Synopsis: When a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her.

Impressions:  Being a Tim Burton fan, I liked this movie and the animation.  It was entertaining, had fun songs, and the story was interesting.  I also liked the difference in color where the living was in black and white, but the dead were in color.

Social Message: It seemed to me that true love can bring color into this world.  It wasn’t until the end where we really see color come into the world of the living, especially since those who lived in the world of the living were very strict to rules and marrying for social status instead of love.

Synopsis: A Los Angeles police chase sends a fame-obsessed man on a wild ride to save his girlfriend from a cybernetic terror.

Impressions:  I have seen the other VHS films and this one was by far the worst of them all.  For those who have not seen them, there is a main story that connects three other sub stories to it.  THe problem is the sub films usually does nothing to help move the story along except what is the next sud story.  There is usually one really creative sub story that has kept me giving the movie and the other films a chance.  This one however was so weak, i wish i would get my 86 minutes back.

Social Message:  I almost feel like in the three VHS films, they try so hard on the message that the execution is poor.  In short, there is always a price to pay when seeking fame.

Synopsis: A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.

Impressions:  This film based off a H.P. Lovecraft story has all the eighties vibe with 70s exploitation elements.  Very similar themes in other classic horror where there is a scientist who wants to find the secret of re-animating the dead.  But unlike frankenstein, where the Victor sews pieces of body parts together and shocks it with lightning, people come back to life with some green, mountain dew looking serum. As the experiments continue to get “better,” a more vile issue comes which changes everything.

I thought the movie was entertaining, once i got pass the bad acting and 80s cheese.  There were times i was cringing with disgust, and other times i was laughing at how dated this film is.

Social Message:  I don’t think the writers were trying to add some kind of social commentary with this one, However, I did find something fascinating with the theme of bringing people back to life.

SPOILERS AHEAD

With Frankenstein, there is a theme about Man trying to play God, and that when Man plays God bad things happen.  We see similar themes in Re-Animator.  However, it takes it further under the guise of science and the rapid changes in the medical field.  Dan, is sucked into Dr. West’s experiments and sees the evil of the re-animated.  However, seeing how each experiment gets better than the last, he then becomes a believer.  When the climax of the story hits, and West dies, giving Dan his notes, Dan has seen the ugliness of this serum.  You almost suspect that Dan is going to destroy the notes and serum, but then his girlfriend dies, and at the closing scene he uses the Mt. Dew Serum to try to revive her.

Ultimately, We can see the rapid changes in the medical industry to help improve our lives, but what is the cost with new medicines with harsh side effect? The price of medicine you need that cost someone their entire retirement fund, is it worth it?  So what i learned from this is that we must always be educated with new advancements in medicine and know how it will effect us long term.