THE REJUVENATOR – With a title like that, an eighties vintage and gimmicks that include an injectable serum that could be revolutionary but ends up being the cause of some tacky prosthetic special effects, it’s not hard to see where ‘The Rejuvenator’ is coming from. An aging actress thinks that putting her money behind a newly discovered elixir of youth will wipe away her sorrows and worry lines; the mad doctor in her employ is no Herbert West, but he’s willing to stoop to murder to sort it all out. ‘The Rejuvenator’ should be a pleasant enough diversion for VHS completists looking for another dose of nostalgia. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t undergone some kind of Hi Def rejuvenation of its own. All the elements are there, but don’t get your hopes up if you’re after something that really captures the spirit of all that stuff, its excesses are as reined in as the workmanlike style, the delivery and performances wouldn’t be out of step with soap operas and commercials from around the time, and for every moment of nicely grotesque expanding monster head freakery there’s a couple of stretches of people in lab coats arguing. There are a few funny bits, though. What about that glam goth cockney grave robber? He seems more interesting than the rest of ‘The Rejuvenator’ put together, and why is he carrying a fishing rod? Perhaps that’s the one question that can never be asked of a film where all the answers are basically “it’s a third-rate eighties B movie”.
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