It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

That diabolical genius, Herbert West is back for the follow up to Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator. This unrelenting horror comedy is not only a blast from the past but an excellent action packed encore of blood and gore along with some new surprises. For anyone who doesn't know; The original Re-Animator (1985) was based on the classic twisted novella by the bizarre horror maestro, H.P. Lovecraft. It tells the story of Herbert West, A doctor who invents a serum that can revive the dead after subsequent brain death eventually resulting in a torrent of mindless zombies. However, director Brian Yuzna delivers a comic touch. Now fast forward to 2003, and we have a new twist on the story. West is in prison, and invents a way to contain a part of the soul called Nano-Plasmic Energy and injects it into his patients via electrocution! This flick has it all! Flesh ripping, eyeball popping, hungry rats, severed private parts, wicked wardens, corrupt guards, and the absolutely gorgeous Elsa Pataky in a role worthy of zombie scream queen status! All this happens during a full scale prison riot, and the mild-mannered, immoral doctor is behind it all. Its loaded with H.P Lovecraft homages and bare breasted action as well. I have to rate this as one of the most demented and amusing horror/comedy sequels of the new millennium! Even if your not a Re-Animator fan and you're in need of an evening's entertainment, THIS IS JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED!

Set in a prison, Herbert West has been incarcerated at last for his crimes in the Miskatonic Massacre and has been so for over a decade or more.Enter the young, enterprising Dr. Phillips, the new resident doctor for the penitentiary's. Years earlier he witnessed West's experiments and has sought him out to teach him about his work. Together, along with West's new discovery of NPE (Necro Plasmic Energy) they turn the prison upside down.Great performances which shows Combs can very much act, and is easily on par with Englund as Freddy Kreuger, this is truly the role for which he will always be remembered. Check out the sadistic warden who wants to make sure West never sees the light of day again, and also for all you girls out there offended by the original's "head scene," you get your vengeance in this one.I give it easily 8/10 stars, and for a straight-to-DVD-release, it was very well done. Positive: good pacing, good story, very good continuity. Negative: if you've not seen the previous installments, then you need to watch them prior to seeing this one, it will make more sense to you (or maybe not, considering the endings to the last two....) I recommend this title to any horror fan, and hope to see them make the next one soon.

Another sequel to "Re-Animator". Wasn't "Bride of..." bad enough? According to this Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is in prison after the massacre at Miskatronic (basically "Bride..." didn't happen). Dr. Howard Phillips (Jason Barry) is the new young doctor at the prison...and he wants to work WITH West. Soon they have their own secret lab and are experimenting. Howard's girlfriend Laura (Elsa Pataky) realizes something is going on and things quickly barrel out of control.OK--in terms of gore this matches the first one AND goes farther. However in story it falls apart. It's really stupid (even for a "Re-Animator" film) and full of unpleasant characters. There's also a VERY mean streak going through this. All the women are young, sexy and treated as sex objects (Pataky deserves credit for doing this) and there's a revolting scene where a man has his best parts bitten off! The dark humor which worked so well in the first comes across as sick and stupid here. Worst of all Combs just walks through his role. There are some good things about this--Barry is good in his role (and has a brief nude scene) and Pataky is excellent (especially at the end). I suppose some people will like the virtual non-stop gore too. Basically this lacks the speed and off the wall humor that worked so well in the first. So--if you're looking for gore this is your film. However it has stupid events and unpleasant characters. Use your own judgment.

Comedic Horror film in the HP Lovecraft vein-based on the classic Reanimator film. This is third or fourth in the series and has Herbert West in prison but still continuing his experiments to bring back the dead.Gory and silly, with some genuinely clever bits, this is mostly a splatter comedy of a low brow nature. How low brow? A rat has a kung fu fight with a severed part of the male anatomy. I caught this on Monster HD and for the most part it amused me but I like this sort of thing, especially if its done well, which it kind of is here. Those who dislike blood or truly sick jokes need not bother. I don't think you can really say much beyond that.6.5 out of 10