Movie Review: From Beyond

March 15, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Anthony Doublin, Barbara Crampton, Bill Bulter, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Charles Band, Dennis Paoli, From Beyond, Gabe Bartalos, Gino Crognale, Greg Nicotero, H.P. Lovecraft, Jeffrey Combs, John Carl Buechler, John Vulich, Ken Foree, Mark Shostrom, Michael Deak, Re-Animator, Robert Kurtzman, Stuart Gordon, Ted Sorel, Vinegar, Vinegar Syndrome | 2 Comments

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.

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Monsters, Makeup & Effects!

August 26, 2021 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Alec Gillis, Bari Dreiband-Burman, Bart Mixon, Dark Delicacies, Dark Ink, David LeRoy Anderson, Doug Drexler, Everett Burrell, Gabe Bartalos, Heather Wixson, Howard Berger, Jim McPherson, Joel Harlow, Lance Anderson, Matt Rose, Monsters Makeup & Effects, Patrick Tatopolous, Paul Jones, Screaming Mad George, Thomas Burman, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tony Gardner, Ve Neill, Wayne Toth | Leave a comment

With a heading like that, I knew it would get you in here! Back in November of 2018, author Heather Wixson published her book Monster Squad: Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinema’s Most Memorable Creatures, which featured interviews with 20 different makeup and special effects people in the industry. You can read our review of it HERE, but now she is back with a new book, covering more artists, creators, and technicians that have help entertain us over the years.

The new book is called Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Conversations with Cinema’s Greatest Artists – Vol. 1 is a “celebration of the creative spirit and artistic endeavors of those who have worked tirelessly for decades to create the memorable monsters, creatures and onscreen personas that have terrified us, made us laugh and filled us with a sense of wonder.” Published by Dark Ink, this 500 page book runs only $25.99 on Amazon, but they will be having a special book signing and Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA, that you can either attend, or order your copy to be shipped to you. They have both hardcovers ($30) and softcover ($19.99) versions available. They haven’t listed any other guests besides Wixson to be there, but I have a feeling they will be adding a few more names that were covered in the book. I got my copy of Monster Squad this way, so it is well worth the extra month. Plus it supports a great independent book store at the same time!

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Book Review: Monster Squad

March 15, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Alec Gillis, Bart J. Mixon, BearManor Media, Bob Keen, Brian Wade, David Marti, Gabe Bartalos, Heather A. Wixson, Jennifer Aspinall, John Dykstra, John Goodwin, John Rosengrant, Kevin Haney, Michele Burke, Mike Elizalde, Monster Squad, Phil Tippett, Rick Lazzarini, Special Makeup Effects, Steve Johnson, Steve Wang, Todd Masters, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tony Gardner | Leave a comment

Monster Squad: Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinema’s Most memorable Creatures
Published by BearManor Media, 2017. 430 pages.
By Heather A. Wixson

In the early ’80s, makeup artists that worked on horror movies were becoming real celebrities, just as if they were the main stars of the films they worked on. Seeing names like Savini, Baker, or Bottin in the credits would get fans to go see a film on their participation alone. So many young fans out there were so inspired by these names, that they dabbled on their own with latex, spirit gum, and greasepaint, some more successful than others. Like a lot of us fans during that time, the movies affected us more than most people watching them. Some wanted to be part of the world that were creating this magic. That passion is what drove them to never stop trying, never stop learning, and just never stopping. That era when rubber monsters and outrageous creatures ruled the genre is over three decades ago, with quite a bit being replaced with CGI. But that hasn’t stopped some of these guys from continuing with their craft, still fueled by that same passion to create magic on the screen.

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Movie Review: Brain Damage

June 14, 2017 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Arrow Video, Brain Damage, Dan Frye, Frank Henenlotter, Gabe Bartalos, Rick Hearst, Rick Herbst | Leave a comment

Brain Damage (1988)
Directed by Frank Henenlotter
Starring Rick Hearst, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry, Theo Barnes, Lucille Saint-Peter, Vicki Darnell

I’m sure everyone reading this is familiar with this strange and twisted Faustian tale, that could only come from the mind of the man who gave us Basket Case (1982), writer/director Frank Henenlotter. If you haven’t, then I’m not sure what cave you’ve been living in for the last 30 years, but you need to pick it up now and watch it. It will change your life. Okay..maybe not change it, but definitely put a lot more entertainment in it. And there is even a message in there too! I mean, how can you have a tale about a parasitic creature, that looks like a cross between a turd and a deformed penis, that gets you hooked on a hallucinogenic drug that it emits, if only to keep you in control. Sure, there is a huge drug/addiction parable here, as well as the old fable of selling soul to a devil, but as crazy as it sounds, Henenlotter actually created a very well thought out story and it works quite well. The characters feel like real people, giving the dark and funny story more of an edge than most would probably take it as, about a much too common plague that still exists today. Sure, maybe not played out like it is here, but then it wouldn’t be as fun to watch, would it?

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