Page 203 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

FIGURE 39 International terror: the monster stalks in Arachnid (2001)

ADDENDUM: 2 0 0 4

The above interview was conducted in March 2001 at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic
Films when the Fantastic Factory was in its infancy. When I interviewed Brian Yuzna again earlier last
year, I was able to assess the progress of his production house to date. Rather than suffering from the
potential crash and burn scenario that the director outlined, the Fantastic Factory appears to be going
from strength to strength as its personnel adapt to the unique trans-national sets of influences and
modes of production that they are operating within. For instance, some commentators complained
that early releases such as Faust were only partly successful in their integration of American genre
motifs with European styles and idiosyncrasies. However, more recent productions such as Beyond
Re-Animator (2003) indicate that Yuzna's pursuit of a trans-European excess has paid dividends as the
Fantastic Factory has evolved.
This sequel to the 1980s horror classic finds the mad scientist Herbert West incarcerated in a
prison for his crimes, though he still cannot resist dabbling with body parts and the living dead.
With its doses of excessive gore punctuated with moments of very dark humour, Beyond Re-Animator
maintains the trademark features of Yuzna's American output, while its visual style and casting reflects
an increasing European sensibility. Not only did the film make effective use of Spanish locations for its
central prison sequences, but the film also featured the self-reflexive casting of local pop culture icons
such as Santiago Sagura, who plays a whacked-out convict who fatally shoots up West's re-animating
serum. Also featured in the movie is the Spanish pin-up Elsa Pataki, whose clean-cut, domestic image
was subverted when Yuzna cast her as a undead dominatrix with a penchant for penis biting. With
its fusion of American and European genre-film influences, Beyond Re-Animator has proved to be a
crowd pleaser that confirms the Fantastic Factory as one of the most exciting projects to evolve in
horror filmmaking for quite a while.

189