Blazehgehg I want to like From Beyond. And I guess I kind of do. This adapts the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, where scientists develop a machine that stimulates the human brain in such a way that we can see beyond the borders of our own reality and witness creatures that are normally invisible to human perception.It's a creative concept and stokes the fires of one's imagination to create all kinds of nasty creatures, something that the best of H.P. Lovecraft's works are known for. The movie, unfortunately, only really manages one or two really good monsters and a lot of hot pink strip club lighting. After the main creature's initial reveal, the movie actually turns ridiculous; but never outright humorous. Just kind of... dumb. And weird. Very, very weird.That's not to say it's lacking creativity. I think the final sequence will haunt my nightmares for a while, and that's saying something. But it's hard to be too invested in these characters when they are only defined by the nonsensical actions they make while drunk on "The Resonator." After a while I felt, I dunno, kind of bored by the whole thing. The handful of creature effects are fun and the movie isn't exactly slow, it's just the plot is a little thin. It's a lot of blood and slime, screaming, and even some sex, but just not a ton of substance. So I come away from this movie a bit conflicted. I didn't hate my time with From Beyond, but it's not exactly an automatic recommendation, either. It has good actors, a couple of weird monsters, but not much else. You could do worse than that, I suppose.

shanerittersbach From Beyond to me is one of those movies where i can honestly not find one thing wrong with it. The whole movie is a 80's masterpiece!SPOILERS AHEAD!The 80's was a time of drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll, oh and horror movies! Charles Band, the now legendary creator of Full Moon Pictures was a young up incoming producer in Hollywood. Band had grown up in and around film sets, his father Albert Band was a film director and producer in the 50's up until the late 60's. Band wanted to make movies all of his life. The next step for Band would be to get his own studio. That studio would be Empire Pictures, a company now known for such cult classics as Ghoulies, Terrorvison,Re-Animator, and much more.From Beyond is a 1986 horror/science-fiction film directed by Re- Animators Stuart Gordon. The film basic plot structure is based on the short story by H.P Lovecraft. The film at the time was Empires second most well received film next to the success of Re-Animator back 85'. The film stars a gaggle of familiar faces. Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame returns in this the second H.P Lovecraft adaptation he was as the weak and terrorized Crawford Tillingghast. Next we have the ever sensual and sexy Barbara Crampton, also a Re-Animator alumni. She plays the films scientist this time around, Dr. Katherine McMichaels, a sexually repressed middle aged women. Then there is Ted Sorel of Basket Case 2 fame as the evil and maniacal Dr. Edward Pretorius, a scientist who is fascinated with pain and pleasure. And lastly we have Ken Foree of Dawn of the Dead fame playing Bubba Brownlee, a detective working alongside of Combs and Crampton. Other then great actors the film stars great cinematography and creature effects. The film was shot by legendary director of photography Mac Ahlberg. Mac is known for his work on other great horror and cult films such as The Horror Show (1989), Side Show (2001), Dolls (1987), Re-Animator (1985), etc. His direction is beautiful and very psychedelic. The screen is beautiful and full of his best work. John Carl Beauchler, Robert Kurtsman, Howard Berger, Greg Nicetero,Gabe Bartalos, Mark Shostrom, John Naulin, Anthony Doublin, These are just a few of the names that created the amazingly slimy and fantastic creature effects and makeup for the film. The films main heavy, Ted Sorel goes through quite a transformation and becomes one of the grossest and most slimy beasts in all of horror film history. This work would not of gotten on screen if it weren't these terrific artists. the film is full of scary worms, oddball monsters, and slimy abominations.The film also contains one of composer Richard Bands best musical works. The score has a hint of creep factor and eerie resonance that makes it one of his best scores.From Beyond is a classic, plain and true. The film still holds up today. The effects are magnificent. The lighting is eerie. The acting even still holds up. I love this film and all of the other Empire films from the 80's. Charles Bands Empire pictures is responsible for some of the greatest 80's films ever and this is one of them.Two-Slime Coated lampreys Up!

Gregory Mucci As someone who has never read a single HP Lovecraft tale, or even knows much about the context of which his stories are derived from, it's always exciting to watch an adaptation of one of his works. Having seen Stuart Gordon's previous HP Lovecraft adaptation Re- Animator, I went into this film with a sense of direction, but one that can easily be pushed off course by the unknown notoriety of the beloved horror author. What I received from From Beyond was a mixed bag of two many horror genres overlapping each other, creating an enjoyable yet disjointed pyramid of horror complexities.From Beyond, which should be stated is "loosely" based on an HP Lovecraft short story, begins with scientist Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), who has been working on a Tesla like machine called The Resonator, which allows one to see beyond the accessible reality, due to a stimulation of the pineal gland. It's all very scientific, but the pineal gland delivers melatonin, which affects light/dark, wake and sleep (which when tampered with in the case of The Resonator, enlarges it producing headaches, and a drug like addiction to be near The Resonator's pulse). In order not to be declared insane and locked away for the supposed murder of his mentor Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel), Tillinghast, Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton), and Detective Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree) must reactivate The Resonator in order to prove his sanity.Like other horror films dealing with alternate dimensions, otherworldly realities, or just plain outer space, what lies beyond the conventional eye tends to always be depraved, leaning towards the phallic, or the torturous leather bound. With Clive Barker's Hellraiser, we were introduced to the demonic S&M world of Pinhead and his cenobites, who fed off the fears and sexually deviant behavior of their victims. In Ridley Scott's Alien, the confines of space were crafted in HR Geiger's sexually twisted eye, with the alien penetrating the victims mouth in order to impregnate those aboard the unsuspecting ship. Now in Stuart Gordon's From Beyond, we are thrust (no pun intended) into the sexually depraved world of a mad scientist, one that inevitably reaches into the alternate dimension, giving us phallic, mutated body parts and leather clad sexual cravings.From Beyond is a science fiction horror film that knows where it wants to go, but has an incredibly difficult time jumping over the other films that have done what it has before. Watching the mutation of Dr. Edward Pretorius just isn't as enjoyable when it feels like a poor imitation of John Carpenter's The Thing, writhing out of the body of its victim. Don't get me wrong, the special effects of Mark Shostrom and the special make-up effects by the uncredited artist Bill Forsche is very well crafted, they just all feel like cheapened retreads. Also being set primarily in the attic of a creepy estate, and dealing with sexual depravity, From Beyond can't seem to hurdle over Hellraiser, another film which took place mostly in an attic, dealt with sexual depravity and dealt with leather clad deviants.Showcasing over the top acting by the great horror icon Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) and a once again pitch perfect portrayal of a tough as nails cop by Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), we are left wanting to fall away with the story HP Lovecraft left us and the horror that Stuart Gordon has produced. However, the fall is only riddled with the debris of what was once exciting and fantastic, depraved and twisted. From Beyond is an exciting premise stuffed inside a haunted house, wrapped around the pleasures of pain and torture; the pain and torture that unfortunately befalls the viewers as we are left with cold leftovers.

Johan Louwet Had I seen this one as a kid I might loved it. As an adult I found this one lacking in many departments. The idea of a sixth sense wasn't too bad but the story that surrounds it is incredibly simple not to say dumb and the characters are flat. The only character who was given some kind of background is Dr. Pretorius who is the villain. The slimy effects and monsters are well done but it feels more like a cartoon than actual horror. TO be honest the only reason I wanted to see it was because it starred both Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs whose characters I loved in the Re-Animator. It was also nice to have Ken Foree who was my favorite character in Dawn of the Dead. Too cartoonish, too comedy, too dull. It gets some bonus points for Crampton showing her assets again and looking extremely sexy in a BDSM outfit. Also nice to see Carolyn Purdy-Gordon in a smaller role. I absolutely loved her in the movie Dolls (1987).