On This Day in Horror History: ‘Haunted Honeymoon,’ ‘Maximum Overdive,’ and ‘Beyond Re-Animator’ Were Released

Over time July 25^th has proven relatively fruitful for horror fans, with both Haunted Honeymoon and Maximum Overdrive arriving in 1988 and Beyond Re-Animator landing on home video on the same day, July 25^th, 2003.

Gene Wilder’s Haunted Honeymoon didn’t wow at the box office. It drew a somewhat underwhelming $8 million in ticket sales and opened at number eight in the Box Office top 10. Just the same, the film would go on to garner an enormous following on home video. It’s now widely recognized as one of Wilder’s true masterworks.

Maximum Overdrive didn’t do any better. It opened one position higher at the Box Office, but ultimately topped out with a $7 million take. Today the film is a cult classic, and although Stephen King was greatly disappointed with the film and his own direction (he would never again direct a film), fans still adore the outlandish and often uber-bloody moments of the film. And come on, Emelio Estevez is in the flick!

As for Beyond Re-Animator, the distributors bypassed any serious attempts at a lengthy theatrical release, instead opting for minimal screen showings and a direct-to-DVD release. Like the other two films in the trilogy, this one is insane. Seeing as it was released in 2003 it also features some gnarly visuals that may have been a potential problem a few decades prior. And, just for the record, although the film did head home directly, don’t assume it’s a terrible film: there’s something to enjoy in the entire Re-Animator franchise!