The 80's is my fav. decade for horror films, because it was a time where it seemed to have a new horror movie in theaters and video every week, but because of that many of them went unnoticed. That is, until decades later where they resurface in old mom-and-pop video stores, or get re-release treatments on DVD. Also known as the ridiculously-titled Rejuvenatrix, this film was obviously inspired by movies like 1985's Re-Animator, and went on as another easily-forgotten and unheard of fair. I stumbled onto the flick recently, and being a fan of the decade, decided to give it a shot.

The premise is pretty simple -- a lonely, old, filthy rich woman becomes the guinea pig of a questionable doctor/scientist's test for a new chemical that can seemingly reduce the signs of aging. This strange chemical is taken mostly from the recently-discovered aging part of the brain that's extracted from corpses. Naturally, the project is proven successful when the once bitter old hag has becomes a younger conceited version of herself. It doesn't take long before the feared side effects occur, turning the woman into a hideous deformed beast. To stop the change, the doctor has to continuously inject her with the chemical, increasing the dosage each time, as her body slowly becomes tolerant of it. Eventually the woman becomes tired of the shots and decides to get the brain matter herself, by killing innocent victims.

I can see why this movie went unnoticed considering it doesn't really offer anything significant to the genre. The premise isn't original and there's not much as far as deaths go. The film is essentially just the woman changing, then reverting back, then changing, then reverting back, until towards the end when she can't take it anymore and the doctor has to find a way to stop her. The make-up effects were fairly decent for its time, and were pretty much the only reason why I bothered even finishing the movie. I kept hoping she'd stay in a permanent creature-state and run amok in the city, causing lots of deaths and mayhem, but that sadly didn't occur. She did, however, cause a bit of trouble in the hospital above the lab for a brief period towards the end.

Yet another cheesy unheard-of 80's horror film that will probably remain that way, as it doesn't really offer anything significant to the genre. However, the effects were decent, and the premise kept my interest. Rent at your own risk.