Forty years ago, Barbara Crampton was at the beginning of her screen career when director Stuart Gordon cast her in his debut film “Re-Animator,” a wildly funny and audacious horror movie based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. “I had come from the theater and it was one of my first jobs,” Crampton told IndieWire. “I had worked with Brian De Palma for a minute and on a soap opera, but I think I was too green to understand that we were doing something special.”
“Re-Animator” was something special indeed, a bold and original film that not only ignored the boundaries of good taste but demolished them, yet exhibited an artistry that earned it positive reviews from critics like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert. “Re-Animator” quickly attracted a cult following, thanks to Gordon’s rollercoaster script, cinematographer Mac Ahlberg’s dynamic and expressive visual style, and performances (from Crampton as well as co-stars Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, and David Gale) that felt more grounded and assured than what one was used to seeing in low-budget horror.
Gordon who, like Crampton, had a background in theater, rehearsed the actors for three weeks before shooting, a choice that Crampton said was instrumental in giving the actors the confidence they needed to hit the ground running once the arduous low-budget shoot began. Because De Palma had been similarly thoughtful and rigorous in his approach when Crampton worked on “Body Double,” the actress was surprised to learn later how exceptional her experience on “Re-Animator” had been.
“Working with Stuart and Brian, I thought, ‘Oh, this is how it is in Hollywood,’” Crampton said. “You get three weeks of rehearsal and then you make the movie. And that’s never happened to me again.” During the rehearsal process Gordon and the actors delved into the characters’ motivations for each scene and over the course of the film as a whole, which helped Crampton stay focused during the long days covered in gore. “Most days we were on the set for a minimum of 13, 14, 16 hours, because Stuart wouldn’t stop filming. Everything on the set was slippery and gooey. But I learned to use that as part of the reality in the moment,” she said.
The extreme gore in the movie was an extension of Gordon’s overall filmmaking philosophy. “We used to say about Stuart, ‘More is not enough,’” Crampton said. “If you were crying in a scene, he wanted more crying, and if you were fighting he wanted more anger. I think that comes from him being a theater director — even on film he wanted us to play to the back of the house. It’s why so many of his films are big and grand and really fill up the space.”
Even though “Re-Animator” is beloved by horror fans largely due to its Grand Guignol set pieces, Crampton says she never felt like the gore was Gordon’s priority — one of the reasons why “Re-Animator” has aged so well and continues to have such an impact on audiences. “A lot of directors focus on their shot list and how they want the movie to look, but for Stuart the most important thing was the energy that passed between two actors,” Crampton said.
“Even if it was big, he wanted it authentic, and he would talk with you a lot about every moment. ‘What are you thinking? What are you feeling? What do you want?’ He always said the actor is the best special effect,” she said. The environment Gordon created helped Crampton with her biggest challenge on the film, which was simply adjusting to the fact that the scenes were shot out of continuity — something she hadn’t faced yet in her career.
“Up until then I had mostly been doing plays, and I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that you had to shoot things out of order,” Crampton said. “ I made graphs for myself, and made a lot of notes in my script about where I should be emotionally in a scene. It was it was like a little treasure map through the script — here I’m going to find this piece of gold, and I’m going to find this diamond here. Just to remind myself of where I was each day and of what I had done before. The rehearsal did help me feel like I was really dialed in for every scene, but it was still daunting.”
Crampton began to get a sense of how well the movie worked when she went to see it with an audience at the El Capitan on Hollywood Boulevard right after it opened. ”The theater was full, and people were hooting and hollering,” she said. “It was an amazing response, and I had chills. I thought, ‘I have arrived. This movie’s going to do great things for me.’ But back then people didn’t look at movies like this like they were a stepping stone to something else. I called my agents and said, ‘Look how great this movie’s doing. Does this mean I can meet some people and get some wonderful jobs?’ It was a shrug to them. They were like, ‘Eh, it’s a low budget horror movie.’”
Crampton did go on to an eclectic and successful career that included an extended stint on “The Young and the Restless,” as well as more horror films for Gordon and his peers as well as a later generation of suspense filmmakers that include Adam Wingard (“You’re Next”) and Travis Stevens (who directed Crampton to one of her finest performances in the underrated “Jakob’s Wife”).
After 40 years in horror, Crampton feels the genre is finally getting the respect it deserves in the age of auteurs like Jordan Peele and Ari Aster. “We’ve always been the ugly stepchild, but every year we get thought of as a little more legitimate,” Crampton said. “Major stars are doing horror movies now. Look at Demi Moore in ‘The Substance.’ That wouldn’t have happened even 10 years ago. She just wouldn’t have accepted that role.”
Even in the case of “Re-Animator,” Crampton said its massive popularity felt like a slow build. “I went to my first horror movie convention in the mid-’90s, and there was a line out the door of people wanting me to autograph pictures from ‘Re-Animator.’ I thought, ‘Oh, this movie’s a hit, 10 years later,’” she said.
Now, “Re-Animator” has been newly restored in a pristine 4K presentation that is currently making its way around theaters nationwide and is available as a special edition physical media release from Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures. The 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases are available in four different packages depending on one’s level of “Re-Animator” fandom (the most deluxe box comes with a David Gale bobblehead), and each of them is loaded with extra features, including interviews with Crampton and her costars.
For Crampton, the film’s enduring popularity is an ongoing gift. “I’m forever thankful,” she said. “A lot of artists die and then they’re revered. It’s great to still be alive and have people recognize your work.”
The special edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases of “Re-Animator” are exclusively available from Ignite Films. For an exclusive clip from the restoration, click play on the video at the top of this article.
