FROM BEYOND
(USA, 1986)
DIRECTED BY: Stuart Gordon.
Director Stuart Gordon made a couple of superb horror films and then lapsed into a slump which happened to many other horror directors like John Carpentar, Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven to name a few. Gordon made this horror make-up effects spectacular and the even better Re-animator which is considered one of the best horror films ever made. Then Gordon fell through and tried to make films like the blatant Dolls, sci-fi shit like Fortress and medicore films like Castle Freak which was'nt bad on a particular level.
From Beyond has an older scientist named
Doc Pretorious who invents a machine
called the Resonator. This device provides the sixth sense
or ability to see into another
wacked out dimension which inhabits all sorts of nasty stuff like monsters, light
reacting killer organisms and the
like. Pretorious opens up the dimension one evening and
gets sucked in. The
authorities arrive on the scene and arrest his assisstant Crawford Tillinghast played by my fav genre actor
Jeffery Combs.
Tillinghast gets thrown into a mental
hospital for his actions and crazy assed
story.
While in the hospital Combs character
meets Dr. Roberta Bloch (Barbra Crampton)
whom he tells his story to. The Docter decides to
investigate Combs story so they both
go up to the old house where everything happened but this time they're accompinied by Ken
Foree of Dawn Of The
Dead Fame for protection (hah!)
Once in the house a lot of awry shit
goes down. Barbra Cramptons character
turns into a sex kitten persuaded by the presence of horny old
Pretorious, Foree gets ripped to shreds by
those nasty little organisms, Combs
body gets inhabited by some creature which sticks out of his
forehead until Crampton bites it off.
The machine creates amazing looking
monsters and the finale of the film has Combs doing battle with
pretorious butt ugly creature by going
inside of it and sacrificing
himself while fighting in a puddle of its
guts and goo. Crampton is the only
poor soul who makes it out alive but with a busted knee and only
by jumping out of a house window
before the house explodes.
This is an OTT (over the top, another
little note to let you know) grand splatter
flick with a loose H.P Lovecraft adaption of a short story.
The characters names like Tillinghast and
Pretorious are Lovecraftian if you
didn't notice. Great characters, make up effects and an
interesting story delivered at a
fast pace and with lots of energy, what more could you ask for in a horror film.
Rating: 4 ½ Skulls
Review by: Richard J. Taylor
Email: rtaylor@roadrunner.nf.net
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