.
- Mace: Ewww, I lost my appetite.
- Dan: Oh, man, if we get caught--
- West: Well, what will they do, embalm us?
- West: [reading toe tags in the morgue] Burn victim... Here's your meatball... Shotgun wound to the head...
- Dan: ...Aw, God, he's ripe!
- West: [singsong] ...Malpractice...!
- Dan: We failed. C'mon, let's go; somebody'll be coming any minute!
- West: [striking the corpse angrily] He failed! Not I!
- Dan: Herbert, you're insane, now what happened here?
- West: I had to kill him!
- Dan: What?? He's dead?
- West: ...Not anymore.
- Hill's Head: Weeeeesssssssst...
- West: Yes, doctor, it's Herbert West! What are you thinking?
- Hill's Head: Yoooooooouuuuu...
- West: [taking notes] You...
- Hill's Head: Baaaaaastaaaaaaaaaaaard...!
Taglines
- H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of horror
- Death Is Just The Beginning...
- Herbert West has a good head on his shoulders... and another one on his desk.
- ...It will scare you to pieces.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
| Jeffrey Combs |
Dr. Herbert West |
| Bruce Abbott |
Dan Cain |
| Barbara Crampton |
Megan Halsey |
| David Gale |
Dr. Carl Hill |
| Robert Sampson |
Dean Alan Halsey |
| Carolyn Purdy-Gordon |
Dr. Harrod |
| Al Berry |
Dr. Hans Gruber |
| Gerry Black |
Mace (Miskatonic security guard) |
