Re-Animator (1985) 4K UHD Review

4 stars, a fantastic restoration of a blood soaked classic.

Re-Animator was first released in 1985 and was one of the most outrageous gore fests to come out of the 80’s horror scene. This blood spattered masterpiece was loosely based on the novella by H.P. Lovecraft and brought to the big screen by director Stuart Gordon (Robot Jox, Space Truckers).

It is available in a brand-new Dual 4K UHD/Blu-ray Limited Edition alongside Standard Editions on 15 December 2025, courtesy of Second Sight Films.

” 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 a bubble-headed co-ed. You’re not even a second-rate scientist!”

Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott – Bride of Re-animator, Dark Justice) is a talented and enthusiastic medical student at the Miskatonic University Medical school. His life undergoes a rather sinister change when a new student arrives. The brilliant but unhinged Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs – The Penny Dreadful Picture Show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) has very little respect for his lecturer Dr Carl Hill (David Gale – The Big Fix) and believes his research and opinions about death to be extremely dated.

He soon moves in with Dan and reveals to him that he has developed a serum which can bring the dead back to life (by way of a hilarious sequence involving Rufus the cat) and the two of them embark upon shocking experiments with disastrous but very amusing consequences, both for them and for Dan’s girlfriend Megan (Barbara Crampton – You’re Next, We Are Still Here) and her father (Robert Sampson – Robot Jox).

“I was busy pushing bodies around, as you well know. And what would a note say, Dan? “Cat dead, details later”? I knew you were fond of it.”

Re-animator is the perfect film for horror fanatics, with its rivers of gore and happy go lucky approach to dismemberment. There is also a pleasing amount of naked shenanigans and enough breasts to satisfy the most hardened pervert.

This is an excellent release, the film looks glorious and gorier than ever in crispy 4K and with a ton of special features included in both editions, as well as a 120 page booklet and 6 art cards in the limited edition, this is well worth adding to your 4K horror collection.

“Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow.”

Re-animator is available in a brand-new Dual 4K UHD/Blu-ray Limited Edition alongside Standard Editions on 15 December 2025

Special Features

• UHD Presented in HDR with Dolby Vision approved by Producer Brian Yuzna
• Dual format 3 disc edition including 1 UHD and 2 Blu-rays with main feature and bonus features on both discs
• Includes ‘The Integral Version’ in HD
• New Audio Commentary by Eddie Falvey
• Audio Commentary with Director Stuart Gordon
• Audio Commentary with Producer Brian Yuzna and Actors Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton and Robert Sampson
• The Cosmic Horror of HP Lovecraft: a video essay by Mike Muncer
• Re-Animator at 40: conversation with Actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and Producer Brian Yuzna
• Piece By Piece: Cutting Re-Animator: an interview with Editor Lee Percy
• Suzie Sorority and The Good College Boy: an interview with Actor Carolyn Purdy-Gordon
• The Horror of it All: The Legacy and Impact of Re-Animator
• Barbara Crampton in Conversation
• A Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema
• Re-Animator Resurrectus
• Interview with Director Stuart Gordon and Producer Brian Yuzna
• Interview with Writer Dennis Paoli
• Interview with Composer Richard Band
• Interview with former Fangoria Editor Tony Timpone
• Extended Scenes
• Deleted Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots Still
• Gallery

Limited Edition Contents

• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi
• 120-page book with new essays by Sean Abley, Becky Darke, Lindsay Hallam, Josh Hurtado, Michelle Kisner, Justin LaLiberty, Phil Nobile Jr and Heather Wixson
• 6 collectors’ art cards