10 Syfy Original Horror Movies That Actually Aren't Awful

Syfy Air Date: April 4, 2003

Like Pumpkinhead, Re-Animator is a classic horror franchise that Syfy chose to revive, though, unlike Pumpkinhead, the original film in the series was well known and much loved. Based on H. P. Lovecraft's episodic novella, Re-Animator (1985) stars horror royalty Jeffrey Combs in his most memorable role and can boast a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%.

The first installment in the series fast became a cult film, praised for its surreal blend of horror and humour, though the second entry Bride of Re-Animator (1990) was criticized for sticking to grounds already covered in the original. While the Syfy channel premiere of the final film in the trilogy was met with lukewarm reviews, it was a better sequel than the one that came before it.

Combs seemed to really relish his third bow as Dr Herbert West, with the character's darkly comic throwaway lines timed to perfection. Like the original, there are weird goings-on aplenty - if you've ever wanted to see a rat enter into a boxing match with a severed zombie penis, then look no further - but it stops someway short of being a contender.

In their review, ESplatter concluded that director Brian Yunza's work has varied from the sublime (The Dentist) to the awful (Faust) over the years, and Beyond Re-Animator lies somewhere in between, more toward the good than the bad. Not a ringing endorsement by any means, but for fans of the original this is an absolute must-see that serves as a pleasant reminder of why you loved Re-Animator to begin with.