Movie Review: From Beyond

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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Discover the Horror Podcast – Episode 34: Makeup Effects

Throughout movie history, makeup artists have helped create new faces for the silver screen, whether they were just changing their look to creating a new monster never before seen. As the years progressed, what used to only be images we could dream of, these makeup artists help bring them to life, giving generations and generations both a sense of wonder, and nightmares!

We decided to go through the cinematic history and discuss different monsters and makeup creations that have amazed and astonished us. And to help us, we figured why not have a guest that has been in the trenches for over three decades, Mr. Gino Crognale!

So hit play, sit back and enjoy this trip down memory lane.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

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