What if we get caught?
What are they gonna do… embalm us??

Hilarious writeup. You've got me giggling at my desk, hoping no one walks by while I'm ogling Barbara Crampton. I'm not sure how many times I rented the Re-Animator video — teenaged me couldn't get enough of that perfect cocktail of gore and humor (and, well, I mean, come on, Barbara Crampton!).

Re-watching it a couple years ago, I saw it through new eyes after I realized the opening title music was a direct rip-off Bernard Herrmann's "Psycho" theme (mixed around and re-orchestrated with woodwinds and a cheesy metronomic snare-drum beat). And then other things started seeming familiar, such as the medical lecture scene ("Mr. West, I suggest you get yourself a pen.") hearkened back to a similar scene in "Young Frankenstein," which was itself probably a hand-me-down. I think Kael's quote gets at the makers' method, that is, to take a bunch of genre tropes — to re-animate them, if you will — and push them so far over the top that horror becomes camp.

Have you seen any of the sequels? I tried to watch "Beyond Re-Animator" but couldn't finish it.

I enjoyed Gordon's follow-up, From Beyond, but haven't seen it since high school, and don't know how it holds up.

Holy crap: a musical version of Re-Animator? That's the perfect storm: if I can get tickets to that—perhaps for our anniversary—I can make N. hate me forever and ever.