Hot off the heels of ‘Reanimator’ Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna ran with the momentum built up from their previous picture straight into another Lovecraftian tale, and the results are ‘From Beyond’. A nightmarish tale of ‘the other’ shown in the kind of disgustingly fascinating way that only the combo of Gordon and Yuzna really can pull out of these kinds of productions.
The plot follows Dr. Crawford Tillinghast, a physics professor working alongside one Dr. Edward Pretorius. A renowened physisist who believes that we as beings are simply a single visible layer of a multi dimensional existence. We can only see our layer (humans, animals etc…) and each other respective layer around us is trapped within their own confines…BUT! By stimulating the pineal gland (drink every time THAT glands mentioned…) you can open a theoretical ‘3rd eye’ that’ll allow you to see into the layer adjacent to ours…and the horrifying beings that lie beyond.
Naturally, their first full trial on this results in Pretorius being decapitated and Crawford desperately and horrifyingly trying to convince a group of doctors that he DIDNT murder his mentor, and that there REALLY IS sentient life existing in the same space as us, just on a different layer of reality. Naturally, he’s committed.
Its only when one Dr. Katherine McMichaels enters the scene, that she decides to take Crawford at his word, asking for him to be released into her care and under the supervision of one detective Bubba Brownlee. McMichaels returns Crawford back to the house where the experiments took place, in part in an attempt to get him to relive what she believes was a murder, so that she can finally write him off as a crank, and in part to better understand the Penial studies that Dr. Pretorius was researching.
As you can imagine, both McMichaels and Brownlee are astounded to discover that Crawford WASNT making it up, and after firing up the machine to prove his theories, the pair are now won over that we are not alone on this dimensional plain…Unfortunately revving up the machine brings with it a terrible consiquence, as; on the other side of the void, Dr. Pretorius lives, and has taken on a new form in line with that dimensions reality…and with it he brings untold horrors beyond our comprehension.
This reviews going to be a bit of a love in, because really, theres very little I disliked about this one, The script is wonderfully dark, acidic has a nice bleakness to it which is married up to a thin but much needed layer of campy comedy, the characters are all really well rounded, the story is compelling, interesting and unique. the dialogues delectable and it ends about as well as it could end.
My only mild gripe here honestly is with the pacing, and in particular; the pacing in the 3rd act. The film opens VERY strong reminding me of ‘The Asphyx’ (1972) as we set up our characters, scenarios and locations, its a masterstroke work form Gordon and Yuzna because it tells you enough to get on board, but not enough to make you feel truely comfortable with whats going on.
The second act runs with that momentum, but there is a feeling that things are beginning to bed in a little bit. A big thing with movies like this is that, the ‘Unknown’ is the seller of the picture. The more you know about the ‘Unknown’ the less scary/interesting the film becomes and the more it turns into a technical exercise. I feel like they manage to keep *enough* of the other dimension here a secret to still give it a real sense of mystery…But at the same time, they do let enough go here that I started to feel comfortable. Which for movies like this? isnt good.
SO! they throw in a 3rd act curve ball and move the action to a different location. And its at that point that I think the film kind of frustratingly blows its stack. the pacing really slows down as we have some extensive dialogue segments which try to rationalise to the existing characters something we already really know as viewers. theres a lot of shots of people semi unconcious or tied to beds which I feel drag, and the immediate ‘threat’ thats present in the 3rd act is a bit of a damp squib for me. Personally, i’d have really trunkated those scenes to help keep the pacing nice and tight, but I appreciate this thing was already running to a borderline feature runtime at an hour and 26…So I cant be too hard on it. In either case once the action moves back to the core location, things get back into a decent groove and it ends strong…So…imperfect, but solid is probably a good thing here…
As for the direction and cine? its rock solid here. No complaints at all from me, it has ‘Empire Picture’ vibes running through it like a name through a stick of rock. its vivid, colourful has a sharp and focussed creative vision at the healm, its probably one of the best shot 80s US horror movies. and I dont make that asertion lightly.
Gordon seems to know exactly what to show, and how often to show it. and the end result is a film that left me desperately wanting more, but knowing it’ll forever be unknown. Composition work is strong. I was stunned to find out that ‘Screaming’ mad george wasnt behind the prosthetics on this one, as the special effects work is truely astounding for its time. theres a stylish use of purples and blues throughout, and the sequence building is procise, curated and carefully managed. It could well be both Yuznas and Gordons ‘Masterpiece’.
The performances are top tier too, Jeffery Combs as Crawford is astoundingly well handled, I love most films Combs turns up in, but here he gives a full and well rounded performance delivered with FULL and total conviction. I would argue given all the various effects makeup he had to go through in this film, that it was likely the performance of his career. He’s superb in this.
Offsetting Combs’ sometimes neurotic performance we have a fun appearence from Ken Foree playing Bubba, he’s clearly here either because he liked the absurdity of the script, they were paying well, or both. Because his perforamnce here is a ‘kid in a candy shop’ vibe that doesnt relent for the full runtime. You can clearly tell he’s enjoying his time on set. and he brings some much needed levity and ‘coolness’ to the films organized chaos.
Balancing the duo and completing the trio Barbara Crampton as Katherine ping pongs between the two styles, attempting to remain cool, calm and collected in the face of the unknown, while simultaineously succumbing to its overwhelming drives and compulsions. She gets some of the best scenes in this movie, comes across as believable and is the final piece of the puzzle that makes this film as good as it is. And im not just saying that because she spends a significant chunk of the films runtime in a leather dominatrix outfit.
I have a bit of an issue with Empire/Full Moon film scores. I find they all sound very samey. So my feedback here isnt going to be particularly insightful. But the best enthusiasm I can muster for it is ‘Its appropriate for this kind of film, but it absolutely could have been better’ It punctuates the film about right…But I feel ‘Reanimator’ had the right idea in giving the film a very distinct and powerful score…This…felt a little genric.
I had a really good time with ‘From Beyond’ its a group of people who’ve clearly learnt and grown their craft over some years now presenting what many I feel wouldnt argue is their ‘peak’ work. Definitely worth checking out, I had a really good time with this one. and when paird up with something like ‘Reanimator’ I think you’d have the ‘left/right’ hook you and your friends would need for a HELL of a movie night.
TYTD Reviews 