Though probably best known as the writer of the original Alien, Dan O’Bannon also had a minor hit as the director of 1985’s Return of the Living Dead. O’Bannon returned to the director’s chair only one more time: 1991’s The Resurrected.

Part of a wealthy family, Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon) works as a chemical engineer, and he uses his skills for an unnatural end. Along with a centuries-old diary written by one of Charles’ ancestors, he performs experiments intended to develop immortality.

Charles does all this at a remote cabin owned by his family, and his seclusion stirs the concerns of his wife Claire (Jane Sibbett). Along with private investigator John March (John Terry), Jane seeks to reach her husband before it’s too late.

Given that O’Bannon’s first directorial effort also focused on deceased people brought back to life, Resurrected seems like an odd choice for his follow-up to Return of the Living Dead. I guess he didn’t worry too much that he’d become “typecast” as a filmmaker.

To be fair, Resurrected doesn’t really remake Return - beyond basics, they share little in common. Resurrected does share more similarities with another film from 1985: Re-Animator. Not only do both movies emanate from HP Lovecraft stories, but also they both emphasize a sense of Gothic horror, unlike the wild, punk rock ethos of Return.

Unfortunately, Resurrected fails to match up with the well-executed Re-Animator. The O’Bannon film seems muddled and unsure of itself, as it offers a wholly forgettable experience.

Much of the time, the movie feels more film noir than horror, and it also exhibits strong Hitchcock influences as well. These dominate the first half, as the film comes across more like a remake of Vertigo than anything else.

The horror side ramps up in the second half, but the story becomes no more involving. We simply never invest in the characters or care about Charles’s work. The film tosses semi-laughable monsters at us without any real impact – we get attempts at scares that lack punch.

The actors don’t help. Sarandon camps it up as nutty Charles, while Terry and Sibbett both feel like exiles from soap operas. None of them add to their bland characters to abet the movie’s success.

The basic substance of Resurrected could’ve worked, but the movie never latches onto an identity. It flails along for 105 minutes and never threatens to become anything entertaining.

The Resurrected appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a bland image.

Sharpness became the biggest issue, as occasional scenes looked awfully soft. Much of the film boasted good delineation, but those fuzzy shots became a notable distraction.

I saw no signs of jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. In terms of print flaws, I witnessed the occasional speck but overall, the movie remained clean.

Colors tended to look decent. The film went with a fairly natural palette but couldn’t bring much life to the hues, so they remained average.

Blacks were okay, as they showed acceptable depth but never became especially impressive. Shadows appeared similarly passable but unexceptional. This became a dated presentation.

Expect a similarly mediocre DTS-HD MA Stereo soundtrack. The channels demonstrated good stereo presence for the score but had little else to do. While effects occasionally spread to the sides, we didn’t get a whole lot of breadth to the affair, so the mix lacked much involvement.

Audio quality appeared acceptable. Speech seemed fairly concise and natural, without obvious edginess or intelligibility issues.

Music fared best, as the score showed reasonable range and punch. Effects remained average, with fair clarity but not a lot of depth. Overall, this was a lackluster mix.

The Blu-ray comes with a mix of extras, and these open with an audio commentary from producers Mark Borde and Kenneth Raich, screenwriter Brent V. Friedman, actor Richard Romanus and makeup effects artist Todd Masters. All five sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, working with director Dan O’Bannon, effects and cinematography, cast and performances, sets and locations, music and connected domains.

On the positive side, this becomes a more coherent chat than I expected, as it balances the five participants well. I worried that the track would turn chaotic, but all involved mesh nicely and don’t talk over each other.

On the negative side, we simply don’t get an especially illuminating chat. Sure, we learn a fair amount about the film, but the commentary moves at a surprisingly sluggish pace given the number of participants, and it never seems better than “decent””. The track’s worth a listen but it feels average to me.

Seven featurettes focus on interviews with movie personnel. Claire’s Conundrum runs 15 minutes, 29 seconds as actor Jane Sibbett. She discusses aspects of her career, with an emphasis on her Resurrected experiences. Sibbett offers a perky personality and gives us some good memories.

Within The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward, we get a 24-minute, 22-second piece with HP Lovecraft biographer ST Joshi. He covers Lovecraft’s life and career, mainly related to the story adapted into Resurrected. Joshi provides a nice roster of insights.

We hear from another actor via The Resurrected Man. This 15-minute, 34-second reel examines actor Chris Sarandon’s work in horror and his time on Resurrected.

Next comes Abominations & Adaptations, a 17-minute, 48-second reel with screenwriter Brent V. Friedman. He discusses the source novel, his script and other memories of the production. This turns into another worthwhile chat.

Music comes to the fore with Grotesque Melodies. It lasts 10 minutes, 14 seconds and features composer Richard Band’s observations about his score. Band delivers a fairly tight overview.

Lovecraftian Landscapes runs seven minutes, 57 seconds and gives us thoughts from production designer Brent Thomas. He lets us know about his work on the movie’s sets in this brief but reasonably good chat.

For the final featurette, we get Human Experiments. It fills 15 minutes, 56 seconds with notes from special effects artist Todd Masters about his creations for the film and other memories. Masters covers the subjects well.

Nine Deleted/Extended Scenes occupy a total of 18 minutes, four seconds. Some of these offer additional exposition, and we get a little more monstrous action as well. None of them seem memorable, though we do find the short nude scene Sibbett refers to in her interview.

A Chainsaw Awards Speech goes for three minutes. Introduced by Bruce Campbell and Quentin Tarantino, we hear from O’Bannon as he accepts a prize for Resurrected. Since we don’t find O’Bannon elsewhere on the disc, it’s nice to get a short glimpse of him.

In addition to both home video and Japanese Trailers, we find a Photo Gallery. It running eight-minute, 10-second collection. It presents 92 images that mix shots from the set, behind the scenes elements and promotional materials. This offers a nice compilation.

Dan O’Bannon boasts a strong horror pedigree, but The Resurrected doesn’t add to that positive history. Messy, overwrought and tedious, the movie lacks any scares or drama. The Blu-ray presents mediocre picture and audio along with mostly informative set of supplements. Resurrected becomes a wholly forgettable affair.