Stuart Gordon
STARRING
Jeffrey Combs - Dr. Crawford Tillinghast
Barbara Crampton - Dr. Katherine McMichaels
Ted Sorel - Dr. Edward Pretorius
Ken Foren - Bubba Brownlee
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon - Dr. Bloch
Genre - Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy
Running Time - 86 Minutes
PLOT
A group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms.
REVIEW
I think what brings the film down over RE-ANIMATOR is the story itself. RE-ANIMATOR has a lot going on for it narrative wise. It has a mad scientist wanting to play God, bringing corpses back to life to not-so-great results. You have a love triangle that turns twisted when one of sides becomes this decapitated head wanting to force oral sex onto his trapped obsession. You also had the science aspect itself, which created interesting scenarios and memorable moments. And probably the best part of the narrative - it was just silly fun that was meant to scare audiences as much as it was to entertain them. The visuals would enhance the story as well, creating this complete package that gave people what they would want in a sci-fi/horror film.
But we only really know these characters through exposition and how they deal with the situation, which isn’t a whole lot to be honest. Dr. Crawford Tillinghast is just a victim to the Resonator, transforming into a creature who hungers for blood and sex. But he mostly cowers and grows ill from the machine. Dr. Edward Pretorius created the machine, obsessed in learning things “from beyond”, turning corrupt with the power he learns while his body deforms into something more hideous each time we see him. Dr. Katherine McMichaels is a psychologist who doesn’t believe in drugs and hospital methods of treating mentally ill people, having her own agenda as she wants to learn what Tillinghast is so scared of, becoming something Pretorius wants her to be eventually. Dr. Bloch is the skeptic in this whole mess, thinking these characters are crazy. And you have Detective Bubba Brownlee, who is investigating what’s going on while being a victim of “wrong place, wrong time”. Other than that, we don’t really know much about them nor do we care about them too much. Yes, it’s fun watching them change because of this weird invention. But I don’t feel like there are any stakes or any reason for the audience to wish for their survival either physically or mentally. The characters in RE-ANIMATOR are fleshed out and have personality that we can latch onto. FROM BEYOND suffers from a lack of that. And it’s kind of disappointing because the concept of the film is pretty cool and still manages to work and flow well in a superficial, “popcorn and beer” sort-of-way.
The real reason to watch FROM BEYOND are for the special effects, which are still pretty damn cool over thirty years later. Yes, a lot of the effects are dated, especially the green screen matte floating phallic monsters that reminded me of those Dream Demons from FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE. In an HD world, they really stick out as pretty lame CGI. But something about 1980s horror makes me find these sort of effects charming in a so-bad-it’s-good manner. The real highlight involves Dr. Pretorius’ constant transformation from a normal looking human being to this melting and slimy pinkish monster that grows more disgusting with each appearance. Done with practical effects by John Carl Buechler and others, Pretorius’ metamorphosis is the highlight of the film as he changes about five times throughout the film, looking more monstrous each time. Nowadays, CGI would handle all this and make everything look more like a video game. The practical effect work create a realistic slime creature that I could believe the Resonator would create “from beyond”. We also get some cool effects involving a third eye coming out of people’s foreheads, heads either melting or getting fed upon, and random insect attacks that mutilate a body or two. While the character portion of the film may not be as strong as it should be, at least the science fiction and horror aspect of the story works due to the strong visual effects.
The acting is pretty great as well. Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton seem to have switched roles from RE-ANIMATOR, in a way. Combs plays a more tragic character as Tillinghast, caught up in another man’s horrible experiment, not knowing how to make it stop so things can be normal again. He goes through the most change both physically and emotionally, as his body decomposes due to the Resonator while he begins to lose his mind, with people thinking he’s becoming schizophrenic due to his rantings. While I think he’s had stronger performances before and after FROM BEYOND, it’s still a solid job because he’s engaging in no matter what he does. I think Crampton has a slightly stronger showing as Katherine, going from a demure psychologist with an interesting agenda to a BDSM sexpot who is full of lust in a strangely convincing manner. Unlike in RE-ANIMATOR, Crampton has a more dominant role that she can bite her teeth into and portray two very different sides of the same character. Crampton’s super talent is at full display here, as well as knocking it out of the park in her sex attire. Ken Foree is also solid as Bubba, playing a cool cat who unfortunately gets involved with something he had no idea he signed up for. He has swag and attitude for days, playing up his macho persona in an entertaining way. Ted Sorel is your typical 80s horror villain as Pretorius. He’s given one-liners and amusing dialogue as if he were Freddy Krueger in the later NIGHTMARE films, pulling off the madness he suffers through as his body changes due to his experiment. Carolyn Purdy-Gordon is also decent as Dr. Bloch, playing your typical skeptic physician. Small, but effective cast of actors.
THE FINAL HOWL
SCORE
