The Resurrected

aka Shatterbrain

1992 / Dir. Dan O’Bannon / Written by Brent V. Friedman / Starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus

O’Bannon, the evil genius behind horror classics such as the Alien series and Dead & Buried (incidentally, one of my favorite horror movie posters of all time), takes a story from one of his obvious influences, H.P. Lovecraft, and slaps it on screen in his final attempt at directing. O’Bannon passed away last December and left behind a career in horror that is far more valued for what he wrote rather than what he shot. Lovecraft, too, is often better in his written works than anyone has been able to translate on screen – of course, save for the still excellent Re-Animator. In this particular genre-conflicted mess, Terry plays a P.I. hired by Sibbett to find out what her husband (Sarandon) has been working on away from home. What he’s working on becomes less and less of an issue since the film takes so long to get there. The “investigation” setup has Terry narrating like a world-weary gumshoe worthy of a Hammett novel, with Sibbett’s leggy blonde dame acting as the femme fatale – two plot devices that went out of fashion in the 1950’s – yet the cheap sets and soapy acting feel more like a 1980’s melodrama. The few moments of good gore and frights turn to schlock with poor camera work (crash zooms, anyone?) Sarandon, however, is good as always, and from Fright Night to Bordello of Blood he has always remained one of my favorite horror film actors. **