Re-Animator: Millenium Edition

What's there to say? It's Re-Animator. After all, this is one of the best blends of unrelenting gore and satirical humor that we're ever gonna get (Gordon shares this distinction with Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi). The real question is: should you own it...again? Well, if you can appreciate anything even remotely near this genre then you should definitely purchase this puppy. Plus, this elite edition (pun intended) is truly one of the best DVD releases for any film, ever. And it's cheap, too (take that Criterion).

Elite's Millenium Edition of Re-Animator comes in an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1:85.1) that provides first-rate picture quality, most impressive during the film's many darkly-lit sequences. Colors are vibrant, giving the gore a saturated (and more appreciable) look. The audio comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 tracks, as the original 2.0 mono track for purists. The mono track also provides a good reference for hearing the differences between each track (DTS is best, of course). Lastly in the sound department, there's an isolated music score.

Along with the feature film, Millennium's first disc contains two commentaries (both available on Elite's previous DVD incarnation). The first, somewhat contained, commentary comes from the film's director, Stuart Gordon. The second (arguably better) commentary comes from producer Brian Yuzna and actors Bruce Abbott, Jeffery Combes, Barbara Crampton and Robert Sampson.

On the second disc we get a heap of substantial extras. First off, we have no less than sixteen extended scenes, and also a two and a half minute deleted sequence featuring a naked, dead, and horny (!?!) Mrs. Crampton.

The next feature contains four video interviews: one with Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, another with writer Dennis Paoli, another with composer Richard Band, and finally an interview with Fangoria editor Tony Timpone. The highlight of these featurettes (and the DVD itself) is, without a doubt, the nearly hour-long conversation between Gordon and Yuzna. They chat about every phase in the process of creating, shooting, and marketing Re-Animator and make this disc a must-own for fans of the film.

There's also a four segment music discussion (in which Band talks more about his score), multi-angle storyboards, biographies/filmographies, a theatrical trailer, 5 TV spots, and over 100 behind-the-scenes photographs.

If you own the previous edition, suck it up -- this release comes equipped with better a/v, extras, and nifty, neon-green packaging. -- Neil Karassik