From Beyond [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray]

Director: Stuart Gordon Stuart Gordon

Overview

The production team responsible for the twisted cult classic Re-Animator -- including director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna -- returned the following year with this equally depraved (perhaps more so) follow-up, based once again (and very loosely) on the pulp-horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Also returning to the fray is Jeffrey Combs, here playing the mild-mannered Crawford Tillinghast, apprentice to the dangerously obsessed Dr. Pretorious (Ted Sorel) and co-inventor of an enigmatic and ominous-looking device known as "The Resonator" -- a machine designed to stimulate the vestigial sensory apparatus contained within the human pineal gland. Such stimulation allows participants to "see" the slimy creatures which occupy a dimension parallel to our own, but with some chilling side effects -- the first of which being that the interdimensional vision works both ways. When a powerful sentient force devours Pretorious and assumes his consciousness, Tillinghast panics and destroys the Resonator -- soon to find himself in a padded cell, accused of his mentor's murder. Called to the case are Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton, another Re-Animator alum) and amiable cop Bubba Brownlee (Dawn of the Dead's Ken Foree), who escort Tillinghast back to the shattered laboratory in an attempt to corroborate his deranged account by re-creating the experiment. Their attempts are all too successful, and the Pretorious-thing emerges to take control of the reactivated Resonator and draw the others into its hideous realm. Also called forth are the participants' darkest sexual desires -- another interesting by-product of pineal stimulation -- and, in Tillinghast's case, an uncontrollable urge to devour human brains. Just when it seems it can't get any weirder...it does. Gordon explores this demented scenario with relish, allowing nearly every scene to go completely over the top into surreal mayhem while retaining the dark brooding sense of menace characteristic of Lovecraft's work. (It's not likely, however, that the author's dignified upbringing would have explored the psychosexual dimensions of the premise -- at least not in the kind of detail seen here.) All manners of perversities abound, accompanied by the wizardry of four dueling special-effects studios and the rich, creepy score by Richard H. Band, bringing the film to a literally explosive climax and a chillingly poetic final shot.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/28/2023
UPC:	0814456026749
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	NR
Source:	Vinegar Syndrome
Language:	English
Time:	1:26:00
Format:	Blu-ray
Sales rank:	2,813

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Barbara Crampton	Dr. Katherine McMichaels
Jeffrey Combs	Crawford Tillinghast
Ted Sorel	Dr. Edward Pretorius
Ken Foree	Buford `Bubba' Brownlee
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon	Dr. Roberta Bloch
Bunny Summers	Hester Gilman
Bruce McGuire	Jordan Fields
Del Russell	Ambulance Driver
Dale Wyatt	Paramedic
Karen Christenfeld	Nurse
Andy Miller	Patient in Straitjacket
John Leamer	Shock Technician
Regina Bleesz	Bondage Girl
Richard Band	Composer

Technical Credits

Stuart Gordon

Brian Yuzna

Dennis Paoli

Charles Band	Executive Producer
John Carl Buechler	Special Effects
Remo De Angelis	Stunts
Anthony Doublin	Special Effects
Stuart Gordon	Director,Screenwriter
John Naulin	Special Effects
Mark Shostrom	Special Effects
Brian Yuzna	Producer,Screenwriter
Roberto Bessi	Producer
Anthony Barnao	Casting
Dennis Paoli	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Stuart Gordon, From Beyond's demented horror-visionary director, seems to be a kindred spirit of H.P. Lovecraft. Not that his adaptations of Lovecraft's works are especially faithful to the author; indeed, there's a lot that the writer wouldn't recognize or approve of. But Gordon is that rare breed who truly finds inspiration in another creator and uses that inspiration to craft a film that captures the essence of that creator while still being totally and uniquely his own. The result is gory thrill ride of a movie. It's definitely not for everyone, especially not for those who are squeamish or who place a high value on restraint of any kind. But for those who like their horror films dripping in blood, ooze, and every other kind of gloppy liquid imaginable, and who welcome creepy explorations of sexual desire, Beyond is a total winner. And Gordon has the good sense, in the midst of all this, to keep things humorous (in a macabre way, of course). Indeed, even at its scariest -- and it can be quite menacingly frightening -- Beyond is fun. The special effects, crucial to this kind of film, are very well done; even when they're clearly artificial, they seem appropriately so. And the manner of acting is exactly what is called for, with special applause for Jeffrey Combs and Ted Sorel. Surreal, crazy, and more than a little gross, Beyond is a trip -- and those who appreciate it will want to take it again and again.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler