From Beyond (1986)

The second H.P. Lovecraft adaptation by Stuart Gordon FROM BEYOND is pure Lovecraftian science-terror. Out-there scientist Dr. Pretorious (Ted Sorel) and his assistant Dr. Tillinghast (Jeffery Combs) are working towards breaking through earthly perceptions and revealing a new alternate universe. They do this by stimulating the pineal gland of the human brain which enables people to see the strange creatures that inhabit a parallel dimension. Unfortunately these creatures can now see humans as well and they are none too pleased with it. Dr. Pretorious is killed by the floating monstrosities but the police blame his assistant for the murder and lock him up. Only Dr. Katharine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) believes the insane tales of Dr. Tillinghast and it's up to her to shut down the experiment that threatens to unleash the other-dimensional creatures on this universe forever. Great special effects and solid performances by Combs and Crampton complement a near-perfect realization by Gordon of Lovecraft's vividly detailed and chilling vision of scientific possibilities.System Requirements:Running Time: 85 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 027616085504 Manufacturer No: M108550 Product Description

Wild

Like a lot of people, I first saw "From Beyond" on home video in the late '80s, when I was still in high school. Needless to say, its a movie that makes an impression. Its taken years and years for this film to finally be released legitimately on DVD, and after very recently watching it again for the first time in ages, that original impression has not changed - "From Beyond" is one of the most delightfully gross, perverse and flat out weird horror movies ever made. Sprouting from the kernal of an H.P. Lovecraft short story, Stuart Gordon really takes the film into some very weird and uncomfortable places (no, not the backseat of a Volkswagon), combining physics, psychology, and sexuality into an icky, slimy, grotesque tale that harkens back to and embodies the original source material. How much fun you have watching "From Beyond" really depends on your own sensibilities, but it can't be denied that this is a *bold* and uncompromising movie, particularly this new director's cut, which reincorporates material that was trimmed by order of the MPAA to get the movie an R rating back in the day. Its kind of breathtaking to realize how many lines Gordon was willing to not only step on but waltz over, and then to remember that he did it 20 years ago. Easily one of the best Lovecraft-related films, and far superior than most of the dreck that followed after it in the '90s. If this is your thing, then definitely check out Dan O'Bannon's brilliant "The Resurrected", and Gordon's own "Re-Animator" and "Dagon". "From Beyond" isn't as arch and playful in tone as "Re-Animator", but its a must-see in the Lovecraft film oeuvre. And Jeffrey Combs remains the man. October 29, 2008

Another cult classic from the creators and actors of re-animator

I bought this dvd becasue i loved re-animator.its the same director and two of the stors.jeffery combs delivers another great performance.the story can be somewhat confusing but this is a great movie that everyone should watch or own.the blood and gore are really good considering theres no computer graphics.the acting is top notch and i highly recomend it.i never saw the r-rated cut but this unrated one is excellent.i only gave it 4 stars cause like i said the plot is a little hard to follow but thats just me nit picking.horror fans or just fans of jeffery combs or stuart gordan will love this.the plot dosent lag in anyway and once you start watching it youll be hooked until the end. October 28, 2008

Solid Script true to the Lovecraft tradition

This is no Acedemy Award winner - but it is probably one of the best Lovecraft adaptations in a modernish setting. It has a solid script for a horror movie. It understands that often the most terrifying moments come not from the creepy-crawlies but the worst in human nature, yet it also has its heroic moments. Since this is true horror, of course, it does not have a happy ending. Worth while having if you think there is more to horror than splatter fests, or if you are a Lovecraft afficiando. October 21, 2008

Horror classic!.

From Beyond was the followup film to the fantastic Re-animator and is just as good as that film, like Re-Animator From Beyond is based on a story by the brilliant horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. The acting here comes courtesy of two of Re-Animator's best actors Jeffrey Combs, a man that is well known in the world of B-Movies and Barbara Crampton the scream queen that we all remember from the infamous 'head' sequence in Re-Animator. The dvd was finally released last year and it was about time, I could not believe how long I had to wait for this and when it finally arrived I was so excited and it was definitely worth the wait. MGM decide to release the film completely uncut and added tons of special features in it making this an essential purchase for any hard core horror fan.

The film opens with a physicist Crawford Tillinghast (played by the always-great Jeffrey Combs), working on a device called The Resonator which is supposed to stimulate the brain's pineal gland (believed to be a dormant sensory organ) with the hopes of unlocking a "sixth sense". Instead he starts to see weird eels flying through the air and then gets bit by one and runs downstairs to tell his sadomasochistic colleague Dr. Pretorius about his success. Pretorius soon has his head bitten off by multidimensional beings and all that happens right before the credits start yes very nice!. We then find out that Crawford's in a state mental institution where he's to be evaluated for Pretorius' murder, it seems that by the end of the night Pretorius' headless corpse was left on the laboratory floor with no head to be found. Crawford's only explanation "It bit off his head... like a gingerbread man!" then the film becomes increasingly more bizarre when a psychiatrists Kathrine McMichaels (Crampton) performs a CAT scan on Crawford and it shows that his pineal gland is abnormally enlarged. She insists on taking Crawford back to the house to recreate the experiment to perhaps understand whats really been going on and find something that explain his alleged behavior.

Accompanied by a cop named Leroy "Bubba" Brown (Ken Foree from the original Dawn of the Dead)they go back to the scene of the crime and soon the madness starts. The film uses a lot of imagination as you can see and it was totally awesome and over the top very much like Re-animator so if you liked that film then your gonna love this. It has tons of gore in it including brain sucking, decapitations, eye ball gouging ect. it also has Barbra Crampton in a sexy S&M outfit and great special fx, this film was obviously done before the use of CGI so all of the slimy creature fx had to done manually. The idea of all-consuming hedonism or sensory pleasure that goes so far beyond the normal senses that pain, pleasure and all other senses merged into one was pretty amazing and made it seem more like a sci/fi film as well as horror, you should definitely check this out especially if your a Re-animator fan or if you enjoy watching a crazy and over the top but fun 80's horror film. September 4, 2008

More gore than sense, but entertaining if you can stand the camp.

Fan's of exloding heads and melting dogs rejoice! From Beyond takes graphic bodily transformations to a level that even J. Carpenter must envy. People burst out of other people, heads are twisted off, eye stalks force their way through foreheads, and floppy elongated fingers grope attractive young women!

The story is nonsense, the characters are ridiculous, their motivations totally unbelievable, but this is still a must see film for fans of classic horror.

If you don't mind the terrible acting and (by today's standards) silly FX, then there might be room on your DVD rack for this gore filled triumph of campy horror. On the other hand, if you're into scary movies that take themselves more seriously (6th sense, Saw etc.) then you'll be using this one as a coaster after the first viewing.

August 29, 2008

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