What actually happens
A basement the landlord did not approve
At a university in Zurich, Herbert West revives his dead professor, Dr. Hans Gruber, with horrific side effects. West insists the dose was too large and, when accused of killing him, says he gave the man life. He then moves to Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, to continue his studies, and rents a room from a fellow medical student, Dan Cain. West turns the basement into a laboratory and shows Dan his reanimating reagent by reviving Dan's dead cat, Rufus. The cat is vicious that night, so Dan has to kill it, and West then reanimates what is left. Dan is convinced. His fiancée Megan, the daughter of the dean, walks in on the experiment and is horrified.
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A morgue trip to settle an argument
Dan tries to tell the dean about the cat, and the dean hints that both students have lost their minds. Locked out of the school, the pair slip into the morgue to try the reagent on a human body, hoping it will rescue their careers. The corpse wakes in a violent, frenzied state. The dean, Dr. Halsey, walks in, and the corpse kills him before West finishes it with a bone saw. West is delighted at the chance to work with a freshly dead subject and injects Dr. Halsey too. He comes back in the same violent state, Megan arrives and is hysterical, and Dan collapses in shock. Dr. Carl Hill, a colleague of the dean, locks Halsey in a padded room, performs a laser lobotomy on him, and finds that he is dead and reanimated.
Blackmail by microscope
Dr. Hill visits West's basement laboratory and tries to blackmail him into handing over the reagent and his notes, so Hill can take the credit. West agrees to a demonstration and puts a few drops of the reagent on a slide of dead cat tissue. While Hill looks into the microscope, West hits him with a shovel and decapitates him with it. West then reanimates the head and the body separately. While West interrogates the head and takes notes, the body creeps up behind him and knocks him out. The body carries the head back to Hill's office, along with West's reagent and notes.
The morgue scene, with the surprise removed
Reanimated, Dr. Hill discovers that a laser lobotomy lets him control reanimated corpses by thought. He sends Dr. Halsey to take Megan from Dan and has her carried to the morgue, and she faints on the way. Near the end, she wakes up strapped to a table as Hill's body and severed head begin to sexually assault her. That is the scene people dread. West and Dan arrive before it goes further, and West keeps Hill busy while Dan frees Megan. Hill reveals that he has lobotomized and reanimated several more corpses from the morgue to do his bidding, but Megan's voice stirs her father's protective side, and he fights them off as Dan and Megan escape.
The ending, explained
While the corpses fight, West gives Dr. Hill's body a deadly overdose of the reagent. The body mutates quickly and attacks West, who shouts for Dan to save his work before Hill's monstrous entrails pull him away. Dan grabs the satchel with the reagent and notes, and he and Megan flee. On the way out, a reanimated corpse grabs Megan and strangles her. Dan brings her to the hospital's emergency room and works on her, but she does not come back. In despair, he gives her a dose of West's reagent. The film cuts to black on the sound of Megan screaming.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, and no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Re-Animator scary?
Somewhat. Re-Animator is a 4.5 out of 10 with low dread. It is a splatter comedy with a lot of gore and some jump scares, and the horror fades once the film is over.
How does Re-Animator end?
Dr. Hill's mutated body drags Herbert West away, and a reanimated corpse strangles Megan. Dan injects her with West's reagent in the emergency room, and the film cuts to black as she screams.
Does the dog die in Re-Animator?
No dog dies in Re-Animator. A cat does: Dan's cat Rufus is revived, turns vicious, and Dan has to kill it.
Is there a post-credits scene in Re-Animator?
No. Re-Animator has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What does Herbert West's reagent do in Re-Animator?
It brings dead bodies back to life, but the reanimated come back violent and frenzied. Herbert West says his first test in Zurich went wrong only because the dose was too large.
