I'm really impressed by these new Lovecraft movies Full Moon is putting out. Sure they're low budget but the cast is really solid and it has a nice clean look. And the guy playing Herbert West is outstanding. Kinda still don't like the way these are put out in episodes but if you play along they're lots of fun. Looking forward to more.

After having enjoyed The Resonator: Miskatonic U (2021) and really feeling it was a step-up from some of Full Moon's other recent films, this sequel felt a bit underwhelming. Just like the previous (and upcoming) film, it again is split up/consists of 2 episodes, "The Rise of Kathogra" and "Herbert West Returns".

This film is basically a crossover between From Beyond (1986) and Re-Animator (1985). The tone is good, the acting was decent, the numerous gory practical effects looked solid and Herbert West was well portrayed. But sadly it altogether felt a bit shallow, some switching between scenes was rather sudden, character development is non-existent and the stretching out a film into 2 'episodes' still bugs me. I understand the decision why, since they're now able to put out 1 film 3 times (2 episodes and 1 feature-length release), but it honestly doesn't feel like there's much of a feature-length movie in here (combing both and removing credits of one leaves about 48 minutes).

Although not quite on the level of The Resonator: Miskatonic U (2021) for me, I enjoyed this and it's nice seeing Full Moon getting some 'bigger' names attached again, like Michael Paré.

4.5/10.