Sci-Fi Pick: Re-Animator (1985)
This week’s sci-fi/fantasy recommendation could also easily fall in the horror category, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy of a pick. Based on an HP Lovecraft story, Re-Animator shows all the horrors that can come about from using science to bring people back to life, and let me tell you, those horrors definitely outweigh the positive aspects any such science could have.
If you want a break from the whole, space/time travel/journey-based genre films, then a horror option is definitely a solid choice. As far as the current Netflix selection goes, there are few better than Re-Animator.
Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is a medical student who comes to America to continue his studies after “killing” his already dead professor. He rents a room from fellow medical student Dean Cain (Bruce Abbott), and things begin to get weirder and weirder until Cain’s fiance wants nothing to do with the house. Dean, however, is intrigued by the studies after seeing that Herbert has brought a cat back to life.
They take to the basement lab like mad scientists and are able to concoct a reagent that should do the trick. Then, they head to the morgue in order to try their serum on a dead body, and it works like a charm. Unfortunately, this re-animated body goes on a rampage, killing everyone it can until it’s decapitated by Herbert’s bone saw. Things spiral from there, and yet the tests never stop.
In the ’80s, the film was a terrifyingly awesome cult classic. Today, it serves as the best example of the worst case scenario if you find a random roommate off Craigslist.