Reanimator Academy - Visual Vengeance

Reanimator Academy, out now from Visual Vengeance, is one of those movies slopped together for the name alone. Director Bret McCormick admits that he pretty much forgot about the movie before he was approached for some special feature stuff for this release. He simply needed work, and someone was willing to spend a couple thousand bucks on him to make a Reanimator knock-off, probably hoping people would rent it or buy it just because it had Reanimator in the title. 

It is about a scientist bringing the dead back to life, but it’s all goofy as hell. It largely takes place at the lamest fraternity party of all time, and there are old-timey gangsters, and a prostitute named Hot Lips, and the head of a shitty comedian is brought back to life, and…fuck it. There’s a reason McCormick forgot about this movie. But it still has a low-budget charm to it. And the hooker starts punching dudes’ heads off at one point, and it’s short, so it’s all harmless. 

But this release is for any nostalgic fans who came across this silly shit over thirty years ago. As always, Visual Vengeance is all in giving movies that don’t deserve it the royal physical media treatment.

Transfer and Special Features

This was shot on video, so the transfer is the best they can do, but it’s still quite clear that this was shot with the same kind of camcorder a dad of the time would use to film Christmas morning.

In the interview with Bret McCormick, he explains that he went with the pseudonym of Judith Priest because the budget was so low, and he was worried about how it would turn out. He picked the name because of a running joke on the Batman TV show, but I didn't really understand the connection.

He talks about pretty much forgetting the movie as it was just a job. He asked for a link to it for this new release to refresh his memory, and he refers to it as a “terrible little movie.” Agreed. And he calls Visual Vengeance “Video Vengeance.” 

I appreciated his honesty.

There's a short featurette of McCormick revisiting the shooting locations. It was nice to see Hot Lips's street corner thirty years later.

There's a featurette on the score. The music is okay, I guess. It's mainly from his band, Lithium X-Mas. But it always sounds like shit because everything is so low budget. Just like McCormick, the composer doesn't remember much about the movie.

Ha ha, they tracked down the dude who played the cop that gets decapitated. He must be buddies with McCormick because he does his interview from the same location as him. 

There's also an interview with Fred the Head. They recreated the prop, aluminum pan and all. It's filled with head puns and Fred claiming he was in pretty much any movie with “head” in the title.

You can also watch the film with a new alternative soundtrack the director did in 2023. I won't, but you can.

There's also another Bret McCormick short film included: Children of Dracula. I'm not watching it. There's also an interview with McCormick about it.

Finally, there’s a Zoom interview McCormick did after a screening of the film at the Nitehawk in NYC. There’s a lot of crossover between that and the other stuff, but he does bring up that he wanted to go back and fix some sound effects and whatnot, so that’s why there’s the alternative soundtrack cut, and I wish I had known that’s what it was before I watched the film, because I would’ve gone with that cut. Oh, well.

There’s all the usual Visual Vengeance stuff, along with a fake movie rental store membership card. As always with stuff like this, I don’t know what to do with it, exactly, but I’m still glad they make shit like that.

Random Thoughts 

While looking up McCormick's IMDb, I found that he played one of Pesci's crew in Casino. He's the one who gets shot by the cops for holding a sandwich. 

Didn't know what to expect from this, but I certainly wasn't ready for Three Stooges-esque old-timey gangsters doing schtick before they kill a prostitute.

At the Ded Hed party, they're mainly drinking Bud Dry, a truly vile choice. And they must've been told to amp up the partying, because everyone is holding at least two beers, and one dude is holding four. 

Nice of someone to get some Biggie sized Wendy's drinks to add to the refreshment table.

Pretty hilarious that they keep Fred the Head in a disposable aluminum roasting tray.

The movie “ends” a little over a half hour in, then turns into a preview for “Reanimator Academy 2” which is just a recap of what we just watched, and then the “sequel” begins. Truly bizarre.

It got a little more enjoyable when the reanimated prostitute started talking shit to everyone, but just a little.

And then she starts punching motherfuckers’ heads off. Okay, this is growing on me.