One of the many anticipated pleasures of this years Philly Film Fest was the North American theatrical premier of Beyond Re-Animator, the third in the series and a hot topic in horror geek forums across the web (except ours for some reason - hmph!) Also, an added bonus was the fact that Yuzna and Combs were both going to be in attendance of the screening - yowie! How excited can one horror nerd be? The answer to this question my friends, is very! (excited that is).

It's been 13 long (almost painful) years since Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) has graced horror fans with his presence. The character of Herbert which originated in 1985's Re- Animator, an ultra slick combination of laughs and gore has long been a fan favorite and the 1990 sequel to Re-Animator aptly titled Bride of Re-Animator served to give the fans a shot of what they needed most...some of that gooey day-glo re-agent. Unfortunately Bride wound up as not much more than a tired old retread and it barely filled the void for most of us. Sure it was great to see all of our old favorites back again, Combs as Dr. West, Bruce Abbot as Dan Cain and best of all David Gale (RIP) as that original talking head himself Carl Hill. However, the reunion alone just didn't seem to be enough. We'd seen it all before and unfortunately the direct to video sequel slipped far under the radar of geeky horror fans everywhere, hardly even being noticed. The time has come for a new breed of Re-Animator...Beyond Re-Animator.

In a brief prologue we learn that a young boy bears witness to the grizzly murder of his sexily dressed sister at the hands of a reanimated corpse, obviously the work of one Dr. West. West is thrown into a police car only to leave behind a single vile of his day-glo re-agent. We flash forward 13 years later to find that West has been incarcerated, but lucky for him, his work details are in the prison hospital. West tries to continue his experiments on whatever he can find...or trap for that matter and rats seem to fit the bill quite nicely. Things kick into high gear when Dr. Howard Phillips (Jason Barry) the new prison physician arrives. Conveniently enough, Dr. Phillips is the same young boy that witnessed his sisters' viscous murder years earlier. He's determined to work with West to bring his sister back from the dead...or at this rate, bring anyone back from the dead. Also on the scene is a nosy reporter/convenient love interest for Dr. Phillips named Laura (Elsa Pataky) and a pesky overbearing prison warden (played wonderfully by some guy who's name I can't seem to remember).

West and Phillips have their first opportunity to revive a fresh human corpse when a prisoner is conveniently killed in the yard. Of course as we all know that corpses don't usually take to kindly to West's re-agent, so let the carnage ensue! Hold on there a second cowboy! West has been working on a counter to the re-agent. He's devised a nano-plasm that will theoretically calm the re-animated corpse down and return them to a livable state, supposedly fit for society (yeah right!). This nano-plasm is extracted from a living being right before death through electrocution...easy enough, right? Wrong. Herbert decides to swap nano-plasms (once he's able to acquire them) injecting Laura with that of the Warden, and the Warden with that of a rat. Things only go from bad to worse, as nobody takes well to either the re-agent or the nano-plasm and before you know it there's a grisly full scale riot at the prison with escaping prisoners, re-agent being injected everywhere, and a rat that likes to nibble on penis! Outstanding!

When all is said and done, this print of Beyond Re Animator (possibly NOT the final cut of the film) certainly delivers the goods it promises on. It's light-years beyond Bride and serves up some delicious Screaming Mad George FX that are sure to please. There are plenty of splatter and bladder effects to keep the 80's crazed gore fan in check. It's been a long time since I've been subjected to so many old school gore effects, it certainly was a true pleasure. Yes, there are some computer effects to keep an eye out for as well, but it's worth noting that they are used quite effectively and aren't bothersome in the least (special note to the walking torso heap). Besides, a film that has BOTH a breast biting (THIS scene should have been more graphic, I'm a sicko!) and a severed penis are A OK in my book!

Performances are quite often uneven, except for the always right on target Jeffery Combs. Combs returns in style to the role of Dr. West with the manic intensity we've all come to expect (and love). His faith and determination as West drive the character through even the most bizarre of situations. This IS the Herbert West we all remember and he's back in top form.

The delicious mix of comedy and horror that drove the first Re-Animator also returns successfully as Beyond does possess a certain level of comedic wit and relative charm that Bride seemed to be missing. The jokes are fresh and pretty damn funny and while it never quite reaches the level of the original Re-Animator - Beyond stands as a worthy and wholly entertaining sequel. This isn't to say that the film isn't without its problems. Much of the dialogue is problematic and quite often cliché, especially in the opening act. Not to mention the nurse prancing around in the see through outfit (hardly appropriate for a hospital at a prison!). I knew that outfit was going to be torn the hell off eventually and sure enough 2/3 of the way through the flick dress gets torn off! Shocker! However, once we get into the third act when the shit literally does hit the fan...all is easily forgiven.

It was great to see all of the twists that were applied to the original themes of Re-Animator as well (exactly what Bride was missing). The injection of nano-plasms from rat to man and warden to woman were handled quite effectively. It was pretty cool to see Laura struggle with the essence of the Warden inside of her and likewise when the Warden took on the characteristics of a rat.

It's gory, funny and it successfully injects (don't pardon that pun!) new life into a fan favorite franchise. Beyond Re-Animator for lack of a better term is a freakin' cool flick. It's no Re-Animator that's for sure, but in today's world of PG-13 teen friendly horror it's a breath of fresh air. Beyond Re-Animator returns us to the roots of 80's horror and for that I am eternally thankful. As soon as the lights dimmed and I heard that familiar (yet reworked) Charles Band theme I felt at home. Who knows what the final cut will look like or if this flick will get chopped to pieces by the MPAA upon an impending US release (probably will), but so far it's looking pretty damn good from where I'm standing. Keep an eye out for an uncut version. Oh, and stick around for the end credits...if they remain the same, you'll thank me for it later.

On a comedic side note, it's worth mentioning that the supplied print from Spain had burned in Spanish subtitles. It was kind of charming actually and took me back to the days of my import laser disc buying binges and those darned Japanese subtitles.

Thumbs Up for cool gore, Combs and a rat nibbling on a penis.