Scientist Dr. Edward Pretorious and his assistant Dr. Crawford Tillinghast have completed work on a device nicknamed "The Resonator," a machine that triggers accelerated growth in the pineal gland of the brain. Though it allows the party to perceive things that the average human would never normally see, it also brings about nightmarish visions of demonic creatures, some of which attack and murder Edward. Having been sent to a mental asylum for the accusations of murdering his mentor, Crawford is soon released into custody of Dr. Katherine McMichaels, who believes his bizarre story about the events after a CAT scan shows that his pineal gland is indeed growing, and who wants to witness the effects of such a contraption. Accompanied by the detective who investigated Edward's own demise, the trio return to the home of The Resonator, but what they will discover is a familiar, if not nightmarishly warped reality that no one could have ever imagined existed in any plane.
Going into my viewing of Stuart Gordon's From Beyond (based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name), my knowledge of the film was a bare minimum. It was relegated to one trailer on Youtube, numerous writeups and video reviews from respected horror publications and fanatics, and a quick read of the source material quite some months ago. Still, I've been accused of having the memory of a goldfish when it comes to most important things, so even those tidbits were disappearing from my mind. Honestly though, I have discovered that the best means of watching this somewhat obscure cult favorite from 1986 is to go in with as little information as possible.
For starters, I had no idea that the aforementioned Stuart Gordon, he of the legendary Re-Animator fame, was sitting in the director's chair for this production. He's also paired with writer/producer Brian Yuzna, who seemed attached to the hip of Gordon for a good portion of his earlier career before getting to mess with future films such as Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and...um, The Dentist. Then again, once I saw that Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton were our two main leads (both also of Re-Animator fame) it should have been obvious from the start. As bizarre as it may sound, it shocks me that these two never married in real life, especially when you see how natural their chemistry with one another feels every time that they've appeared on screen together. I've professed my love for Mr. Combs and his skills before, so there isn't much else to talk about there, but I've never been completely sold on Ms. Crampton until finally being able to catch her in additional projects in her filmography such as From Beyond and the recently released You're Next. She can convincingly pull off the "smart and sexy" character without having any single person cast doubt towards her way, a combination that is nigh impossible in ANY genre. She's also got one hell of a great scream, which I'm sure she's told on an almost weekly basis by fans of the genre. Ken Foree (Dawn Of The Dead, The Devil's Rejects) also makes an appearance as a third wheel of sort, adding a small handful of darker comedic moments that thankfully help keep the picture grounded. Some might argue that these aren't necessarily required from a Lovecraftian tale, but I believe this can help most viewers stay focused during its running time, especially since the plot is so peculiar and out of this world.
The production and crew work on From Beyond may its strongest, and yet most un-appreciated suit. There's great lighting and camera work that you could only get from niche films released during this decade, with dark pink, purple, and other rarely used colors permeating throughout its (surprisingly short) eighty minute running time, giving it a real dream-like, if not morbidly euphoric feel. Richard Band, brother to Charles Band of Full Moon Features (who serves as executive producer here), composes a beautifully creepy, dark, and often haunting score that only heightens the mood. His body of work also includes Ghoulies, Puppet Master, and previous Unseen Terror favorite TerrorVision, though from what I've seen, those appear to be some of his better works and compositions. The special effects work and skills from John Carl Buechler is something that will very likely stick with me until this year's marathon is over. When someone thinks of the "body horror" tag, which deals with the fear of decay and unusual change, the name that primarily comes to mind is master David Cronenberg (The Fly, The Brood, Videodrome), but Buechler's own ideas are horrific in design, disgustingly unconventional, and worthy of standing side by side with greater giants of the genre (all the more impressive when you take into account that From Beyond was made for approximately $4.5 million). I think it's a shame that talented individuals such as Chris Walas (The Fly) and himself aren't acknowledged for their work in the field as much as other fabulous artists such as Rob Bottin (The Thing) and yesterday's discussed juggernaut Tom Savini are. Then again, some of the green screen or non-speaking creatures, such as the bat-like monstrosity seen in its final act, don't age particularly well. Maybe that's an unfortunate contributing factor.
Mein got. Well, there is no way to beat around the bush or have a proper, professional summary when it comes to my overall thoughts on From Beyond: it is one spectacularly strange, slimy, and fairly grotesque motion picture. It also happens to be, above all else, pretty damn great, unique, and an adaptation that trumps its source material, flying out of the gate like a spirit released from a containment unit in Ghostbusters. For the time being, you can rent Gordon's finished product on Amazon Prime for only a small amount of money ($3.99 for a 48 hour rental of the HD version is remarkably cheap). If you're up to spending a few more dollars, or don't have access to streaming websites, track down the Blu-Ray/DVD combo that was released by home video darlings Scream Factory, as this relic of the latter half of the 1980s is now available in wider distribution that it most likely ever was or ever will be.
Tomorrow is the entry for 1987. To celebrate that, I'll be digging up a favorite of children of the latter half of that decade. Will I dig this "creature battalion" as much as they do? Time will only tell...
