Green
11-04-2001, 10:22 PM
From Beyond is the story of two scientists who are working on a machine called the Resonator. This machine will stimulate the pineal gland and allow us to find a sixth sense. The two scientists are the lead Dr. Edward Pretorius played by Ted Sorel and his understudy, a physicist named Crawford Tillinghast played by the great genre actor Jeffery Combs in a convincing over the top performance. After the machine backfires the two see into another dimension and find strange eel like creatures and Pretorius has his head bitten off. A distressed Tillinghast runs from the house and ends up in a straight jacket then comes under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Katherine McMichaels played by Barbara Crampton. She convinces the powers that be that he isn’t loony and with the help of buff security guard played by Ken Foree, the three of them head back to the scene of the crime to reenact the experiments. Needless to say craziness ensues and they come face to face with Pretorius in a mutated form wanting to incite McMichaels and destroy Tillinghast. It also seems that the stimulation enforces everyone’s sex drive and she is soon powerless to the Resonator. The film contains very good eighties FX including several creatures and an infected Tillinghast grows an extra gland out of his forehead and grows a penchant for human brains. Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzna who also teamed with Combs and Crampton to bring the great Re-Animator to life. Both are based on H.P. Lovecraft stories. Roger Ebert’s quote “The return of real fear, real depravity, to the horror film.” It is one of my favorites. Anyone else?
3.5/4
3.5/4