Tags
Barbara Crampton, Brian Yuzna, Bruce Abbott, David Gale, H.P. Lovecraft, Jeffrey Combs, Re-Animator, Robert Sampson, Stuart Gordon
Why does Stuart Gordon, director of Re-Animator, bombard us with eye symbolism in the 1985 cult favorite? We see Dr. Gruber (Al Berry) die with his eyes bursting out of his head, then the credits sequence features not only an anatomical drawing of the eye but also a camera shot that takes us at the end of the sequence through the eye socket of one of the drawings directly into a live action shot of Miskatonic U. At the end of the movie, Dean Halsey (Robert Sampson) gouges out Dr. Hill’s (David Gale) eyes; also, Dan (Bruce Abbott) plucks out the eye of a reanimated corpse that is on top of him in the hall by the elevators.
It’s not the usual use of the eye as a “window to the soul,” because that would mean that the soul, or the will, is in the brain, as Dr. Hill believes. Dr. Hill is the villain of this film, so he must be wrong. No, the fixation on the eye, or rather eye trauma in this case, represents a disconnect between the eye and the brain, or the divide between knowledge and insight. Also, the three major characters are figuratively blind. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), Dan, and Dr. Hill all are highly intelligent people who have incredible knowledge about the nature of life and death, and they all make the poor choice to abuse it terribly: West because he is insane, Dan to cover his ass and then for love, and Hill merely to try and rape Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton). Besides, as Hill demonstrates when we last leave him and West in the morgue, the will of a human is in the intestines. You can’t triumph in this world with brains alone; you’ve also got to have guts.
Parlor of Horror said:
Great thoughts! ‘Eye’ don’t have a clue why Gordon focused so much on the eye. This is a fun classic with Jeffery Combs. It was over-the-top when it came out.
Wednesday's Child said:
I sure thought it was over-the-top when I saw it in the 80s as a kid. I thought the last 20 minutes or so were about too damn much! Now it’s still a grody good time, but I can see the humor and the cool homages to other horror movies. Plus, great characters really make a horror film a classic, and I’m amazed by what they did with a relatively small budget in terms of effects.
E.F. Contentment (@EFContentment) said:
As a kid I was too focused on the effects, but over the years, the humor really stands out above all else. It’s just a good time, probably closer to one of Peter Jackson’s earlier works in tone. This reminds me that I should finally bust out my VHS of the sequel and face the potential disappointment.
Great interpretation of Dr. Hill’s, uh, intestinal fortitude, by the way. His hairpiece is still the scariest effect in the entire picture, though.
Wednesday's Child said:
I used to wonder why people thought this was a comedy, but I get it now. I think Peter Jackson may have seen this movie a couple of times. Just a guess. And speaking of Dr. Hill, why does he, a college professor, have a padded room in his office?
TheBruce said:
Dennis Paoli, one of the screenwriters, said once (I forget where or when) that the line between humor and horror is very blurred (paraphrasing here). Often if we feel very uncomfortable witnessing something on screen, we will mask that uncomfortable nature with laughter. Or sometimes the “horror” we witness on screen is just so ridiculous as to be hilarious. Maybe when something becomes to ridiculous, it ceases to be scary.
I think RE-ANIMATOR is one of the best representations of a film that perfectly mixes both horror and humor. There’s something really fucked up but hilarious watching a headless body carry its head around and try to rape Barbara Crampton. Or Jeffrey Combs (as West) putting Hill’s head upright and talking to it.
Also… the doctor’s name is Hans Gruber… I guess after he died and was re-animated, he then decided to carry out a heist at Nakatomi Plaza, where he finally fell to his death in a climactic duel with John McClane. Or did he…? Maybe he’s still alive out there…
Wednesday's Child said:
I love the fact that the guy’s name is Hans Gruber. And I agree with you about the laughter. I laughed a lot more at uncomfortable situations in film when I was younger. There were parts of both Blue Velvet and Pulp Fiction that were HI-larious to me as a teenager that I feel weird about having laughed at when I see them now.
James said:
I really admire your ability to read into things like that. I would’ve said the director had a weird eye fetish and moved on.
I’m a really bad horror fan: I haven’t seen this. Only seen the most recent one. Guess it’s time to go digging around at the local video store…
Awesome write up
Wednesday's Child said:
Thanks. I have fun with metaphors and stuff like that. I just know you will not be sorry about getting Re-Animator. It’s a B gorefest that’s actually well made.