Yuzna (1989 -1990)

1989 - Bride of Re-Animator - The Bride, when she's completed, is one of the most memorable creatures in horror movie history. Her Elsa Lanchester-style head movements are icing on the cake. Outside of West's hilarious body part creations (and the aforementioned Bride), this sequel doesn't really break out of the mold of its predecessor. West and Cain go back to the very same hospital, have a lab in their basement, kill an older authority figure and bring him back to deranged life, involve Cain's girl in matters, and West and Hill seemingly get killed at the end by re-animated corpses. The new bits it does add are more than enough to make the film worthwhile, however. And, Jeffrey Combs proves once again that he is the king of mad scientists.

1990 - Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 - Kind of the Halloween III of the SNDN franchise. I don't have any problem when franchises go off on tangents like this. I do wish the winter solstice angle was played up more. As it is, this film has nothing to do with Christmas, really. The plot likewise doesn't really make much sense. They're anti-men witches, but have Ricky rape Kim to initiate her? After she'd supposedly puked up all of her bug-shaped man-fear? Personally, I was rooting for the witches. I wanted Kim to slice Lonnie up like Christmas ham and become a full-fledged member. The happy ending we get instead pretty much makes this a perfectly average horror movie. But, dammit, Reggie Bannister and Clint Howard in the same movie? Gold. (I still want to know what Lonnie's other present was under the tree...)

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