From BeyondThey say that perception is reality, but what does it mean when your perception is altered? According to body horror movie, From Beyond, you better come to terms with a tentacle growing out of your forehead. It begins with a pair of scientists--the nervous apprentice, Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), and the hedonistic Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel)--attempting to supercharge the human brain's pineal gland in order to see into another dimension. When Crawford activates the Tesla coil-esque "Resonator" and is attacked by an eel-like phantom, he tries to warn Pretorius of the dangers beyond the veil. Yet the mad doctor pushes into it full tilt, apparently killing him in the process, leaving Crawford with both the blame for his death along with being institutionalized as a schizophrenic. This draws the attention of "wonder girl" psychiatrist, Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton), who takes it upon herself to prove Crawford's innocence by replicating the dangerous experiment.
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The Eighties were replete with body horror movies of varying quality. From Beyond comes from the same trio that brought us another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation--Re-Animator, also staring Combs and Crampton--Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Brian Yuzna. These three "amigos" reunite to delivery a special kind of body horror vibe mixed with black comedy, managing against all probability (and perhaps good taste) to combine slimy monsters, sex, gore, and humor all into one package. Audiences expecting a consistently scary movie should look elsewhere, as tonal inconsistency is a part of this movie's "charm". This movie also foreshadows the future works of these filmmakers, such as Yuzna's own directorial effort, Society. From Beyond is emblematic of the kinds of low-budget or B-movie horror movie efforts from the era, the kind that resulted in video rental stores becoming swamped with VHS genre entries covering their walls. This movie makes no apologies for being graphic or unsettling, and in fact revels in its grossness--take that as a pro or a con depending on your taste. As with Re-Animator, there's a clear desire by the cast and crew to make a movie that, while it may lack finesse, is full of enthusiasm. This is especially true for Combs and Crampton, who are exceptional and deliver even when the movie feels like it fails to take itself seriously. It's also worth acknowledging that the musical score by Richard Band is positively gripping and intense, reminding me of the equally amazing horror movie score to Hellraiser. However some elements don't really click at all. Consider the film's tagline: "Humans are such easy prey." This gets shoehorned into the film in pretty much as awkward of a way as possible. The pseudo-science of From Beyond shouldn't be taken literally at all. Even though Stuart Gordon presumably used medical advisors to create a sense of authenticity in the medical procedures depicted in the movie, you couldn't convince me of that. And in the prologue, when the Resonator is activated by Crawford, it begins with him powering on a literal wall of computers in the attic of a surprisingly spacious Revolutionary War-era mansion. But after these explode and Crawford is brought back to the mansion by Katherine, apparently he doesn't need them anymore, chalking it up to having to activate the Resonator "manually" or something. I suppose that From Beyond takes some pleasure in establishing rules only to subvert them later, often concerning the Resonator, like how it magically activates itself despite it having been previously established that powering it down shuts off the connection with the world beyond.
For what at first glance appears to be a run-of-the-mill Eighties horror flick, From Beyond nevertheless at least makes the attempt at exploring some intriguing themes. The greatest example of these has to do with the movie's unique obsession with the pineal gland of the human brain. Long misunderstood to be everything from a vestigial organ to the housing of the soul--courtesy of the philosophical musings of René Descartes--From Beyond instead treats the stimulation of the pineal gland as a secret means of accessing a monstrous realm beyond our senses, incidentally causing an increase in sexual desire as a byproduct. This little biological detail opens up a floodgates of possibilities for an R-rated horror movie, which From Beyond capitalizes on with varying degrees of believability. This is best embodied in how Katherine is depicted from her introduction to the film's ending. At first, she is layered in just about the frumpiest attire possible, with oversized glasses and her hair tightly bound in a nigh-puritanical braid. After she and the rest are exposed to the Resonator, she becomes increasingly subject to an increased sex drive. From Beyond chooses to avoid some of the more explicit possibilities of such a development, but this becomes evident by way of Katherine's manner of dress and behavior as the movie proceeds, supporting that her libido has been supercharged. It's an intriguing justification for a horror movie showing more skin and Dr. Pretorius' fixation on S&M, while adding a new dimension to the less savory aspects of the grotesque monster that the doctor has become. Instead of being a facet of the story solely for the sake of titillation, it expands on the idea that Dr. Pretorius was drawn to the other dimension because of his own hedonistic urges. For him, it was always about experiencing more sensations than the five he was born with. The movie posits that the pineal gland is tied to the mythical "sixth sense", and runs with this idea, even if the way that the movie represents this alternate dimension would have benefited significantly by a bigger budget for special effects. (Obviously this criticism doesn't extend to the amazing practical special effects by John Carl Buechler--who also worked on Re-Animator--depicting the monster that Pretorius has become.) Before long, Crawford, Katherine, and their police escort, Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree), find themselves pitted against forces that defy the laws of physics and which exercise complex manipulations over their free will in true Lovecraftian fashion.
Recommended for: Fans of an inconsistent yet still intriguing adaptation of one of the short stories by master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft. From Beyond is plenty gross and graphic, but never truly steers too hard into the realm of cringeworthy, so it's a pretty accessible body horror movie, if there is such a thing. What it lacks in polish it makes up for in gusto.
For what at first glance appears to be a run-of-the-mill Eighties horror flick, From Beyond nevertheless at least makes the attempt at exploring some intriguing themes. The greatest example of these has to do with the movie's unique obsession with the pineal gland of the human brain. Long misunderstood to be everything from a vestigial organ to the housing of the soul--courtesy of the philosophical musings of René Descartes--From Beyond instead treats the stimulation of the pineal gland as a secret means of accessing a monstrous realm beyond our senses, incidentally causing an increase in sexual desire as a byproduct. This little biological detail opens up a floodgates of possibilities for an R-rated horror movie, which From Beyond capitalizes on with varying degrees of believability. This is best embodied in how Katherine is depicted from her introduction to the film's ending. At first, she is layered in just about the frumpiest attire possible, with oversized glasses and her hair tightly bound in a nigh-puritanical braid. After she and the rest are exposed to the Resonator, she becomes increasingly subject to an increased sex drive. From Beyond chooses to avoid some of the more explicit possibilities of such a development, but this becomes evident by way of Katherine's manner of dress and behavior as the movie proceeds, supporting that her libido has been supercharged. It's an intriguing justification for a horror movie showing more skin and Dr. Pretorius' fixation on S&M, while adding a new dimension to the less savory aspects of the grotesque monster that the doctor has become. Instead of being a facet of the story solely for the sake of titillation, it expands on the idea that Dr. Pretorius was drawn to the other dimension because of his own hedonistic urges. For him, it was always about experiencing more sensations than the five he was born with. The movie posits that the pineal gland is tied to the mythical "sixth sense", and runs with this idea, even if the way that the movie represents this alternate dimension would have benefited significantly by a bigger budget for special effects. (Obviously this criticism doesn't extend to the amazing practical special effects by John Carl Buechler--who also worked on Re-Animator--depicting the monster that Pretorius has become.) Before long, Crawford, Katherine, and their police escort, Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree), find themselves pitted against forces that defy the laws of physics and which exercise complex manipulations over their free will in true Lovecraftian fashion.
Recommended for: Fans of an inconsistent yet still intriguing adaptation of one of the short stories by master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft. From Beyond is plenty gross and graphic, but never truly steers too hard into the realm of cringeworthy, so it's a pretty accessible body horror movie, if there is such a thing. What it lacks in polish it makes up for in gusto.