From Beyond

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on

Movie Information

In Brief: Stuart Gordon's slightly more mainstream (very slightly), somewhat more serious second film is another take on a work of H.P. Lovecraft. In this case, it's actually a fairly close approximation of — and expansion on — the source material. OK, so it's doubtful that the prudish Lovecraft would have cared for the film's kinkier elements, but he's not in a position to complain now. It's not as wild as Re-Animator, but it's still a lot of splattery fun.
Score:

Genre: Horror
Director: Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator)
Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ted Sorel, Ken Foree, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon
Rated: R

The Thursday Horror Picture is revisiting Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond for the simple fact that Saturday is Justin Souther’s birthday and he picked it. Well, that’s reason enough, but it’s a good choice anyway — and it’s been a while since it was shown. When it was first run here, I wrote: “Stuart Gordon’s follow-up to Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), reassembles some of the earlier film’s cast and once again goes to H.P. Lovecraft for its source material. This round, Gordon came up with a movie that was more faithful to its source — within Gordonian limits. Snipping a few seconds of gore (now restored) managed to barely get the film an R rating. The results are fun and impressive, but fall just slightly shy of the full-tilt craziness that made Re-Animator such a preposterous delight. That’s not to say that this tale about a mad (and kinky) scientist (Ted Sorel) creating a machine that opens a portal to another—and very nasty—dimension isn’t crazy and quirky. It’s just not as crazy as its predecessor. The presence of Jeffrey Combs (in standard pint-sized Tony Perkins mode) and Barbara Crampton (at one point in dominatrix togs) is certainly a plus, as is the presence of 1980s cult figure Ken Foree.”

Full review here: http://avl.mx/px

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen From Beyond Thursday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

SHARE
About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."
View all posts by Ken Hanke →

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

4 thoughts on “From Beyond”

  1. Jeremy Dylan

    The presence of Jeffrey Combs

    The great, more recently renowned as The Question.

    The Question: Reaching back to ancient Egypt, there’s been a single cabal of powerful individuals directing the course of human history. But the common man prefers to believe they don’t exist, which aids their success.

    Supergirl: [reading newspaper clippings] Global warming, military upheavals in the third world, actors elected to public office…

    Green Arrow: The spread of coffee bars, germs outpacing antibiotics, and boy bands? Come on! Who would gain from all this?

    The Question: Who, indeed?

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.