Jeffrey Combs is a legend of several genres including sci-fi through his continued work in the Star Trek franchise, voice work for DC animations and his work in his preferred genre, horror. In director Stuart Gordon, Combs found a director he would work with time and again on films such as From Beyond, The Pit and the Pendulum and Castle Freak. The role most horror fans remember though is that of Herbert West. In Herbert, Combs found the perfect mix of intense psychopathy and ludicrous humour. West is only concerned with his re-animation serum which has taken several lives already but after beginning a placement at the Miskatonic University, West finds a new ally in medical student Dan. Unfortunately for Herbert, Dr Carl Hill has his eye on the young doctor's work and will take it whether dead or alive. Combs is asked to do so many silly things in this film but makes them all work. Whether fighting a zombified cat, decapitating Hill with a shovel or by simply being a bit 'Herbert', he makes the character one of the most fun to watch in the genre. Combs' theatre training is evident not only in the construction of the complex doctor but also in his comic timing. In such a gruesome horror, Combs genuinely stands out as a unique presence to put alongside Kyle McLachlan's Special Agent Dale Cooper as kooks with depth.
