Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree, Ted Sorel, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Bunny Summers

For horror fans, the ‘80s were a time of sheer wonderment when it came to special effects. With the constant advancement of special makeup effects, it was a time of foam rubber, latex, and slime, with the only boundaries being imagination. One film that represents that more than most is Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond.

When I worked at the theater back in the ‘80s, Re-Animator (1985) played there and it just blew me away, between the gore and just the outrageousness of the whole story. I had already been reading Fangoria by that time, so when From Beyond was coming out, I was already excited about seeing it. And luckily for me, it played at my theater as well, so I spent a lot of time in there watching it over and over. I had recently started reading horror fiction, and thanks to Stephen King, had already started to dive into the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and had read the very short story that From Beyond was based on. In fact, the pre-credit sequence in the film is pretty much the whole story. But I think writer Dennis Paoli, along with producer Brian Yuzna and director Gordon, fleshed out the rest of the plot that, while way gorier and gooier than Lovecraft would have spelled out, I think it still felt it could be in the same universe.

Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) is the assistant to the genius Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) who has invented the ‘resonator’, a machine which stimulates the pineal gland through specific vibrations it creates. It opens up a different world that exists all around us, but that we can only see when we’re under the influence of the vibrations. The problem is that when we can see these other creatures, they now can see us as well. And they aren’t too friendly. When Pretorius turns the machine up to 11, he says with sheer excitement, “something is coming.” And it does.

There is no sense to go into the rest of the story because I would assume everyone reading this has already seen it, or if you haven’t, you need to fix that immediately.  And which ever camp you’re in, you need to get the new 4K Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome and experience this film like never before.

Ken Foree from Dawn of the Dead fame plays Bubba the cop, that is there to make sure things don’t get track, though he quickly sees some crazy shit right off the bat. Foree brings a little bit of humor to the story since everyone else is playing it pretty seriously.

But I wanted to give a special shout out to Ted Sorel, who plays Pretorius. While he isn’t in the film a whole lot, when we do see him after the pre-credit sequence, he is pretty much more makeup than human! Sometimes with only his face showing, he still kills his performance. Pretorius is one of the great mad scientists of cinema, already a little devious, but goes even further when he becomes part of this new world that he has opened up. He embraces what he has become, relishes in it, and loves what he can now do. While some actors might shy away from having to work in a ton of makeup appliances, Sorel, like his character Pretorius, embraces it as well, and truly creates a magnificent monster. Between his deep voice and that dead stare of his eyes that give off a hint of insanity, his simply is amazing and it’s only a shame we didn’t get to see more of his character in an ongoing series.

Because of the success of Re-Animator, or at least once it hit video, Yuzna and Gordon wanted to repeat the success, taking another Lovecraft tale, and trying to keep the same cast, which included Combs and Crampton. Instead of playing a “bubble-headed co-ed”, Crampton gets to show off more of her acting chops than her body this time out, playing a doctor brought in to evaluate the sanity of Combs’ character. Yes, she still continues to hold onto the scream queen reputation with a little nudity, but she is given a lot more character arch here and shows a nice transformation from a sane doctor to one on the brink of madness. Combs drops the arrogance of Herbert West but still keeps his intelligence as he knows what Pretorius’ discovery has opened up and is well aware of the dangers. He still keeps his persona of a very smart character and while he may be barely holding on to his grasp of his own sanity, he still retains his strong ethic of what is right and wrong.

This film is filled with special makeup effects, from the stuff that goes onto the actors, creating the Pretorius creature (which is like nothing you’ve seen before), as well as all the other creatures that come “from beyond”, it is no wonder that there were multiple effects teams working on it, from Mark Shostrom Studios, to John Carl Buechler’s Mechanical and Makeup Imageries, using the up-and-coming generation of effects artists that would go on to create names for themselves in the industry, like Gino Crognale, Gabe Bartalos, John Vulich, Greg Nicotero, Robert Kurtzman, and so many more. It is because of their talent that makes the film even more impressive and can see why they all have gone on to do bigger things in their career.

Mac Ahlberg, the cinematographer on Re-Animator, also returns for Gordon’s second film. In fact, Ahlberg had been working on low budget films in the US since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, on such films as Nocturna (1979) and Hell Night (1981) and would continue to work with Gordon throughout his career.  One of the reasons this film looks as good as it does is because of Ahlberg, with the use of greens, blues, and reds, when the resonator is turned on. And on the 4K disc, it looks even more amazing.

Also following over from Re-Animator is composer Richard Band, who creates one of my all-time favorite scores. Since this is basically a science fiction type of story, as far as where the horror comes from, Band’s use of electronics to create the music is just amazing. It gives you that uneasiness, builds the tension, but also draws you in

Watching this new 4K from Vinegar Syndrome was damn near like watching it for the first time. The print is just stunning and the colors just pop. This film is right up there with Suspiria and Blood and Black Lace, when it comes to the use of colors here. When the resonator is turned out, you will be in awe, just like the characters onscreen.

The discs are packed full of extras, with two different commentaries, an older one with Stuart Gordon and the cast, then another one with screenwriter Dennis Paoli. There are a bunch of little different older interviews included, with Gordon, actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, producer Charles Band, then a featurette on the effects.

But the real highlight is the new feature length documentary, Re-Resonator: Looking Back at From Beyond. We get to hear from actors Combs, Crampton, and Foree, screenwriter Paoli, producer Brian Yuzna, film editor Lee Percy, composer Richard Band, foley artist Vanessa Ament, effects supervisors Michael Deak and Anthony Doublin, and effects artists Robert Kurtsman, Gabe Bartalos, John Naulin, and William Butler, each one having some great stories about their time making this film. Near the end of the film, they all speak to the talent that was Stuart Gordon, which was very endearing to hear.

Needless to say, this is definitely one of those upgrades that is more than worth it, it is a MUST! Order your copy NOW!