# Animating a corpse. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763 "2003-03-16T08:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/1 "2003-03-16T08:00:35Z")
I am aware that brain death means that a body will die without mechanical assistance. How long can a body be dead, and then brought back to “life” that’s supported via mechanical assistance. ie: I have a body. It’s been dead 24 hours. I hook the body up to a blood exchanger, and a respirator. Zap the heart with a defibrilator. Is it gonna start up? If so, how long down the road can I do this? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/2 "2003-03-16T08:52:38Z")
Do you need the answer in a hurry? or perhaps there’s something you outta be telling someone… Well, seriously, you should look at the child-fallen-through-the-ice phenomenon, where up to 30 minutes can go by, and still be revived with no lasting injuries. OTOH, re-reading your question, you seem to be willing to disregard the brain in favour of the other organs. Mayhaps investigating organ donation would help? ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/3 "2003-03-16T10:45:04Z")
No, just kind of curious. On a totally unrelated note, does anyone know where I can buy a LOT of ice? 😃 Actually, it’s just been something I’ve wondered about for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/4 "2003-03-16T10:54:07Z")
The main problem is getting the lightning to strike just as you attach the electrodes. BTW I do hope you meant “e.g.” (for example) not “i.e.” (specific circumstance). ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/5 "2003-03-16T14:06:21Z")
All you need is some 2-4-5 Trioxin and you’ll have more animated corpses than you can shake a stick at. ---
**Author:** ![pung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pung)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/6 "2003-03-16T14:30:42Z")
I think you’ll find everything you’ll need here: [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098627](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098627) ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/7 "2003-03-16T15:54:54Z")
Just have them go through basic rifle drills a few times and they- Oh, you said corps_ **e** _! Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/8 "2003-03-16T16:10:32Z")
I’m not a doctor but: Enzymes begin to break down in the cells after death. Once too many of these are gone, death is irreversible. I believe in most cases the enzyme decay will pass the critical point within a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/9 "2003-03-16T16:26:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pung \* > \*\*I think you’ll find everything you’ll need here: > [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098627](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098627) \*\* I prefer this one: [Re-Animator](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0089885) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/10 "2003-03-16T18:07:10Z")
First, you need a hunchback named Igor (or I-gor, whichever). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/11 "2003-03-16T18:38:39Z")
Here’s a Staff Report that may be of interest: [Would Frankenstein’s monster be possible today?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfrankenstein.html) ---
**Author:** ![Carcosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@Carcosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carcosa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/12 "2003-03-16T20:17:05Z")
Good news for you, I understand that they are getting ready to release the Dr. Phibes movies on DVD. Also, I think there was a book several years ago entitled Escape Velocity that had a photograph of a “Rabot” - a reanimated rabbit corpse (solenoids, etc…). Not sure what the rabbit thought of it, but it was an interesting photograph. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/13 "2003-03-16T20:29:40Z")
**jjim** ’s comment seems to be pretty much on target. IIRC, in the film Re-Animator one of the medical professors was insistent that brain death occurs in six to eight minutes. I can’t imagine a source more authoritive than _that_. This excludes circumstances such as where a person’s body “shuts down” from hypothermia; arguably, a person with a stopped heart who is pulled out of frozen water and later revived was not truly dead, only very, very close. Once all the idicia of death have been truly reached the individual cells in the body rapidly begin a subtle breakdown which would prevent reanimation. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/14 "2003-03-16T20:35:41Z")
Appropos of Dr. Phibes, it will be interesting to see if the DVD version of the second film includes Vincent Price singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. It is not included in the VHS version, although a note on the packaging mentions that a recording was made with the intention of playing it over the closing credits. I distinctly recall seeing the film on TV years ago and hearing the song at the end. There are, of course, a lot of anomalies like that when comparing versions of a film which appear at various times. It is said that the rated version of Re-Animator is longer than the unrated version; apparently the unrated includes scenes of extreme violence which were deleted from the theatrical version, but then other footage had to be added to the theatrical version so that the film would still make sense. Sorry if this is considered a hijack… ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/15 "2003-03-16T20:41:35Z")
Just in case anyone was wondering, the “Rabot” was an art project if memory serves. Some joker attached an exoskeleton to a dead rabbit and had it walk around. Creepy, to be sure, but at no time was the rabbit corpse “reanimated” except in the very loosest sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/16 "2003-03-16T20:49:47Z")
Along the lines of the rabot, could we hook up a human’s muscles to electrodes well enough to create a `meat animatronic’? I’m talking about forgetting (and, perhaps, removing) the brain and focusing on keeping the muscles active and mobile via a remote-controlled apparatus that’s essentially the logical end-product of Galvani’s work with frog legs. I know we can keep brain-dead people’s tissues alive via a heart-lung machine. I don’t know if we can achieve the level of control over the rest of the muscles to make it, say, walk around. So, anyone want to help tackle the problem of creating meat puppets? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Carcosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@Carcosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carcosa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/17 "2003-03-16T22:01:40Z")
As a matter of curiosity, why bother with saving the “meat”? If my body were severely damaged I’d much rather have my brain wired into a machine than spending a lot of time and trouble patching up a much more fragile structure. Of course, I’d like to have mobility and be able to manipulate objects, etc… It would be a real pain just to end up on your ex-wife’s mantel. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animating-a-corpse/161763/18 "2003-03-17T01:57:14Z")
Since we are pretty much off track anyway: There’s an old Gahan Wilson cartoon where someone is visiting a person in the hospital. The “person” consists of a brain floating in a big jar of liquid which is connected to a lot of machines and an audio speaker. The caption, IIRC, was: “The doctors say they’ve never seen a case exactly like mine before”. I’m betting he was a real bore and told people that everytime they visited.