If you want schlock Re-Animator will give you all you want and more. There’s as much bad to say as good, but I still love every second. This is the 40th anniversary and if you're into physical media you can get this amazing anniversary edition. I hope you enjoy and we’ll see you next year! (9/9)

Most of the acting in Re-Animator ranges from bad to forgettable. David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill, West’s foil, is the only other stand out. As bad as the rest of the cast is, the scenes between Herbert West and Dr. Hill are tense, creepy, and superb. It almost feels like two different movies. (8/9)

The practical effects in Re-Animator manage to be both terrible and horrifying. The cat sequence is the perfect example of this. At no point during the entire struggle with West’s first failed resurrection does the cat look even remotely real, but it still manages to creep you the fuck out. (7/9)

Despite the humorous failures, Jeffrey Combs instills Herbert West with such an arrogance that the movie still nails the commentary on science. Combs is one of the best things to come from Gordon's Lovecraft era. Bonus rec: watch Combs play Lovecraft in the 1993 anthology film Necronomicon. (6/9)

“Herbert West–Reanimator” is set in Arkham, but it isn’t a mythos story. It is really just Lovecraft retelling Frankenstein. Lovecraft's horrifying monster gods out in space are swapped out for petty humans with no regard for others trying to play god. (5/9)

After Herbert rents a room in fellow student Dan Cain’s house, we find out he’s created a strange serum that can bring the dead back to life. It works terribly on animals, so why wouldn’t they see if it works on humans? From there chaos, horror, and hilarity ensues. (4/9)

So, Re-Animator is a big ol’ pile of schlock and I love it. Herbert West is a med student home from studying with the famous Dr. Gruber. From the jump we know he's got controversial thoughts on how long the brain lives after death and he’s gonna be a problem for the faculty at Miskatonic. (3/9)

We can’t really start until we get something out of the way: Lovecraft is awful. He was a terrible person and a mediocre writer, but the Mythos set a million minds to thinking about what terrifies them in their deep heart’s core. Those new voices are what I think is really beautiful. (2/9)

You can tell the script is by Tarantino, full of profanity, obscenity, and quick dialog. If Tarantino isn't your flavor it probably won't be even with vampires. But if Rodriguez, Tarantino, and Kurtzman teaming up to make a trashy Vampire western sounds fun then From Dusk till Dawn delivers. (10/10)

While not on the effects team, make-up legend Tom Savini shows up as Sex Machine, the crotch-gun toting biker. This is a good time to mention the 2014 TV series where Sex Machine is played by Jake Busey. The first season expands the movie out to 10 episodes and a lot better than I expected. (9/10)

Also of note is the set design. Really, the one set but it is a doozie. The Titty Twister is half Aztec ruin half strip club and it is gorgeous. As we get introduced to the cast of characters take a few moments to pause the movie and just take in the incredible work that went into this set. (8/10)

The story was written by FX legend Robert Kurtzman who paid Tarantino to finish the script so he could take over as makeup effects supervisor. The make-up and gore are what you’d expect from an expert hand. A personal favorite is the band’s switch to playing body parts for the vampire fight. (7/10)

If you’ve read my past reviews, you might be asking “what about the practical effects?” (You weren’t and that’s okay.) Let’s talk about them. The vampire make-up is incredible. It draws on Aztec myth and imagery to create unique snake-like vampires that look as amazing as they are horrifying. (6/10)

Then the vampires show up. There are few sequences that can stand up to the introduction of Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium. The acting, the music, the choreography, the costume design. Incredible. A sudden bar fight leads Santanico to transform into vampire and all hell breaks loose. (5/10)

He delivers the remote wide shots, shootouts, and law/lawlessness that westerns promise. The first half builds tension between the Geckos and both the law and the Fuller family. We are left wondering if Jacob will be pushed to fight for his family before the cops finally catch up. (4/10)

Rodriguez is a master of the neo-western. By 1996 he had already given us El Mariachi and Desperado, two of the best westerns of the 90’s. He’d go on to finish the trilogy with Once Upon a Time in Mexico and give us an amazing (to me at least) Star Wars western in The Book of Boba Fett. (3/10)

The Geckos leave a trail of bodies in their wake as we learn Seth got busted out of jail by his brother Richie. In a bid to get across the border they take a family hostage led by Jacob wearing a white dad hat. It all goes south when they end up at a strip club called the Titty Twister. (2/10)

The sequence where Desmond explains the interaction with Lil is such an "Answer a Question" move.