We're going to start off the Halloween season on this blog by talking about a classic horror movie, "Re-Animator," which opened in 1985. I think most horror fans are at least familiar with its infamous "disembodied head giving head" scene, but it's so much more than that. It's an excellent zombie movie, and is probably a bit underrated. And it helped launch the careers of horror icons like co-writer/director Stuart Gordon, actor Jeffrey Combs, and actress Barbara Crampton. So let's get into some really detailed trivia about this movie. As usual, I'll pose the questions first, and answer them at the end. And clearly, many SPOILERS for the movie ahead.
Questions:
1) Where does the movie open?
2) What room number do the police and doctor go to?
3) What is Dr. Gruber's first name?
4) Where is the (fictional) Miskatonic Medical School?
5) What is printed on the medical machine that the doctors use in the opening death scene?
6) What is the name of the morgue security guard?
7) What is the room number of the morgue?
8) What year is medical student Dan Cain currently in?
9) How many minutes does Dr. Hill say life can remain in the brain stem after death?
10) As we read on his flyer, what is the street address of Dan Cain's apartment?
11) And what is Dan's phone number?
12) Another flyer is partially visible on the bulletin board. What is it advertising for?
13) What poster is hanging right above Dan's bed?
14) What does Dr. Hill jokingly compare pulling back the skin of a human head to?
15) At the dinner at the Halsey house, they're celebrating the large grant that Dr. Hill has won. What organization is the grant from?
16) What is the only decoration we see in Herbert West's bedroom?
17) According to Herbert West, how did Rufus the cat die?
18) When confronting the re-animated Rufus, Dan wields a baseball bat. What does Herbert use?
19) According to West, what kinds of dead animals has he re-animated with his reagent?
20) Herbert lists four qualities that make Dan the perfect assistant for him. What are they?
21) While looking for a dead human to re-animate, Herbert checks each corpse in the morgue. He describes each one with how they died. Name these.
22) What day and time do West and Dan start their first attempt to re-animate a human corpse?
23) What doctor does Dean Halsey instruct to suspend Dan Cain from having access to the hospital?
24) How many cc's of reagent does it take to re-animate the first cadaver?
25) On the intercom, where is Dan instructed to report?
26) How does Herbert kill (de-animate) the first resurrected corpse?
27) According to Herbert, what is one of man's few durable inventions?
28) How many cc's of reagent does Herbert give to the deceased Dean Halsey?
29) How many seconds does it take Halsey to re-animate, according to Herbert?
30) The sign for the elevator is printed in two languages. What is the non-English one?
31) What is the number of Dr. Hill's office?
32) In the "stalking file" of Meg that Dan finds in Hill's office, what visible newspaper article has Hill saved?
33) What other items are seen in this creepy file?
34) At this point in the movie, while Dan is observing Halsey in Hill's office, Dan is wearing a t-shirt with a real company's logo on it. What is that company?
35) Herbert West is seen to laugh twice in the movie. What are these isolated incidents?
36) What porn-ish looking magazine is the morgue security guard reading when Hill sneaks into the morgue?
37) Dr. Hill is rightfully accused of stealing other people's scientific ideas, and inventions. However, what invention appears to be his alone?
38) What is the final fate of Dean Halsey's re-animated body?
39) Which re-animated corpse kills Meg?
40) A member of director Stuart Gordon's family plays a small role in the movie. Who is it?
41) Much of the background music, especially during the opening credits, is inspired by the music of what famous movie? (Some critics think it's a blatant rip off, in fact.)
42) Someone who appeared in the movie also had roles in some of the "Halloween" series movies. Name them.
43) Another character in the movie was played by the person known for doubling a famous action movie star. Name the actor, and the famous star they doubled for.
44) Why on Earth would Herbert inject his reagent into both Hill's severed head, and his intact body on the floor, without taking safety precautions?
Answers:
1) The Universitat Zurich Institut Fur Medizin, or in English, the University of Zurich Institute for Medicine. If you're curious, there is a real University of Zurich, and they do have a medical school. (Although the exterior shots shown are actually a high school in the Los Angeles area, and the interiors were shot at CalTech, also in the L.A. area.)
2) 121.
3) Hans. Yes, just like the main villain in the later 1988 action movie "Die Hard."
4) The equally fictitious Arkham, Massachusetts, Both of these fictitious names were derived from horror author H.P. Lovecraft, who wrote the the story this film is based on.
5) Mennen Medical 744. Mennen is a real company.
6) Mace. More on him later.
7) B-10.
8) His 3rd year.
9) 6-12 minutes.
10) 666 Darkmore. Yes, a little on the nose.
11) 555-8785.
12) Maids, Inc. who will, naturally, clean your house.
13) It's the musical group The Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense" from their 1984 live album. (And I never put together the obvious joke about that particular name until today!)
14) Peeling a large orange.
15) The National Science Foundation.
16) A propped up poster diagram of a brain.
17) He suffocated from getting his head caught in a jar he got out of the garbage. (Although, knowing Herbert, maybe this was a lie, since he surely lusted for a convenient lab test animal.)
18) A croquet mallet.
19) Rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, and cats.
20) Dan is hard working, bright, people respect him, and he has access to certain authority figures (i.e., Dean Halsey).
21) Burn victim, meatball, hit by semi, shotgun wound to the head, rotten, malpractice, a John Doe with a case of heart failure.
22) October 10th, 10:33 p.m.
23) Dr. Riley, who doesn't enforce this because he's been in emergency surgery for 4 hours.
24) 35. An initial dose of 15 cc's, then 20 more after that first dose has no effect. (Incidentally, knowledgeable folks have noted that Combs is clearly injecting more cc's than he keeps saying.)
25) The Level L Security Desk.
26) He uses a bone saw to cut through the man's back, and through his heart.
27) Unbreakable plastic, which is the substance used for the bottles that contain Herbert's reagent.
28) 12. Herbert decides to use less given how recently the body died.
29) 17 seconds.
30) Surprisingly, Portuguese. You would think that Spanish would have been the obvious choice, but "elevador" is "elevator" in Portuguese, while it's "ascensor" in Spanish.
31) 305.
32) "Megan Halsey voted Sophomore Sweetheart."
33) Napkins (presumably used), photographs, and a lock of her hair.
34) Nike, although it doesn't have the company's usual "Swoosh" symbol.
35) He finds it hilarious to yell "look out!" to Dan after Rufus is killed, and later he's amused when he learns that Dr. Hill is obsessed with Meg.
36) "Boudoir." As far as I can tell, this is not a real publication. Also, on that topic, Mace is the worst security guard ever. He takes long coffee breaks from his periods of doing nothing but sitting around and perusing porn. He doesn't notice when Dr. Hill enters, even when Hill is using a fake head on top of his body. Then, his response to the mayhem at the end of the film it to run away. He's useless!
37) The laser surgical drill, which makes it possible for him to develop a new lobotomy technique that results in "mastery of the human will." (Meaning his victims are essentially Hill's slaves, although Dean Halsey manages to resist at the end.)
38) After helping Meg, and attacking Dr. Hill, he's literally ripped apart, limb from limb, by the rest of Hill's zombie servants.
39) Given his appearance, it seems to be the burn victim zombie.
40) His wife, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, plays Dr. Harrod, the woman who twice instructs Dan to admit defeat while trying to revive a dead patient (Meg at the end, of course).
41) The 1960 horror classic "Psycho."
42) George Wilbur, who was a stunt person in "Re-Animator," appeared as Michael Myers in both 1988's "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," and 1995's "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers."
43) "Melvin the Re-Animated," the first corpse revived by Herbert and Dan, is played by Peter Kent, arguably best known for doubling for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
44) There's no good answer for this! Other than, the plot of the movie needed for it to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment