From Beyond

From Beyond is one of the most outlandishly gruesome good movies I've ever seen. Reuniting most of the cast and crew from Stuart Gordon's critically acclaimed cult classic debut, Re-Animator -- including producer Brian Yuzna, stars Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and Gordon's favorite literary source, H.P. Lovecraft -- From Beyond failed to have the impact of its predecessor, either critically or commercially. This is due in large part to the MPAA's hostility toward Gordon (they were mad because he and Yuzna dared to release Re-Animator unrated), which resulted in a theatrical cut of From Beyond that featured little of the surreal excess that inspired Gordon to make the film in the first place. Sadly, the deleted footage was lost and it seemed that the real From Beyond would never see the light of day... until the good folks at MGM dug up the missing pieces in 2005 and stitched this fascinating oddity back together again. The re-animated result is a rock solid b-movie that compares quite favorably to Gordon's celebrated debut.

The bizarre-o premise alone is worth the price of admission. Combs plays Crawford Tillinghast, a scientist who is working with a colleague on a device called "The Resonator." This mysterious gadget allows humans to access the elusive sixth sense. No, these scientists can't see dead people, but they can see gigantic fish-like creatures that wreak all kinds of Lynchian and/or Cronenbergian havoc on those stupid enough to interact with them. When the device finally generates some tangible results, Crawford panics and tries to stop the machine, but his side-kick refuses and pays for this mistake with his head.

Relocated to an insane asylum, Crawford is befriended by Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Crampton), a beautiful young psychiatrist who dismisses his grand tales of sixth dimension disaster. Of course, The Resonator eventually fascinates Dr. McMichaels enough that she checks it out for herself and, accompanied by the most inspired third wheel this side of Tea Leoni in Flirting With Disaster (the original Dawn of the Dead's Ken Foree), they head back into the house where the shit went down.

Crawford is unexpectedly reunited with his partner (who lives on as a mutant in the sixth dimension), The Resonator, and enough psychedelic visions to populate the combined acid trips of Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, and The Grateful Dead. Oh, and did I mention the snake-like creature that repeatedly emerges from Crawford's forehead? Or the scene in which Crawford sucks-and-spits the eyeball out of a living woman's head? Needless to say, these moments were not in the theatrical release.

Using his capable directorial hand to inject life and even meaning into the proceedings, Gordon keeps the schlock to a minimum (though I suppose that's pretty subjective), relying instead on generally-well-thought-out series of developments and the kind of theatrical-but-credible style of performance that was so popular in the Universal monster movies of the thirties. Always sincere (and, dare I say, believable), Combs may be his generation's most adept practitioner of this lost art form.

In addition to saving the film from watered-down, R-rated obscurity, MGM and Fox have teamed up to deliver a very welcome selection of extras, including an interview with the always wry, likable, and darkly humorous Gordon, as well as multi-angle storyboard-to-film comparisons, a photo montage, an interview with composer Charles Band, a commentary (by Gordon, Yuzna, Combs, and Crampton), and a featurette that explores the process of restoring the film to its original depravity (it certainly appears that they succeeded).

In any case, if you're looking for a hidden horror gem with cinematic skill, old-fashioned charm, and excessively imaginative, six-dimensional gore this Halloween, you can't do much better than From Beyond. -- Jonathan Doyle