Is it possible to reanimate the dead?

I've seen some posts about this topic already, but it doesn't quite answer my question. I have also recently read the book by Mary Shelly, "Frankenstein", and saw the 1994 movie and unfortunately had the task of doing a research paper about if you can "reanimate" the dead. I looked in Google and Wikipedia for such a task but alas no prevail. I also saw this video http://www.archive.org/details/Experime1940 and it shows Russian scientists reanimating parts of a dead dog and a deceased dog itself. So I would like a professional to provide insight to my question and hopefully tell me if this is possible or not. Thanks!!!