From Beyond (1986)

Despite the undoubted talent in front and behind the camera From Beyond was a disappointment to me. Director Stuart Gordon was of course responsible for the earlier Re-Animator, which was also an adaption of an H.P. Lovecraft story. It, therefore, seemed like From Beyond would be a winner, especially when two of the principal actors from that film returned here, namely, Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton; with the welcome addition of Ken Foree of Dawn of the Dead fame. Sadly, for some reason, things just never seem to truly take off and the film never really catches fire.

As I said before it does follow the template of Re-Animator. Even so far as casting Combs as a serious minded scientist dabbling in dangerous science but also in its use of great sticky 80's special effects. They are rather good it does have to be said. I just don't think they were incorporated into an interesting enough narrative. The wicked humour of Re-Animator was for the most part missing here, which I think worked to this movies detriment. The best moment for me was when Barbara Crampton kitted herself out in bondage gear and went slightly nymphomaniac on us. A little bit more of this and I might have been more generous with my final assessment but overall for me From Beyond just never kicks into first gear. It isn't a bad film as such but has to go down as something of a misfire when you consider the personnel involved.

Fmovies: Wicked adaption of the H.P. Lovecraft story written and directed by horror master Stuart Gordon. The story is about experiments that cause people to be able to use their sixth sense. This however opens the door to another universe full of weird creatures and monsters and causes those who are part of the experiment to go mad. Terrific special effects, a fast pace and a nasty sense of humor make this a memorable outing. Good camp cast too.

Rated R; Nudity, Graphic Violence and Profanity.

H.P Lovecraft had a twisted imagination. Director Stuart Gordon and writer Brian Yuzna equally so. The team who brought us the excellently morbid black horror/comedy "Re-Animator", present us with another tasty Lovecraft nightmare of kinky sexual ecstasy and luridly graphic terror in the frame of "From Beyond". From the story, to the special effects and atmosphere everything comes off resourcefully artistic and grippingly bizarre. Not only does it want to gross you out with its repellently heinous make-up FX, but also draw you into a satirical variant of the pleasure to seek out forbidden knowledge. This quest is a fixation, with sexual stimulation and escalating fear gelling together to construct a desirably moody mind trip of psychedelic colour and shades. Gordon's competent direction is highly stylised and reworks grisly jolts to perfection. Even the gloomy atmosphere holds tight, and smothers any sort of hope with total bleakness. Yuzna adapts Lovcraft's nine page story to a feature length premise, and he does a splendid job in keeping it impulsively smart and provokingly bold within a brief framework, but some laborious spots in the script eventually creep in. The dark tongue-in-cheek humour is there, but unlike "Re-Animator" it's deviously slight in manner. It features a likable worthy cast of horror favourites. Jeffery Combs, Barbra Crampton (who looks great in bondage), Ken Foree and a superlatively loony Ted Sorel in impressively gooey make-up. Richard Brand's accomplished, racy music score incorporates a shuddery intensity that works with the deliriously erotic pull. This is probably my ideal Brand score. While I might prefer "Re-Animator", this freaky cult-fave is not far behind.

From Beyond fmovies. "From Beyond" has the unfortunate task of following up one of the most vivid, effective, and hilarious horror films ever made–"Re-Animator"–and comes up short in almost every area. Once again, director Stuart Gordon is adapting an H.P. Lovecraft tale, this one about two scientists who create a device that stimulates a "sixth sense" and allows slimy creatures from another dimension to seep through. Stars Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Ken Foree ("Dawn of the Dead") do their best, but the script is too limited, and neither the humor nor horror is as strong as in "Re-Animator." Still, this is incomparably better than most of the dreck lining video shelves these days.

This film is without a shadow of a doubt, the best film ever - believe! Pure twisted weirdness that pummels you into submission, without ever letting you catch your breath. Starring the great Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), as the unfortunate Dr. Crawford Tillinghast who is assisting his superior - Dr. Edward Pretorius in creating a resonator with the intent to stimulate the pineal gland in a dormant part of the brain (to create a sixth-sense). Unfortunately, things don't go as planned (it would be pretty boring if they did!) and Dr Pretorius gets his head bit off ("Like a gingerbread man!") after weird slimy creatures start to appear while his sidekick gets away from the house but is blamed for the death and put into an asylum. A very sexy doctor - Dr. Katherine McMichaels accompanied by a Shaft wannabe - Leroy 'Bubba' Brown ("I'm the LAW here!") remove Crawford from the institution and back to the dreaded house to recreate the experiment and prove Crawford's innocence, needless to say, Crawford is a bit miffed about leaving his cosy straitjacket and; relative safety.

There are GREAT lines (especially from Combs) - "Alright! Come and get me...EUNUCH! This time I'm not running away!", gross-out effects aplenty - heads being twisted off, killer bees that reduce their victim to a bloody, boney mess, and just look at how Dr Pretorius slowly changes into something vile;

Crawford - "My God Edward, what have you become?"

Pretorius - "Myself!"

Pure genius.

I love this film, I really do. If not for the fact that there is never a moment of boredom, the fact it has a real Lovecraftian sense of dread, or the way it manages to come off looking like some kind of acid trip, then just to see, Barbara Crampton in full S&M gear.

Oh, the movie was filmed using some sort of pink filter, which just adds to the weirdness. Did I mention how great it was?

See it (wo)man, just see it!

Stuart Gordon's debut 'Re-Animator' is a horror classic, and 'From Beyond' is an attempt to get lightning to strike twice. Once again Gordon and producer/co-writer Brian Yuzna make a gory horror/black comedy loosely inspired by a H.P. Lovecraft story, and get cult hero Jeffrey Combs and scream queen Barbara Crampton to star. And you know what? It's actually as great in its own way as 'Re-Animator'. They really pulled it off! Combs isn't quite as outrageous this time round, but he's still excellent, and Crampton has a more important role, which includes her memorably dressing up in bondage gear. Another 'Re-Animator' actor Carolyn Purdy-Gordon also appears in the supporting cast, as does Ken Foree, one of the stars of Romero's zombie classic 'Dawn Of The Dead', and Ted Sorel plays Dr. Pretorious (a deliberate reference to 'Bride Of Frankenstein'), in a role one could almost imagine was written specifically for the late David Gale ('Re-Animator's Dr. Hill). The story is original and unpredictable, the humour dark and surprisingly subtle, and the special effects are excellent and very effective. For me this movie is extremely underrated and gets better with each subsequent viewing. If you enjoyed 'Re-Animator' you'll love 'From Beyond'. Gordon and Yuzna's subsequent careers, both separately and together, have been extremely uneven, but give credit where credit is due, this one's a winner! Highly recommended.