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After the Evil Dead series, the Re-Animator trilogy is probably my favorite horror-comedy franchise. Stuart Gordon's original film stands as the best blend of horror and comedy, perfectly mixing sex and gore into one hilarious adventure. I daresay it's better than any of the three Evil Dead movies. The only reason the Herbert West trilogy isn't as good as Ash's is the weak sequel Bride of the Re-Animator, a misstep between the brilliant original and the madcap nuttiness of Beyond Re-Animator.

So the news that there might be a new TV show with Herbert West brings me mixed feelings. It sounds like this new show would have nothing to do with the movies, though—loosely basing itself on H.P. Lovecraft's original story instead.

Bloody-Disgusting received a casting breakdown for a pilot shooting next April called Herbert West: Re-Animator the Series, describing the title character (and, in essence, the show) as "Frankenstein for the new millenium." A rather ironic description, seeing how Lovecraft hated writing Re-Animator, only doing it for the money and deliberately making it an ultra-violent parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Read the character descriptions over at B-D.

They're looking mostly for attractive youngsters to play undergrad teens, which makes it sound like they're hoping to sell this to The CW. Makes sense, I guess, to have it be something like the Smallville of Re-Animator. It could be the teenage competition for Fringe.

Whoever's the young stud they get to play Herbert West, he wouldn't be as good as Jeffrey Combs, obviously. It's really too bad that the planned fourth film, House of Re-Animator, fell apart like it did. They had a kooky premise (a political satire with Herbert West in the White House!) and a kookier cast (William H. Macy as the President, George Wendt as the re-animated VP). Ah, it could have been something special.

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Comments (2)

November 15, 2008, Saul Berenbaum said:

	I have to disagree, Ar. The closest Stuart Gordon has ever come in my eyes to brilliant is the last ten minutes of Society. The first 80 can eat a dick for all I care. Re-Animator's cool, but any of the Evil Deads wipe the floor with it for my money.
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November 16, 2008, Anders Nelson said:

	I'm going to have to disagree with you, Saul. I think that Re-animator is one of the single best horror movies to come out of the '80s, and the superior of both the Evil Dead films and Dead-Alive. I always have to take these things with certain caution. Sure, I probably won't be able to watch this series, but it also might attract new audience members to the original, which I can't sneeze at.
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