Mar 24
Mesilla Valley Film Society Mesilla, NM
TicketsDr. Charles B. Shuster
Department Head of Biology, New Mexico State University
Re-Animator— Waking the Dead: ¿Es Posible?
Program Description
People can argue about how or when life begins, but death (at least at the cellular level) is fairly easy to define. Bringing the dead (Frankenstein) or inert (Frosty the Snowman) to life pops up frequently in television and cinema, and we’ll try and place what we see in Re-Animator within the context of our current understanding of death.
This event is part of the National Evening of Science on Screen. Learn more.
Film Synopsis
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Adapted from H.P. Lovecraft’s sepulchral 1922 pulp horror story, arguably the first such tale to ever consider scientifically affected corpses as zombies, Re-Animator is Stuart Gordon’s cult classic trip into the realm of the living dead.
Conducting clandestine experiments within the morgue at Miskatonic University, scientist Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) reveals to fellow graduate student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) his groundbreaking work concerning the re-animation of fresh corpses. West’s secret reagent is a powerful injection with the capacity to give life where there is none—destined to capture the imagination of the entire scientific community. However, between life and death is a thin thread of understanding and when obsession gets the better of West, there is no stopping his wicked ways—dead or alive!
Photo credit: Empire Pictures
About the Speaker
Dr. Charles B. Shuster is the Department Head of Biology at New Mexico State University, a position he has held since 2002. His academic career centers on cell biology, with a particular focus on the mechanisms by which cells divide during early development and in the context of disease. Because the study of cell division is inherently intertwined with cancer biology, his research over the past decade has examined why cells die (or don’t die) when they are unable to complete division in response to specific chemotherapeutic drugs. Outside of his professional pursuits, Shuster spends his time hiking and fly fishing in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. Outside of his professional pursuits, Shuster spends his time hiking and fly fishing in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado.