The Adventures of Hercules (1985)
Greek Mythological Hero
Sequel to the bad movie classic of Cannon Films’ Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno and only a marginally less terrible film that its predecessor
Resurrection of the Dead
Resurrection refers to various means of bringing people back from the dead. Films where treatments of theme fall into large groupings have been given their own entries – see https://www.moriareviews.com/theme/frankenstein-films, Zombies, Vampires and Mummies. This topic deals with every other form of return from the dead that does not fall into these categories.
There are numerous methods proposed for the resurrection of the dead from the miraculous to the scientific, from formulas to magic potions, Voodoo and black magic to Indian burial grounds. Mad Scientists were frequently engaged in resurrection experiments invariably with catastrophic results.
Individuals from time to time spontaneously (or by divine or unexplained) purpose return from the dead, usually to exact Supernatural Retribution or sometimes with comic purpose. Persons who return from the dead in non-corporeal form are ghosts and are discussed under Hauntings and Ghost Stories and Ghosts in Light Fantasy.
All Cheerleaders Die (2001)
Resurrected Cheerleaders
The first film of directors Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson, concerning a troupe of cheerleaders who are killed and resurrected from the dead. The two later returned to conduct a better-budgeted remake
All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Resurrected Cheerleaders
Directors Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson conduct a remake of their earlier film about resurrected cheerleaders. The question might be why – both have demonstrated they can do far better than this
Army of Frankensteins (2014)
Frankenstein Monster Time Travels Back to the Civil War
This comes with an insane mash-ups of ideas – modern day Frankenstein monster is thrown back in time to the Civil War (in a process that also creates multiple copies) and ends up fighting on the Northern side
The Astro-Zombies (1968)
Mad Scientist Creates Zombies/Classic Bad Movie
A real Grade Z film. A mind-boggling stew involving John Carradine conducting mad science experiments, technical gaffes aplenty, spy capers featuring Tura Satana and even M.A.S.H.‘s Wayne Rogers on script
Asylum (1972)
Horror Anthology
One of the best of the horror anthologies from UK’s Amicus Films. This adapts four stories from Robert Bloch, which are all tales told by the inmates of the titular asylum and settle in with chill effectiveness
Await Further Instructions (2018)
Imprisoned in a House with Instructions from the TV
Fine and underrated film in which a family find themselves imprisoned in their home and then start receiving instructions through the tv pushing them to further and further extremes
Baron Blood (1972)
Italian Gothic/Sadistic Nobleman Resurrected
Mario Bava essentially created Italian Gothic cinema and returns to it again here in the story of a sadistic nobleman who is resurrected and begins killing people anew
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
Batman of the Future/Animation
Film spinoff of Batman Beyond, an animated tv series set in the future as a youngster inherits a hi-tech Batsuit from an aging Bruce Wayne. The film resurrects The Joker but fails to do anything interesting with the character
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
One of the best of the animated Batman films, telling the story of the overlooked Robin Jason Todd and his resurrection as the villain Red Hood, a film that has an adult tone and comes with immensely exciting action scenes
Battlefield Baseball (2003)
Combat Baseball/Gonzo Japanese Film
Japanese film clearly inspired by Battle Royale that has a wonderfully appealing premise where a high school baseball game that has been turned into a deathsport
Beverly Hills Body$natchers (1989)
Mortuary and Zombies Comedy
Unfunny comedy set around a morgue where a mad doctor has found a process to resurrect the dead. Sort of like Night Shift crossbred with a PG-rated version of Re-Animator
Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
Re-Animator Sequel
The second sequel to the cult splatter hit Re-Animator is a superior effort to its predecessor, getting the original’s sense of black humour down pat and arriving at a memorably apocalyptic climax
Big Meat Eater (1982)
Bad SF Movie Parody
Highly enjoyable Canadian-made parody of bad 1950s B movies that throws in everything from alien invaders to zombies and splatter. And is a musical to boot!
Birth/Rebirth (2023)
Modern Frankenstein Film
A standout modern variant on the Frankenstein film where two women conspire to cross waaay over medical ethic lines to revive a child from the dead
Black Death (2010)
Mediaeval Journey to a Village of Witches
Powerful film from Christopher Smith set during the Middle Ages about a group on a journey to a village where a priestess can purportedly raise the dead. The film’s skewering of faith in an unforgettable ending is stunning
The Black Rider: Revelation Road (2014)
Post-Holocaust Film in the Aftermath of The Rapture
The third Revelation Road film, this offers the bizarre novelty of a faith-based Mad Max copy with divinely inspired action hero David A.R. White cruising the post-apocalyptic wastelands in the aftermath of The Rapture
Black Sunday (1960)
Italian Gothic/Revived Witch's Revenge
Classic work that defined the Italian Gothic cycle of the 1960s and turned Barbara Steele into a cult actress. Mario Bava shoots vivid, incredibly atmospheric scenes in black-and-white in ways that no other director does
Blood Diner (1987)
Splatter Comedy
Wonderfully demented and outrageously over-the-top splatter comedy from Jackie Kong that originally started out intended to be a sequel to Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Blood Feast
Bloodshot (2020)
Augmented Super-Soldier/Comic-Book Adaptation
That starts out seeming a standard mindless action film in which Vin Diesel is resurrected as an augmented super-soldier only for everything we assume to get turned on its head in interesting ways
Bolt Neck (1999)
High School Frankenstein
The amusing idea of the Frankenstein story relocated to a modern high school – and with no less than later-to-be superstar Ryan Reynolds as the monster
Boy Eats Girl (2005)
Zombie Film
One of wittiest titles of the 2000s zombie revival fad – the suggestion of a high school love story gone really wrong. This actual film is a surprisingly ordinary and unexceptional effort
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Surreal Silent Movie Melodrama
Another of Guy Maddin’s silent movie pastiches, all shot in a deadpan style throwing together a hilariously convoluted madcap plot involving child detectives, mad scientists and spy capers
The Bride (1985)
Frankenstein Film
Lushly mounted remake of Bride of Frankenstein with Sting as Frankenstein and Jennifer Beals as the Bride. More costume drama than it ever is a horror story.
The Bride! (2026)
Frankenstein Film
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reinterpretation of The Bride of Frankenstein is the first spectacularly bad film of the 2020s. Jessie Buckley gives an absurdly unrestrained performance and the film’s tone veers all over the place
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Re-Animator Sequel
Sequel to the cult splatter hit of Re-Animator, directed by the original’s producer Brian Yuzna. Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott and David Gale are back. This has some amazing effects work but lacks the first film’s outrageous black humour
Bridge Across Time (1985)
Jack the Ripper Resurrected in the Modern Day
Film made just before the centenary of the Jack the Ripper killings that imagines the Ripper being resurrected at the site where London Bridge has been relocated in Arizona
Bright (2017)
Alternate Present Where Fantasy Creatures and Humans Coexist
Set in an alternate version of the present where fantasy creatures – orcs, elves, fairies – live alongside humans, this comes with a cleverness, while being played as a buddy cop drama that anchors it with a realism
Bring Her Back (2025)
Sinister Adoption/Resurrection Ritual
Australia’s Philippou Brothers made the word of mouth hit Talk to Me and return here with this equally creepy film with Sally Hawkins as a sinister foster mother
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
18th Century Beast Hunt
From regular genre director Christophe Gans, this is a head-scratching mix of French historical drama, monster movie and imported Wu Xia action moves
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Fairy-Tale Authors' Adventures
Probably the least satisfying of Terry Gilliam’s films that turns the real-life fairytale authors into scam ghost hunters in an adventure. Purportedly the subject of behind the scenes troubles, the film never quite comes to life on screen
Burying the Ex (2014)
Zombie Ex-Girlfriend Comedy
Joe Dante makes a zombie comedy. Dante is in his element and the film overspills with classic horror references but Dante feels like he is playing slow catch up with what the zombie genre has become
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Meta-Fictional Horror Film
Joss Whedon scripted work that is less a horror film than a meta-horror film that is constantly deconstructing the genre and subverting its cliches. A rare genre entry less about visceral impact than it has brains to spare
The Calling (2014)
Serial Killer Thriller
Modest serial killer thriller – imagine one of the numerous Silence of the Lambs copies crossbred with Fargo. The film’s quiet pace soon segues into an absorbing thriller plot, while Christopher Heyerdahl gives a fine performance as the killer
The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960)
Alien Invaders Sabotage the Space Mission
The one other SF film made by Phil Tucker, the director of Robot Monster. An alien invader effort made to capitalise on the Space Race with aliens trying to sabotage rocket launches
Captain America (1979)
Comic-Book Superhero
Laughably cheap and dull tv pilot version of comic-book superhero, which emerges less the Captain America of Marvel Comics fame than Captain America imagined as Evel Knievel superhero
Carry On Screaming (1966)
Spoof of Hammer Horror
Twelfth of the popular British comedy series, here the Carry On team conduct a bawdy farce on the Hammer horror film that was all the in-thing at the time
Casshern (2004)
Future Superhero/Anime Remade in Live-Action
Live-action film based on an anime series where the original is built out with a series of of extraordinarily gorgeous over-ornamented visuals set in a strange retro-future world
Catwoman (2004)
Comic-Book Superheroine
The long-planned Halle Berry-starring Catwoman movie proved a widely ridiculed bomb. The film throws out the comic-book Catwoman and instead opts for an approach the frequently collapses into the risible
Cerebrum (2022)
Frankenstein Film
A young man recuperates from a brain injury while tended by his father. As he tries to piece together what happened, we discover we are in the midst of a Frankenstein-type film
Children Who Chase Lost Voices from the Deep (2011)
Anime/Lost Underground Realm
Makoto Shinkai conducts a flawless capturing of Hiyao Miyazaki’s style – the clean simplicity of the animation, reverence for nature, the tender intimacy of the characters – in this beautifully animated work about the discovery of an underground realm
Chillerama (2011)
Horror Parody Anthology/Drive-In Homage
In the same vein as Grindhouse, four filmmakers have come together to make an anthology of spoof horror films that homage the drive-in tradition. Good taste is left well behind and the results are both outrageous and funny
The Chosen One: The Legend of the Raven (1998)
Superheroine/White Trash Melodrama
Hilarious film in which Carmen Electra gets resurrected as a superheroine via American Indian magic. Filled with hilarious white trash bitcheries
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe (1988)
Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld
Before the films, this was an earlier BBC tv mini-series version of the C.S. Lewis book, one of a series of four adaptations. This is faithful to the story but suffers from impoverished effects
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld
The film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s book sought to appeal to audiences for the Lord of the Rings films but between Lewis’s heavy-handed Christian allegories and Andrew Adamson’s inexperience as a director fails to fly
City of the Dead (1959)
Town of Occultists/Reincarnated Witch
An effort from the early days of the Anglo-horror cycle about a town ruled by a reincarnated witch. This comes drenched in a good deal of heavy black-and-white atmosphere
CJ7 (2008)
Cute Alien Comedy
Hong Kong director/writer Stephen Chow is the star of his own highly creative comedy films. Here in one of his quieter films, Chow conducts a comedy take on E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial
Cold Heaven (1991)
Mysterious Resurrection
Nicolas Roeg was one of the great directors of the 1970s, making works like Performance and Don’t Look Now. This was one of Roeg’s last films where Mark Harmon is killed in an accident but makes a miraculous resurrection
Come Back to Me (2014)
Creepy Neighbour With Resurrection Abilities
At the outset, this seems to be either a routine stalker or a clairvoyance film. On the other hand, it is driven by an undeniable WTF component and definitely arrives at bizarrely left field explanation
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Sword and Sorcery
Adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s pulp adventure stories and the film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star. The script from Oliver Stone takes unevenly from Howard but director John Milius gives the film a brutal, primal majesty
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Sword and Sorcery
This revival of Conan the Barbarian is a dismal effort that gets little of what made the character work, while Jason Momoa gives little impression he is taking proceedings seriously
Corpse Bride (2005)
Stop-Motion Animated Gothic
Tim Burton’s successor to The Nightmare Before Christmas where Burton co-directs another venture into stop-motion animation that takes place in a similar dark and beautifully stylised world
Cowards Bend the Knee, or The Blue Hands (2003)
Surreal Silent Movie Melodrama
Another of the surreal films from Guy Maddin, involving incest, strange love triangles and transplanted hands, all shot of which has been shot as a silent movie
The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
Androids Rebel Against Humanity
An excellent underrated science-fiction film that was way ahead of its time about a class of androids in a future fighting for their rights as they gain increasing self-awareness
Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
Atomically-Revived Zombies
Atomic became the explain-all buzzword for almost every monster movie of the 1950s.This is the novelty of the one and only atomic zombie film, although at heart is no more than a 1940s mad scientist film
Creaturealm: Demons Wake (1998)
Occult Anthology
An anthology of three tales on an occult theme. The standout among these is the opening episode about a courtroom trial of a woman who was possessed
Creepshow (1982)
Horror Anthology
Stephen King and George Romero collaborate on a horror anthology made as homage to the EC Comics, telling five tales that replicate the blacker-than-black sense of humour (and even the visual look) of the comic-book with hilarious results
The Cross of the Devil (1975)
Continental Gothic/Undead Knights Templar
The little-seen final film from Hammer director John Gilling, an Anglo-horror styled work about resurrected Knights Templar
The Crow: Salvation (2000)
Resurrected Avenger
The third of the Crow films has a more substantial story than the second but is killed by a director who has no feel for the atmosphere created by the other films
The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)
Resurrected Avenger
The third of The Crow sequels, starring a miscast Edward Furlong as a resurrected trailer park kid. This has a bad movie ridiculousness that killed the series off
The Crow (1994)
Resurrected Avenger/Graphic Novel Adaptation
Overshadowed by the tragedy of star Brandon Lee’s death on set, this is a beautifully dark and glistening Gothic tale of a murdered youth revived from the dead to attain vengeance against his killers. Several lesser sequels followed
The Crow (2024)
Resurrected Avenger
The original The Crow is a cult classic. This long-planned remake from the perpetually terrible Rupert Sanders was an ill-advised move from every angle that gets just about everything from the mood to the conception of its character wrong
The Crow: City of Angels (1996)
Resurrected Avenger
The first sequel to The Crow extends the look of the original into an amazingly lit Goth designer world. However, the plot (an early work from David S. Goyer) is no more than a rehash of the first film
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Hammer Frankenstein Adaptation
This and The Horror of Dracula the following year set Hammer Films on the map. A remake of Frankenstein very different to the 1931 version that comes in vibrant colour and places Peter Cushing’s ruthlessly amoral Baron at the centre of the show
Curse of the Forty Niner (2002)
Resurrected Prospector Seeks Vengeance
Makeup effects man John Carl Buechler directs a film about a resurrected prospector come to enact vengeance against those seeking his gold claim
The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
Dead Man Takes Revenge
A low-budget copy of the Vincent Price Edgar Allan Poe films with a patriarch seemingly returned from the dead and eliminating his relatives with a series of sensationalistic deaths
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Alien Visitor
A classic of the 1950s Golden Age of SF, featuring Michael Rennie as an alien visitor film who comes to make a warning about the need to make peace. This stands at the start of the Atomic Age with a stark urgency
Dead & Buried (1981)
Town of Zombies
After writing the huge hit of Alien, Dan O’Bannon next went onto this strange zombie film in which the people of a small town fail to stay dead
Dead Dicks (2019)
Apartment That Produces Copies of People
An off-the-wall film with a unique premise about an apartment where every time somebody is killed another copy of them emerges out of a hole in the wall
The Dead Don’t Die (1975)
Film Noir/Voodoo Resurrected Dead
Largely forgotten tv movie from a Robert Bloch script. Curtis Harrington creates a fascinatingly creepy atmosphere that blends film noir with mysterious happenings involving voodoo and the resurrected dead
Dead Heat (1988)
Cop and his Zombie Partner
Made not along after the success of Lethal Weapon, this offers a wacky spin on the buddy cop formula having a cop paired with a zombie. The mildly amusing notion is killed by the excruciating comedy relief of Joe Piscopo
Dead of Night (1974)
Return from the Dead
A very unique and unsettling variant on the zombie film wherein a soldier killed in combat in Vietnam is brought back from the dead by the pleading of his parents but returns not quite the same as before
Dead Snow 2 (2014)
Nazi Zombies
The Nazi zombies from Norway are back in a better film than the first that is far more polished, the black humour more outrageous and the splatter effects are at the top of their game
Dead Space: Downfall (2008)
Animation/Videogame Adaptation/Spaceship of Mutated Dead
Animated spinoff of the videogame. Your first impression is that animation is not suited for a gore-drenched film. One’s misgivings are silenced by the wildly phantasmagoric range of creatures the film throws at you
Deadly Friend (1986)
Teenager Resurrects Girlfriend
Wes Craven was hot as a result of A Nightmare on Elm Street but badly lucked out with this ridiculous film in which a teenager raises his girlfriend from the dead by planting a computer chip from a robot in her brain
Deadtime Stories (1986)
Anthology of Horror Versions of Fairytales
Horror anthology with the novelty where all of the stories are horror versions of fairytales. Particularly amusing is the second episode, a modernised version of Little Red Riding Hood
Deathstalker (2025)
Sword and Sorcery
A remake of the popular 1980s sword and sorcery film that was originally produced by Roger Corman. This version is directed by makeup effects artist Steven Kostanski who fills it with an amazing range of creature effects
Dellamorte Dellamore (1994)
Cemetery Keeper vs the Undead/Gonzo Comedy
Cult Italian film with Rupert Everett as a cemetery keeper facing the resurrected dead. This has an hilariously off-the-wall mix of black, deadpan humour and artiness, plus Everett at his laconic best
The Demolitionist (1996)
Female Cyborg Cop
Nicole Eggert stars in this cheap and rather laughable copy of RoboCop, where she is a police officer killed in the line of duty who is resurrected as an avenging cyborg vigilante
Demonic Christmas Tree (2022)
Possessed Christmas Tree
Yes, exactly what the title announces – a film about a possessed killer Christmas tree. A rather amusing Christmas horror entry from prolific low-budget British producer Scott Jeffrey/Scott Chambers
Depraved (2019)
Modernised Frankenstein Film
Larry Fessenden has become a horror director who has made some fine work that remain under the commercial radar. This is his modernised take on the Frankenstein story
Destroy All Neighbors (2024)
Black Comedy/People Won’t Stay Dead
A black comedy that comes in a very broad tone concerning an ordinary man trying to record an album who accidentally kills people around him only for them to refuse to stay dead
Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972)
Disfigured Madman
Sequel to The Abominable Dr Phibes that brings back Vincent Price and seeks to replicate the same droll campy humour as before but with more mixed results this time
Dr Terror’s Gallery of Horrors (1967)
Horror Anthology
UK’s Amicus Films had a reasonable hit with their horror anthology Dr Terror’s House of Horrors. Director/producer David L. Hewitt jumped in with a copy with a soundalike title produced on a poverty row budget
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972)
Monster Bash
One of several Dracula vs Frankenstein crossover films that came out in the early 1970s. This version comes from cult exploitation director Jesus Franco but squanders the opportunities of a great title match
Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)
Mad Scientist/Monster Bash
One of the great title matches of all-time and a surprise that Universal never thought to do it. In the hands of Z-budget director Al Adamson it is a wasted opportunity nd Zandor Vorkov the worst screen Dracula ever
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Sword and Sorcery
A new film based on the role-playing game. The first film several years ago is poorly regarded. This is an attempt to reboot a film series but suffers badly from being handed to two comedy directors and their flip treatment
Ed and His Dead Mother (1993)
Zombified Mother Comedy
A very eccentric comedy in which momma’s boy Steve Buscemi accepts a deal from a strange salesman to resurrect his beloved mother (Miriam Margolyes) from the dead
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Man Forced to Repeat the Same Day Over/Alien Invasion
The rarity of a summer blockbuster with smarts – think Groundhog Day reworked by way of Battle Los Angeles. The timeloop idea is dealt with in clever ways making for an action film driven by an original sf story
Elektra (2005)
Comic-Book Assassin Superheroine
A spinoff from the film version of Daredevil, this gives the comic-book character of the super-assassin Elektra her own film. This does not have a very good rap but comes with some solid action scenes
The Empire of Corpses (2015)
Anime/Alternate Victorian England Based on Frankenstein Technology
Fascinatingly original anime set in an alternate history Steampunk version of Victorian England that has developed a technology based on Frankenstein’s corpse resurrection experiments
End of Days, Inc. (2015)
Office Workers Prepare for the End of the World
A comedy in which office staff working overtime gradually realise their efforts are in preparation for the end of the world. This needed more of a dark bite to fully work but has occasional amusement
Evangeline (2013)
Rape Victim's Resurrected Vengeance
This rehashes I Spit on Your Grave by way of The Crow with a heroine who is raped and killed and then becomes resurrected as a supernatural avenger
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Hammer Frankenstein Film
This was the third of Hammer’s Frankenstein films. A usually overlooked entry in the series, this is made into something vivid and quite memorable by Freddie Francis’s direction
Exit 14 (2015)
Backwoods Supernatural
Friends on Springbreak break down after taking a detour where they encounter creepy towtruck driver Tom Sizemore and drunkenly summon the spirit of a murdered woman
The Fades (2011)
Teen Can See the Dead/Apocalytic Resurrection
An underrated mini-series – sort of the anti-Supernatural. This creates a highly original afterlife mythology and some great characters arcs, while overspilling with wry nerdish in-humour
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Silent Edgar Allan Poe Adaptation
Early silent adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story that treats the story liberally, drops Poe’s mood of desolation and despair for one more of melancholy, but holds an undeniable style
Fantasia (1940)
Disney Animation and Music Anthology
The best animated film Disney ever made, created as a work of art with animation set to classical music. The segments vary between abstraction, comic eccentricity and evocations of nightmare. The results are magical.
Fantasy Island (2020)
TV Series Remake/Island That Makes Fantasies Come True
The big screen remake of the popular 70s/80s tv series about an island that makes guests fantasies come true. In the hands of Blumhouse, this has now been turned into a horror film
Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)
Comic-Book Adaptation/Demonic Avenger
Brian Yuzna’s adaptation of the cult comic-book is a disappointment that has tamed down any of the censorship-pushing controversy the original had and emerges as no more than a standard dark avenging superhero film