From Beyond — From Beyond(Blu Ray)
From Beyond is a deranged, gory ‘n’ slimy, and often decidedly kinky take on the mad-doctor genre. The mid-80s film still manages to maintain its original air of disquieting transgression, and the effects have (largely) stood the test of time. Here from 88 Films is a Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a 4k scan of the picture, and new/ archive extras.
From Beyond is from 1986, and was released by Charle Bands Empire studio. It was directed by Chicago-born Stuart Gordon. Been based on a short story by H.P Lovecraft, with co-writing credits going to Brian Yuzna, and Dennis Paoli.
Stuart Gordon had seventeen director feature credits to his name. These went from more tongue-cheek horror/comedy Re-Animator (1985) also based on a Lovecraft story. Classic killer dolls horror Dolls (1986), sci-fi prison thriller Fortress (1992), and true-crime comedy Stuck (2007).
The film opens in fine mad-doctor form as we see Crawford Tillinghast( Jeffery Combs) starting up some loft set scientific equipment at night time- in the centre of it all are three large glowing purple forks. Suddenly a small swimming monster appears in the air, with it quickly taking a bite out of Crawford's cheek. He rushes downstairs to tell his boss Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) what has happened- he rushes back upstairs, and things seemingly get more demented- with the doctor's head is torn away off-screen.
Next, we’re taken to an asylum where Crawford has been locked up for the murder of Pretorius. The bespeckled Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) has come to visit and manages to wangle letting Crawford out into her care. In a van with chuckling Bubba Brownlee( Ken Foree) the trio heads back to Pretorius's mansion, to prove that Crawford isn’t mad/ didn’t kill Pretorius.
Fairly soon Pretorius repears his body seemingly slowly morphing and changing- we also find out the not-so-good doctor was into S&M via videotaped footage. And as things unfold we get a new limp-sprouting slimy monster, with teeth lined snapping jaws, snaked-eyed appendages appearing from human heads, and a few kinky twists.
The cast is perfectly picked and manages to balance well fearfulness and slight ham. Combs shifts from scared and on-edged, to demented and brain-sucking. And Crampton moves from focused and clinical, to unhinged donning a kinky get-up.
I had not seen From Beyond since the VHS days of the 80s. So it was wonderful to revisit it again, and it’s stood the test of time- with most of the effects looking good/ impactful. And the whole thing has a feeling that anything can and will happen.
Moving onto this recent Region B Blu-Ray release, we get a 4k scan from an original 35mm print of the film. This truly looks wonderful- with a blend of great colour clarity and depth on more slimy/ bloody moments.
Moving onto the extras side we get a great batch of new things. First off is a commentary track from genre writers/commentators Kim Newman and Sean Hogan. They start off talking about how Gordon wanted to do Dagon as his next Lovecraft adaptation after Reanimator, Charles Band turned it down- so they went with From Beyond. We find out the original story ran ten pages, Lovecraft wrote it in 1920, and at the time of its writing it got rejected by all the main publications- only get first released ten years later in a fanzine. We find out the author often sent passive-aggressive letters with his submissions, which may be why many of his stories were rejected. They talk about how the story's concept was rather wild for the 20’s, and talk about the whole thing being influenced by HP’s hypochondria. They chat about how Crampton holds the film- discussing her character arc, though they talk about how in HP’s stories Women hardly appear, and when they do they have no dialogue/ depth. Later on, they debate what new/ younger viewers of the film with make of the film now- as cinema today is largely none sexual. We find out one of the few scenes that was not filmed/ seen too extreme scene was a tongue piercing. They give an overview of Stuart Gordons, and much more. All in all an excellent track- which I will revisit.
Otherwise, we have a good selection of new/ lengthy interviews. Taking in- Don’t Bite the Pineal Gland( 30.40) with Jeffrey Combs. All Aboard the Love Machine (35.54) with Barbara Crampton. Back From Outer Space ( 31.20) with Ken Foree. Monster Unleashed (32.34) with Brian Yuzna.
On the archive side of things we have -Reflections with Stuart Gordon “ A Director’s Perspective”(8.51). Lost and Found (4.46). Interview with Composer Richard Band( 4.33). Storyboard Intro and storyboard comparison, original trailer, and stills gallery.
The limited edition of the release comes with four art cards, and a double-sided poster- there is also a dual format UHD and Blu-Ray release of the film too.
From Beyond always stood out as one of my most memorable/ distinctive releases of the VHS era- and it has most certainly stood the test of time. This new 88 Films release is excellent- with a great print, and a wonderful selection of interesting/ worthy extras- so a must-buy!.