May (2002)
Gonzo Rejection Story
An almost unclassifiable work from Lucky McKee that plays out as a gonzo love and rejection story featuring an alienated Angela Bettis before an end that tips over into horror
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.
The Medallion (2003)
Martial Arts Comedy/Superpowers
Flop Jackie Chan film that tries to recapture some of his Hong Kong heyday with Jackie in a quest for a boy and medallion with magical powers
Melies Cinemagician (2011)
Compilation of Georges Melies Shorts
Melies Cinemagician was a special screening of a selection of films from Georges Melies presented by Vancouver’s Vancity Theater to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth
Mickey 17 (2025)
Cloning/Planetary Colonisation
Parasite director Bong Joon Ho makes an SF film with Robert Pattinson as a clone(s) on a planetary colonisation expedition who becomes embroiled in trying to save an alien species
The Midnight Hour (1985)
Halloween Special
Classic Halloween tv special. As with most of its ilk, it places the focus on a light-hearted treatment where the monsters are no more serious than Halloween revelers
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Secret Home for "Gifted" Youths
Tim Burton used to be the great hope of fantastic cinema but his efforts since 2000 have disappointed. This Young Adult adaptation plays out like a fantasy version of the X-Men
Mistress Frankenstein (2000)
Adult Frankenstein Film
The Frankenstein film, which deals with grave robbing and hideously scarred corpses, seems an unlikely choice for adult movie treatment. This is one of the offerings
Moloch (2022)
Folk Horror
A Dutch-made Folk Horror film about the discovery of a witch’s body in a bog. This is a slow burn film that creates a mystery that eventually comes together with great subtlety
Monstersdotcom (2003)
Horror Anthology
A video-released compilation of horror short films all set around the titular website, all of which are above average entries
The Mortuary Assistant (2026)
Videogame Adaptation/Sinister Morgue
Based on a videogame, a film set at a morgue where a new assistant has to fight off supernatural forces and complete a series of rituals to prevent herself from becoming possessed
Mother of Flies (2025)
Dark Sorcery/Healing
The Adams Family are one of the most impressive genre talents of recent years. It has been fascinating watching them explore a dark version of American folk horror – this goes into their darkest places yet
The Mummy (1999)
Revived Mummy/Adventure
Nominal remake of the Boris Karloff The Mummy, which has now been inflated into a big budget Indiana Jones adventure. Stephen Sommers lets the film overspill with CGI spectacle but the exercise is deflated by a jokey, unserious attitude
The Mummy (2017)
Revived Mummy
The reboot of the Mummy series emerges as a wannabe Michael Bay film where even star Tom Cruise plays second banana to the CGI eye candy. Equally, an attempt to jumpstart a shared universe out of Universal’s Famous Monsters with the inclusion of Dr Jekyll seems awkward
The Mummy (1959)
Revived Mummy/Hammer Film
After their enormously successful revival of Dracula and Frankenstein, Hammer Films and Terence Fisher turned to revive the mummy film, all with the bold, vivid effect of their early films
The Mummy Rebirth (2019)
Revived Mummy
Low-budget film that would very much like it if we mistook it for one of the Brendan Fraser Mummy films
The Mummy Returns (2001)
Revived Mummy/Adventure
Sequel to the 1999 The Mummy. Here Stephen Sommers amplifies everything in that film by a factor of ten where the constant bombardment by the spectacular reaches an point of absurd overkill
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Revived Mummy/Chinese Adventure
The third of the Brendan Fraser Mummy films that feels like it has no point other than to steal $10 from your hand and give you a bucket of content free mental popcorn in return
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
Universal Mummy Film
This was the fourth and final of Universal’s Mummy films starring Lon Chaney Jr. However, by this point the series had become trapped in a series of repetitive plot moves
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
Universal Mummy Film
This was the fourth and second to last of Universal’s Mummy films with Lon Chaney Jr in the role of Kharis. By now the series has been reduced to a well-worn formula
The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
Universal Mummy Film
The first and best of Universal’s Mummy sequels with Tom Tyler in the role, this achieves modest atmosphere
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
Universal Mummy Film
The third of Universal’s Mummy films where Lon Chaney Jr inherits the role of Kharis
My Boyfriend’s Back (1993)
Teen Zombie Comedy
Not particularly funny Disney comedy in which a teenager returns from the dead as a zombie and nobody seems to notice any difference. Does contain a number of before-they-were-famous names
The Naked Witch (1964)
Revived Witch
This was the first film from ultra low-budget director Larry Buchanan, a nudie about a witch burned at the stake who rises to seek vengeance against the descendants of her persecutors
Necronomicon (1993)
H.P. Lovecraft Anthology
Anthology of three H.P. Lovecraft tales from directors Christophe Gans, Brian Yuzna and Shusuke Kaneko. For claiming such a quintessentially Lovecraftian title as this, you feel that it should have been more than it is
Necropolis (1987)
Revived Witch
Ridiculous cheap 1980s video release about a witch burned at the stake returned as a New Wave punkette to claims souls
Nekrotronic (2018)
Demon Hunters
The second film from the director of Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead about demon hunters. A great deal has been expanded on the creature effects and in building the film’s mythology.
Netherworld (1992)
Voodoo in the Bayous
One of the better films from Charles Band’s Full Moon Productions set amid voodoo rites in the American South and creating an atmosphere of exotic/erotic mystery
The Next One (1984)
Mysterious Visitor
A very strange film where widow Adrienne Barbeau finds an amnesiac Keir Dullea on a Greek island who shows mysterious abilities and may have come from the future
Night Life (1989)
Teen Zombies
Teen horror variant on the zombie film. Scott Grimes gets a job at his uncle’s morgue only for a lightning bolt to revive his school bullies as zombies.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Alien Slugs/Resurrection of the Dead/Genre Homage
Alien body snatchers comedy that feels less like a film than an extended fanboy in-joke
Night of the Dead “Leben Tod” (2006)
Zombies
Entry in the 00s zombie revival fad from the early days of The Asylum, this is the most gore-drenched zombie film ever made. Overlooked but a better film than you think
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Campy Supernatural Retribution
Sequel to a film that few people remember, this is all campy one-liners and gory set-pieces conducted with a silliness that boggles the mind
Night of the Scarecrow (1995)
Warlock Resurrects as a Scarecrow
Film concerning a warlock resurrected in the body of a scarecrow seeking revenge. This is conceived around a series of novelty makeup effects but director Jeff Burr treats the material seriously and with reasonable results
Nightworld (2017)
Security Guard Takes a Mysterious Job
This is a horror film that comes with one of the most captivating and original build-ups of any film seen of recent. A man is hired to simply watch a locked doorway – only to then finding things moving
Nina Forever (2015)
Dead Ex-Girlfriend Keeps Turning Up in Bed
The best Clive Barker film that Clive Barker never made. A girl hooks up with a guy only to find that his dead ex-girlfriend insists on joining them in bed during sex and won’t leave. Similar to the recent disappointingly tame Burying the Ex but this pushes the concept to soul-baring extremes
Ninja Scroll (1993)
Anime/Ninja vs Demonic Forces
One of the most extraordinary of all anime films – apparently a favourite of The Wachowskis (you can see they’ve borrowed moves from it), concerning ninja facing supernaturally empowered assassins demonic forces, directed with an extraordinary visual stylism
Ninjas vs Zombies (2008)
Action Team vs Zombies
Likeable film made by fans about a ninja team formed to deal with a zombie onslaught
The Ninth (2019)
Occult Murders in 19th Century St Petersburg
Visually stunning Russian film with a clairvoyant and a police inspector teaming up to solve a series of occult murders in 19th Century St Petersburg
Nudist Colony of the Dead (1991)
Gonzo Zombie Musical
This holds the distinction of being the world’s first gonzo zombie film – oh and the first zombie musical too. Not many zombies (or nude bodies), the song lyrics are occasionally amusing but the film’s humour is schoolboyish, and the effort amateurish on the whole
The Offering (2016)
Occult Happenings
Singaporean film that offers an assemblage of cliches elements from various horror films in a mishmash of hauntings, possession, occult happenings and ominous Biblical portents that make little sense in terms of explanatory rationale
Officer Downe (2016)
Undead Cop/Graphic Novel Adaptation
Comic-book adaptation about a cop that is resurrected from the dead to take on the toughest assignments. Feels like a throwback to an 80s film like Maniac Cop or Dead Heat where the film is killed by the tiresomely cliched appropriation of the faux grindhouse aesthetic
Ominous (2015)
Devil Child
Another of the films with sinister-sounding adjectives that sprung up in the wake of Insidious, this is a cut price copy of The Omen about a child resurrected from the dead who causes a series of deaths
Ordet (1955)
Religion and Miracles
Carl Dreyer, the Danish director of Vampyr and The Passion of Joan of Arc, is one of the least well-known great directors. This, his second-to-last film, concerns itself with the nature of religion and miracles. A very weighty Bergman-esque piece, it arrives at an astonishing ending
The Other Side of the Door (2016)
Resurrected Ghost Child
From Johannes Roberts, the director of 47 Meters Down and other works, an undeniably spooky variant on Pet Sematary set in Mumbai as a mother unwittingly resurrects her late son’s spirit
Overlord (2018)
Nazi Mad Science Experiments
J.J. Abrams’ produced film about soldiers encountering Nazi mad science experiments during WWII. Despite a decent budget thrown at it, this was a box-office failure. It may be that in a genre where we have gravitated to films about Nazi zombies and Nazi moonbases, this was just too tame
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Christian Torture Film
Mel Gibson wants to give us a film that shows Jesus’s suffering leading up to the Crucifixion but has taken it to such an extreme that he has actually created a Torture Porn film that gives the Saw and Hostel franchises a run for their money
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Greek Myth in the Present Day
This sequel is marginally better than the first film (largely due to Chris Columbus no longer being in the director’s chair), being more dramatically engaged and with effects that feel less like random eye candy. That still doesn’t disguise the fact that the Percy Jackson series is no more than a lightweight and forgettable Harry Potter knockoff
Pet Sematary (2019)
Resurrection of the Dead/Stephen King Adaptation
Remake of the Stephen King novel that opened to very divided reaction. The surprise about the film is bar one central aspect it is surprisingly faithful to the book. On the other hand, the changes make the crucial difference
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023)
Resurrection of the Dead
A sequel, or more correctly, prequel to the recent remake of the Stephen King novel. This has some legitimacy in that it is adapted from a story recounted in the book
Pet Sematary (1989)
Resurrection of the Dead/Stephen King Adaptation
An okay Stephen King adaptation that does nothing particularly wrong but lacks the impact that has caused people to regard the novel as one of the best of King’s works
Pet Sematary II (1992)
Resurrection of the Dead
Sequel to the 1989 Pet Sematary that reverses the sympathies of the original – now it is a child that resurrects a parent – but this never quite finds the same effectiveness
Phantasm (1979)
Dream Horrors/Other-Dimensional Grave Robbers
Cult film from Don Coscarelli that takes place in a funereal twilight world and is filled with images of wild surrealism. Not a lot makes sense but the film is meant to operate on the logic of a dream. Several sequels followed.
Phantasm II (1988)
Dream Horrors/Other-Dimensional Grave Robbers
The first and best of Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm sequels, one that creates an eerie twilight zone ambience that sits between dream and reality
Phantasm III (1994)
Dream Horrors/Other-Dimensional Grave Robbers
The third of Don Soscarelli’s Phantasm films reunites many of the regulars and goes some way towards offering explanations for everything
Phantasm: Ravager (2016)
Dream Horrors/Other-Dimensional Grave Robbers
Phantasm was a cult hit with its eerie otherworldly dream horrors. It spawned four sequels of which this is probably the last given that Angus Scrimm died earlier this year. The series peaked a couple of films ago and here the regulars pander to a comfortable familiarity without adding anything new to the mix
The Phoenix Project (2015)
Experiments in the Resurrection of the Dead
Film contained in the single location of a house as a team of four scientists struggle to perfect a process that will resurrect the dead. Normally, you would expect this is to come out as a horror film but the approach here is more akin to a film like Primer
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
Pirate Fantasy Swashbuckler
The second of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Johnny Depp and all the principals are back and much of the eccentric humour is present but the action has undergone budget bloat
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Alien Invasion/Classic Bad Movie
This has become legendary as the Worst Film Ever Made. Maybe it is but the audience that celebrates its technical gaffes, the purple prose and bizarre bheind-the-scenes stories has contrarily made it one of cultish fascination
Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Mysterious Planet/Alien Possessed Dead
Cult Italian horror director Mario Bava makes an SF film where explorers find an alien planet where aliens possess the dead (not vampires despite the title). In many ways a precursor of Alien
Poor Things (2023)
Frankenstein Film
Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone conduct a revisionist take on the Frankenstein film. This ended up a critical favourite at most of the 2023 awards with Emma winning the show in an hilarious performance
Practical Magic (1998)
Modern Witches
Chick Flick with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as two sisters from a family of witches. The film never really settles on a consistent tone between comedy, thriller or romance and veers all over the place
The Princess Bride (1987)
Fairytale Romance/Swashbuckler
Swashbuckling fairytale that treads a fine line between deconstruction and parody, while reveling in a script where the dialogue positively dances. Perfectly cast – a film that few do not come out enjoying its ebullient fantasy
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Anime/Epic Fantasy
Stunning work of fantasy from Hayao Miyazaki. Made on an epic-sized story canvas and with a breathtaking beauty, this is one of the few original screen works to capture something of the nature and scale of written epic fantasy
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000)
War Between Angels
The third of the Prophecy films with Christopher Walken as the angel Gabriel. This time the wry humour and interplay of ideas of the other films feels more thinly drawn
The Prophecy (1995)
War Between Angels
Standout film about angels warring on Earth that dispenses with any cutsie depiction of angels. Several sequels followed.
The Prophecy II (1998)
War Between Angels
An okay sequel to the angel wars film The Prophecy, the first of several. As in the previous film, a returning Christopher Walken steals the show and gets all the best lines
Psychomania (1973)
Undead Biker Gang
Hard to find Anglo-horror effort that has been long considered an item of must-see fascination for its premise of an undead biker gang, including the central image of the gang leader erupting from the grave on his motorcycle. The film unfortunately has a prosaic dullness that belies such imaginative wildness
Re-Animator (1985)
Resurrection of the Dead/Splatter Black Comedy/H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation
This was one of the classic 1980s splatter films. Stuart Gordon throws most of H.P. Lovecraft’s tone out the window and goes for hilariously black comedy served up with outrageously over-the-top effects
Re-Elected (2020)
Zombies of US Presidents
Horror comedy about an attack by the zombies of resurrected former US Presidents
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
Space Opera
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon was intended as a two-part space opera saga. This first half emerged watchably and this is Part Two
Reign of the Supermen (2019)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
Second half of the two-part animated adaptation of The Death of Superman, which depicts the aftermath where Metropolis is puzzled over the appearance of four impostors all claiming to be the real Superman
Rest in Peace (1982)
Haunted Mausoleum
Forgotten 1980s horror where Meg Tilly accepts a dare to spend a night in a mausoleum as a powerful psychic returns to life
The Resurrected (1992)
Black Magician's Resurrection/H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation
Alien scripter Dan O’Bannon jumps aboard the 80s/early 90s fad for H.P. Lovecraft adaptations is this directorial outing that eventually develops quite reasonable effect
Resurrected (2023)
Resurrection Process
This has a fascinating premise where the Catholic Church develops a resurrection process, before one priest starts to see a darker conspiracy beneath. Shot in the Screenlife process where the film screen becomes a computer screen
A Resurrection (2013)
Murdered Teen's Supernatural Retribution
Supernatural retribution film with school counselor Mischa Barton dealing with a murdered teen maybe returned from the dead to kill the bullies responsible
The Return of Dr X (1939)
Mad Scientist/Medical Vampire
Not a sequel to Doctor X despite the title, The main footnote this has is that it stars Humphrey Bogart as a vampire lab assistant. Halfway reasonable despite a bad reputation.
The Revenant (2009)
Man Returns from the Dead Black Comedy
Not to be confused with the high-profile Leonardo DiCaprio film, this is a rather amusing film about a soldier who returns home as undead. Rather than the usual zombie/vampire film one would expect, this develops a wonderfully sustained sarcastic tone to expand out as a kind of undead Boondock Saints
Revenge of the Blood Beast (1965)
Resurrected Witch
The first film from Witchfinder General director Michael Reeves. A blatant copy of Mario Bava’s i>Black Sunday that is done in by its cheapness, a lack of anything interesting happening and mismatched comedy elements
Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Cambodian Zombie Secrets
From the brothers who made the classic White Zombie, a similar film about an expedition to Cambodia to find the secret of creating zombies
R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (2022)
Afterlife Police Force
A sequel to R.I.P.D. that tells an origin story of how the sheriff character played by Jeff Bridges in the original became an afterlife enforcement officer
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Afterlife Police Force
This feels like someone has simply copied the idea of a secretive law enforcement agency from
Risen (2021)
Mysterious Alien Meteorite Strike
Interestingly mysterious film about the investigation into a zone affected by an alien meteorite
Riverworld (2003)
All of Humanity Resurrected on an Alien Planet
The first adaptation of Philip Jose Farmer’s series of novels where every person who ever lived is resurrected on an alien planet is given an abysmal treatment as a tv movie that ditches and rewrites major aspects of the books
Riverworld (2010)
All of Humanity Resurrected on an Alien Planet
The second tv mini-series of Philip Jose Farmer’s classic SF novels trashes the books just as badly as the first attempt. The premise and characters are indifferently rewritten, while the show is churned out by a director with a tatty indifference to what he is making
Santo and Blue Demon vs the Monsters (1970)
Mexican Wrestler Superhero vs the Famous Monsters
Another of the films from the Mexican wrestling superhero Santo where he and his friend Blue Demon encounter assorted Famous Monsters raised by a mad scientist
Saving Grace (1998)
Contemporary Jesus
Uneven New Zealand-made film where a girl meets a mystery man who claims that he is Jesus Christ
Scarecrows (1988)
Field of Undead Scarecrows
An overlooked effort from the direct-to-VHS era concerning itself with a field of undead scarecrows. Amid the numerous zombie and splatter effects efforts of the day that were being churned out, this settles in with an unusual atmosphere that is often hard to shake
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012)
Sword and Sorcery
The best of an otherwise lightweight, throwaway series. Roel Reiné directs some good action scenes, even if the hackneyed plotting never lets the show rise to anything more than average
Seed (2007)
Executed Killer's Revenge
Uwe Boll ventures into Torture Porn territory with this tale of a brutish serial killer who returns from the electric chair on a trail of vengeance against his condemners
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Arabian Nights Adventures
One of the classic films from cult stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen, an Arabian Nights fantasy adventure where Harryhausen’s creations prove to be quite wondrous
Shanks (1974)
Puppeteer Resurrects the Dead
The last film of gimmick master William Castle, a head-scratching oddity where mime artist Marcel Marceau plays a puppeteer who gains the ability to bring people back to life and control them like puppets
Shatter Dead (1994)
The Resurrected Dead
A film that deserves a cult reputation, this is possibly the most unique and original take on the zombie film I have ever come across
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Sherlock Holmes vs Black Magic
Guy Ritchie’s reinvention of Sherlock Holmes seemed a miscalculated disaster in the offing. It doesn’t radically reinvent the basics but emerges passably well
Shikoku (1999)
Japanese Ghost Story
Spookily effective Japanese ghost story about a mother’s pilgrimage around a series of shrines to raise her daughter’s spirit from the dead
Shocker (1989)
Executed Killer's Supernatural Revenge
Wes Craven’s attempt to top his A Nightmare on Elm Street and the phenomenon that Freddy Krueger subsequently became was this remarkably silly film with Mitch Pileggi as a serial killer returned from the electric chair
Shrunken Heads (1994)
Disembodied Heads Take Revenge
Another film from Charles Band’s Full Moon Production centred around dolls – in this case, three murdered youths who are resurrected as flying shrunken heads. A film that never quite lives up to the outlandishness of its premise
Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out! (1989)
Christmas Slasher Film/Resurrected Killer
The third in the Christmas slasher series where the killer’s brother is resurrected like a Frankenstein monster and develops an obsession with a blind girl. Played with far more seriousness than it deserves
Silent Rage (1982)
Action Film/Resurrected Psycho
A Chuck Norris horror film! One of his earlier films where Chuck is pitted against a psycho who is resurrected from the dead and becomes a near-invincible killing machine
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
Arabian Nights Adventure
The third of Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films, this came out the same year as Star Wars and Harryhauden’s stop-motion animated creatures look much more flat in comparison
SleepStalker (1995)
Boogeyman
Clearly influenced by A Nightmare on Elm Street, this is a film about an executed killer who returns as a dream boogeyman who transforms from a flow of sand