Welcome back to FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY, where every Friday, two of our favorite horror movie baddies will face off against each other! I’ve devised eight-person brackets, each with their own theme! The winner of each bracket will go on to the final bracket where they will compete for the title of FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAYS “KING OF THE MONSTERS!”
When that is said and done, we will have a bonus hero bracket! The winner of the hero bracket will get one shot to take down our “KING OF THE MONSTERS!” For a quick run-down of the rules, click here! To catch up on past fights, click hereand type in FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY!
Today is the first match-up from our Human bracket! HANNIBAL LECTER VS HERBERT WEST (RE-Animator)!!! Let’s get right down to business folks!
HANNIBAL LECTER
The star of several novels, films and even a television show, I’d think it’s safe to say Hannibal is the world’s favorite cannibal. He is extremely intelligent, to borderline genius levels and is stone-cold, calculating and ruthless. A complete sociopath, Hannibal does not feel emotions in the ways that we do, if at all.
He is cultured, refined, a man of class and taste. Prior to being found out, he was a socialite and a well-respected doctor. Not only was he a renowned forensic psychiatrist, he was an accomplished surgeon as well!
Don’t think Hannibal is all brain though. He has above average strength and a background in martial arts. He actually studied the ways of the samurai. (Seriously.)
Fond of speaking in riddles and playing head games with his victims, Hannibal enjoys being smarter than others. He likes playing cat and mouse. Whether it’s a game of wits or a fight, don’t underestimate Hannibal Lecter.
HERBERT WEST
When mentioning mad scientists, you can’t forget Herbert West. He was an obsessive-compulsive Dr. with a cold streak and a half. After creating an agent that can re-animate dead corpses, things go awry.
His moral compass was obviously off-center, but he wasn’t necessarily an evil man. A man of science; his work was his life. His intelligence is off the charts and there aren’t many that could outwit him.
Herbert relies on his brain, not brawn. It will be interesting to see how he fares in a fight.
FIGHT
She'd needed a break from work. From the monotonous slog of controlled tests and data. Sure, there's a certain comfort in the numbers. Numbers don't lie, she can trust them. Unlike some other aspects of her life. Still, the systematic execution of the same mundane tasks day to day can get a bit... tiresome.
So, she traded in her lab coat and non-slip boots for an evening gown and high-heels, and why not? After all, he was a gentleman. A rare type; refined and cultured. A man with more to talk about than sports. He did everything right up to this point, even pulled her chair out when they were sat. Rare indeed.
She sits across from him; the ambiance of the restaurant is warm and intimate. A small candle stands in the middle of the booth. A real candle, not one of those tacky, electric knock offs. She watches the flame dance in his glossy, maroon-brown eyes. He catches her gazing at him and smiles.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asks.
"Yes, of course." An honest smile crosses her lips.
"Good. More Chianti?" He raises the bottle in offer.
"Please."
With the grace of a seasoned waiter at the most lavish place in town, he refills her empty wine glass.
"You seem a bit... distracted. I'd love a piece of your mind." A discreet smile lifts the corners of his thin lips, ever so slightly. His gaze never falters from hers.
"Oh, it's nothing, really. Work stuff."
He pours more Chianti for himself, then raises his glass. "To work stuff, then."
She chuckles and lifts her glass in agreement. The clang echoes through the quiet establishment but goes mostly unnoticed as people enjoy their own meals around them.
"Thank you, I definitely needed a break from..."
"Alice!"
Recognizing the voice immediately, she gently places her head in her hands. "...from that."
"Alice, I've done it! Come quickly, you've got to see!" The man approaches their booth, his white lab coat stained and worn. His glasses are slightly askew.
"A friend of yours, Alice?"
"I'm so sorry. This is my boss and friend Dr. Herbert West. Herbert, this is..."
"Dr. Hannibal Lecter, at your service." His handshake is firm in comparison to Herbert’s. He squeezes harder as he continues... "and where I'm from, it might be considered rude of one to interrupt a lady’s dinner."
Herbert looks back at Alice. “I think I figured it out! I need you to come with me!” Leaning down, he grabs her arm and tugs her to her feet, toppling her wine glass to the floor. It shatters into pieces and this time… everybody notices.
“I will ask you only once to leave.” Hannibal stands as he speaks. His voice calm and serious. His eyes suddenly cold, and empty.
The manager of the restaurant, alarmed by the outburst, makes his way straight to the booth. “Sir, I’m going to have to have to ask you to take it outside. Immediately.”
“He was just leaving,” replies Hannibal.
“Alice, don’t you understand? I think I’ve done it!”
“Herbert, you need to go home and get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”
The manager grabs his arm and escorts him to toward the door.
“I’m so sorry, Herbert’s a good guy. He’s just been… overworking himself.”
“I’m sure he isn’t without his charms.”
“Hey, why don’t get out of here? Head back to my place for some coffee?
Later that evening…
He couldn’t get past the nerve of her. The breakthrough of a lifetime, hell ten lifetimes, possibly ever and she can’t be bothered because she’s out to dinner with some pompous doctor? Who mind you, looked old enough to be her father.
He stands over a dead rat, a syringe full of green serum in his hand. He injects the bright liquid into the animal’s carcass and waits. He stares down at the table intently, watching. Suddenly, a giant, child-like smile comes over his face as the rat’s leg begins to twitch.
He packs up a dead lab rat, another syringe and heads straight to Alice’s house. The incident from earlier the farthest thing from his mind as he tries to think of a way to tell her.
He pulls into her driveway and turns off his lights. It was a small one-story home, nothing fancy. He walks up to the door and knocks gently. All the lights were off, even the television. After knocking again and receiving no reply, he walks around the back of the house. The sliding glass door is slightly ajar. Alice would never leave the door open. She has a cat. He opens the glass door quietly and steps inside. “Hello, Alice? Are you home?” In the moonlight, he can just make out what looks like 2 wine glasses on the kitchen table.
He turns the light on and calls out to her again. “Alice, are you home?” He walks toward her bedroom, figuring she must have had too much wine. He knocks on the door. “Alice. It’s Herbert. I’m sorry about earlier, but I really want to show something that’s going to change our lives!”
He knocks again, wondering how much she must have drunk. After waiting a few more moments, he tries the handle on the door. It gives, so he opens it slowly. “Alice?”
He smells it right away. If you’ve never been around a large amount of blood, it smells exactly the way it tastes. Metallic. Like a dirty penny but with a bite to it. Kind of like licking the end of a nine-volt battery. The sensation makes his stomach turn. Her body lies on the bed, blood is pooled on the floor around it.
“Alice, no! God, no!” He runs to her side, checking her pulse. No use, he’s too late. He falls to his knees by her side, sobbing. They had been friends for a long time. She was the only one who believed in him. It was no exaggeration saying she was all he had left.
He reaches in his lab coat for his handkerchief, his finger brushing against the syringe. Suddenly, a glimmer of hope stifles his grief. Yes! Of course! He removes the syringe from his pocket, taking the protective top off. As he injects the contents into the dead body of his friend and colleague, the closet door behind him cracks open gently, quietly and unnoticed as Hannibal watches patiently.
Alice’s body convulses at first as if going into a seizure. Then, she rises to her feet, staggering this way then that.
“Alice, it’s me. It’s me, Herbert! See? I’ve done it!”
Her eyes begin to bleed from their sockets. Then her ears.
“No! No, damn it!” He watches as her head swells, then explodes. Blood and pieces of bone splash against his face. He lifts his handkerchief and wipes his face solemnly.
“And they say I’m a monster?”
The sudden voice startles Herbert causing him to drop the bloodied cloth to the floor.
“Dr. Lecter, what are you… what are you doing here?”
“Well my boy, I was getting ready to prepare quite the meal, you see.”
“Meal?”
“Why, yes… but I was having trouble deciding if your friend would go better with a crisp white, or a nice dark red. Any suggestions? I’ve never been the best at pairing my wine, honestly.”
“You're insane!”
“Me? Oh, that may be so Dr. but if I’m not mistaken, I just watched you bring a dead girl back to life, only to react as if you expected her head to explode moments later.”
“Dose was too much.”
“Science. A fickle mistress, is she not?”
“She was my friend.”
“I’ll let you know how she tastes. Before I kill you.”
“You bastard!” Herbert rushes Hannibal, grabbing him by his suit coat with one arm and punching him in the face with the other. Blood drips from Hannibal’s lip forming a small red ribbon. He lifts his right hand and wipes it away, looking up at Herbert with a sly gleam in his eyes. Herbert swings again, knocking Hannibal back a few steps.
“That a boy!” Exclaims the cannibal. “Do you feel alive?”
Herbert grabs a ceramic lamp off the end table next to the bed and hits Hannibal in the side of the head. He goes down hard, blood coming from underneath him as he lays on the floor not moving. The doctor struggles to catch his breath, his emotions finally catching up to him as his adrenaline settles down. What was he going to do with two bodies?
He walks over to Lecter, placing his hand on his neck, checking for a pulse. His eyes spring open suddenly as he grabs a hold of Herbert’s arm and pulls him down close. With one vicious motion, he bites down on his jugular, removing his Adam’s apple with his front teeth and spitting it on the floor. Herbert’s body collapses as blood spurts from the wound.
As Dr. West lays bleeding out on the floor, choking on his own blood, Hannibal rises to his feet and brushes himself off. He steps over the helpless dying man and heads to the kitchen. Staring into the cabinet for a moment, he finally decides…dark red it is.
HANNIBAL LECTER
This one had to end with a vicious win for Hannibal. Look, I’m a big Re-Animator fan. Jeff Combs did a great job as Herbert West and as a child that film was one of my favorites! If I’m being honest though, Herbert isn’t much of a fighter.
Yes, he’s diabolically smart and if given time could devise a plan for the win but this is a fight. Hannibal is hardcore and brutal, he’d go right for the kill. I’d also give the intellectual advantage to Lecter here. Although they are both smart, cunning and geniuses in their own right, Hannibal is on a different level.
What do you think? Am I completely wrong? Did you see Herbert coming out on top? If so, how did it play out in your head? Yell at me in the comments below! Check back with us next week for round 2 of our Human bracket, PAPA JUPITER (The Hills Have Eyes) VS THE COLLECTOR!!! Place your bets now! That’s it for now folks! Until next time, keep on geekin’ on, my friends!
Joshua "Prometheus" Scafidi
