Re-animated for a third time on DVD

In the horror genre it seems that all anyone ever talks about when it comes to the classics are "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, "Night of the Living Dead, "Halloween" and the like. True die-hards will throw "Evil Dead" and "Phantasm" into the mix, but somehow "Re-Animator" only pops up randomly. Maybe it's because parts of "Re-Animator" are just too damn funny to be considered a horror flick.\nStuart Gordon's film, based on H.P. Lovecraft's excellent short story, "Herbert West, Re-animator," brings to life one of the maddest scientists since Mary Shelley penned "Frankenstein." Herbert West (played by the entertainingly creepy Jeffrey Combs) has discovered a way to bring the dead back to life by using his neon green re-animation formula. The only problem is once the dead return to the living world, West has no way of controlling their violent rage, so he enlists his roommate/fellow grad student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) to aid in his experiments. \nThe dead walk, the blood gushes and Gordon manages to cram enough disturbing imagery into one film to practically rival all of David Cronenberg's grotesqueries. It's also ridiculously hilarious to watch some of the mishaps that come from awakening the dead, a great example being when West decides to re-animate Cain's dead cat and it chases them around the basement. \n"Re-Animator" has seen a DVD release twice before, but I never owned either of those editions and they're long out-of-print now, so this new upgrade is the way to go. The two-disc set has everything you could possibly want in terms of extras -- two commentary tracks (one with Gordon, the other with the producer and cast), interviews, a discussion with composer Richard Band on his moody yet catchy score and tons of photo galleries covering every aspect of the production. By placing the DVD into your computer, you're even given access to Gordon's screenplay and Lovecraft's original short story. \nThe highlight though, which was unavailable on the previous two-disc edition, is the inclusion of the all-new documentary, "Re-Animator Resurrectus." Clocking it at 70 minutes, this is an all-encompassing look from development through completion and general reception to a film that has certainly earned its cult-status in spades. \nRarely are horror films able to reach the level of originality that "Re-Animator" possesses, let alone do they manage to be laugh-worthy in a good way when so many of them pour on the cheese -- good recent examples of horror-comedy outings being "Shaun of the Dead" and last year's "Slither." The bottom line: Just buy the DVD because you won't be disappointed.