From Beyond

Year of Release:  1986

Director:  Stuart Gordon

Screenplay:  Dennis Paoli, story by Brian Yuzna, Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli, based on the short story "From Beyond" by H. P. Lovecraft

Starring:  Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ted Sorel, Ken Foree, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon

Running Time:  82 minutes

Genre:  Horror, science-fiction

Dr. Edward Pretorius (Sorel) and Crawford Tillinghast (Combs) create a machine called the Resonator which stimulates the pineal gland in the human brain, allowing a person to see beyond normal, perceptible reality, revealing grotesque monsters.  One of them bites off Pretorius' head, and Crawford is accused of his murder.  Intrigued by his story, ambitious psychiatrist Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Crampton) and Detective Bubba Brownlee (Foree) persuade Crawford to recreate the experiment.  They soon discover that Crawford was telling the truth, and that Pretorius has been absorbed by the creatures and returns hungry for more prey.

This film reunites many of the cast and key behind the scenes personnel behind cult hit Re-Animator (1985) for another take on the works of influential American writer H. P. Lovecraft.  This film, written by Dennis Paoli from a story by Paoli, director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna is very loosely based on a very brief minor H. P. Lovecraft story written in 1920 and published in 1934.   As with Re-Animator much of the material is played more for laughs than scares, and is full of slimy, rubbery monstrosities and gore galore.  There's a surprisingly strong sexual element here as well.  A scene where a monster attempts to assault Barbara Crampton is queasily unpleasant and strikes a sour note on what is otherwise an essentially fun, gory monster movie.  Later, in one of the film's most memorable scenes, the buttoned-up, serious Crampton appears in full leather bondage gear and also, if you are so inclined, there is the sight of Ken Foree in very small briefs.  It's one of those films where everyone seems to be having a ball.  Jeffrey Combs overacts tremendously as the twitchy, bug-eyed scientist; Barbara Crampton is good as ever as the sympathetic if slightly sinister psychiatrist and she conveys well her slow transformation under the influence of the Resonator; Ted Sorel provides a fun pantomime performance as the hissable villain under increasing layers of latex; Ken Foree, who is possibly best known for Dawn of the Dead (1978), is engaging as the likeable tough-guy detective; and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon is fun as the psychiatrist who despises Katherine and her methods.  While the special effects may look a dated today, the gruesome monsters are imaginatively designed and it's all satisfactorily gross.  At a brisk 82 minutes the whole thing keeps moving along.  It's the kind of film that is best watched late at night maybe with a few drinks and a few likeminded friends.  None of it is supposed to be taken seriously.       

Barbara Crampton and Ted Sorel in From Beyond