Truly Dreadful Film

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Even if you're not into horror, you have to marvel at the visual effects, which are simply mind blowing (especially for its time)! Nice to see horror legends Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton together again. Jeffrey is excellent as usual. The mix of horror, satire, fantasy and even a bit of porn was an interesting concept, but it blends very well together.

It's not overlong, the performances are fine and the special effects amazing but there really isn't too much to this one. There is a rather splendid set-up and then we get the awesome effects and ghastly creatures and bits of creatures and bits of bits. Then there is a reappraisal of the situation and we do it all again. I liked the fact that once the lab had been almost destroyed and the electrics shot up, things could be got together again without a whole lot of messing about. By the third or was it fourth time, the lab was repairing and organising itself meaning it could all happen again without further ado. A lot of people clearly spent a lot of time and well intentioned effort into this but ultimately it is not as amusing as it should be and very, very gooey.

From Beyond (1986) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Fun "B" movie has scientists Dr. Pretorius (Ted Sorel) and Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) creating a resonator, which is a machine that allows a sixth sense to where you can see things that you normally couldn't. Soon Tillinghast is in a mental hospital but Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) talks the police into letting her taking him back to the house where the machine is to see what really happened. Along with a cop (Ken Foree) the three soon come face to face with the monsters.FROM BEYOND was director Stuart Gordon's follow-up to RE-ANIMATOR and while this film doesn't come close to that one, it's still highly entertaining and a nice twist on the mad scientist movies of the 1950s. There's no doubt that this here is a homage to all those old monster-on-the-loose movies but of course the big difference here is that we're given all sorts of blood, goo and slime. Adapated from a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, FROM BEYOND isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly a fun little film.I think the greatest thing in the film are the special effects, which are downright amazing considering the budget and time that they were working with. The "fish" creations look a little cheesy today but the highlights are certainly the main creature that begins to take form as the Pretorius character but slowly begins to ooze into something else. The sequence where the doctor's face pretty much comes apart looks remarkable as does the full figure monster that begins to eat people. The effects are never nasty nor do the cross the bad taste line. Instead they're just fun and make you wonder how they were created like a good magic trick.Another major plus is that the four lead actors are all extremely good and make you care for their characters (or hate them in the case of Pretorius). The real stand out is Crampton who is just delightful getting to play several different types. She's very believable as the "serious" doctor but she's also quite good during the possession scenes and especially one where she uses her sexuality. Combs is a wizard at playing these type of nerdy characters and he does this part with ease. It's always fun getting to see DAWN OF THE DEAD's Foree and he too gets a lot of good moments throughout the film.FROM BEYOND has a nice cast, some great special effects and director Gordon holds the film together quite nicely. This isn't the type of film that was made for Oscars or to be looked at as some sort of high art. If that's what you're looking for then it's best to go somewhere else but if you just want to sit back and enjoy a slime-full monster movie, this is the film for you.

Dr. Edward Pretorius (Sorel) and his assistant Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Combs) have developed a machine they call "The Resonator". When the machine is turned on it enhances all the senses including a sixth sense in the brain that reveals nasty floating creatures from another dimension. Pretorius is obsessed with feeling it all until a massive creature devours him by biting off his head before a terrified Crawford. Crawford is the suspect by the police. He is turned over to a cop named Bubba Brownlee (Foree) and psychiatrist Katherine McMichaels (Crampton) who takes an unwilling Crawford back to the house to see if his story is true. Once there, they test the machine and discover a mutated Dr. Pretorius is now part of the other dimension and is a hideous hybrid. McMichaels is so turned on by the machine she looses all perspective and can't get enough. From most of the cast and crew of "Re-Animator" comes this inspired take on another H.P. Lovecraft story. Director Stuart Gordon tells the story with a similar approach to "Re-Animator", even though some of the black humor is missing. The solid storyline isn't terribly scary, but it is a lot of fun and the effects are top notch. Gordon has a very unique style combining the high tech gore with old fashioned charm that makes for a refreshing horror film. The cast is very good with Combs and Crampton returning from "Re-Animator" and it is nice to see "Dawn of The Dead's" Ken Foree in the role of the cop. With a juicier role this time, Barbara Crampton is great as Katherine. She loses control of her senses and Gordon delivers yet another weird sexual scene when Katherine is sexually turned on by the machine. She gets into a leather dominatrix outfit and has thoughts of torturing Crawford until Bubba breaks it up. Ms. Crampton is a delight to look at and is hotter than anything in this scene. Crampton has the most chilling scene in the film as her whimpering cries turn to an all out "I've gone mad" laugh at the films end. Interesting, bizarre and well made, From Beyond should please most horror fans.