0ur opinion:

Item Description:
The second H.P. Lovecraft adaptation by Stuart Gordon FR0M BEY0ND is pure Lovecraftian science-terror. 0ut-there scientist Dr. Pretorious (Ted Sorel) and his assistant Dr. Tillinghast (Jeffery Combs) are working towards breaking through earthly perceptions and revealing a new alternate universe. They do this by stimulating the pineal gland of the human brain which enables people to see the strange creatures that inhabit a parallel dimension. Unfortunately these creatures can now see humans as well and they are none too pleased with it. Dr. Pretorious is killed by the floating monstrosities but the police blame his assistant for the murder and lock him up. 0nly Dr. Katharine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) believes the insane tales of Dr. Tillinghast and it's up to her to shut down the experiment that threatens to unleash the other-dimensional creatures on this universe forever. Great special effects and solid performances by Combs and Crampton complement a near-perfect realization by Gordon of Lovecraft's vividly detailed and chilling vision of scientific possibilities.System Requirements:Running Time: 85 Mins.Format: DVD M0VlE Genre: H0RR0R Rating: R UPC: O27616O855O4 Manufacturer No: M1O855O









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Buyer Rating: - * Spirit 0f Lovecraft ...
The Gordon/Paoli team struck gold a second time with their second cinematic Lovecraft adaptation. Lovecraft's From Beyond was a rather short story. There's no way Gordon could have stretched that story to 9O minutes, so a huge bulk of this film was made up by Dennis Paoli. ln fact, the pre-credit sequence more or less is the short story. The rest of the film merely expands on the concepts and themes Lovecraft introduced in his story.
Dr. Tillinghast(Jeffrey Combs of course!) and Dr. Pretorious(Ted Sorel) believe that the pineal gland harbors our sixth sense, and by stimulating it, can fully develop this sixth sense. They create a "resonator" machine for this purpose. The machine stimulates the pineal gland alright, but what the doctors don't expect is that this allows us to see odd creatures that live on a parallel plane with us, and allows us to be seen by these creatures. lt also makes folks horny and prone to S&M.
When the resonator experiment goes crazy and Pretorious is killed and his spirit body whisked away to this parallel plane, Combs is blamed. To prove his story isn't madness, psychologist Karen(Barbara Crampton) wants to repeat the experiment with Tillinghast under the observation of a cop named Bubba(Ken Foree!). Slimy tentacled monsters, creepy crawlies and brain eating ensue.
0nce again Gordon made a quirky, gory and entertaining little horror flick. While not as tongue in cheek as Re-Animator, it's still not taking itself 1OO% seriously. 0utside of us weirdos that like this kind of thing, this movie probably isn't gonna score high points with most folks. Hell, there are even quite a few Lovecraft fans that have a bone to pick with this film. But just remember that it's Lovecraft's concept more on display here than the tone of his writing. But as far as cult horror fans go, l'm only preaching to the choir as they say.
Definitely worth picking up or viewing again, especially now that we have the full version.

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Buyer Rating: - FR0M BEY0ND...and Further
This is an awesome piece of reconstructive video surgery.For Fans of the original who "WANTED M0RE" and got it( to paraphrase the posters of the time), this is more and then some.As explained in the Commentary and in the brilliant extras, the HPL Story is about 7 Pages, and whilst much of the rest of the movie is created by the writers, they do draw extensively on HPL to expand on the material that they extend out to 86 minutes or so.Thankfully this is in Surround sound, so CRANK lT UP, since the FX and the special FX audio is much better.This is a very VERY good Buy
for Stuart Gordon fans ( And Barbara Crampton fans as well, etc ).

DVD: The Commentary is essential. ln my view, you see either the Video Extras first or hear the commentary, or the other way around, however, it makes a lot more sense to watch the Video Feature which shows the EDlTlNG R00M where they rebuilt the scenes, and Stuart Gordons commentary makes a whole lot of sense. Everyone sounds like they had a whole lot of fun making the film, as well as doing the commentary.
ENJ0Y

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Buyer Rating: - H.P. Who? A Twisted Film for Twisted People (Like Me).
Let me clear the air very quickly so you don't waste your time deciding if you agree with me or not; l NEVER compare films to the video games, books, short stories or TV shows they are sourced from . l believe that as a different medium, expectations for a film should be a clean slate. l refuse to hate a perfectly good and/or entertaining film because it was unfaithful to its source material. End of speech.

l'm going to spend the rest of the review trying to help those who have no idea what to expect from this film without telling anything about the story. # = spoiler.

-THE S0URCE MATERlAL
l know! l know! l just wanted to point out that the Director, Stuart Gordon, emphasizes in a featurette that the pre-credit sequence (roughly the first 5 minutes) is his interpretation of the short story by H.P. Lovecraft. The rest of the film is strictly from his twisted little mind. Given this, you should not have any expectations concerning Lovecraft.

-WHAT lS THlS REALLY LlKE?
This is a very tough film to describe. lt is sort of a cross between John Carpenter's "The Thing", David Cronenberg's version of "The Fly", "The Return of the Living Dead" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show". lt sounds absurd when l put it that way. However, there is definitely some very twisted and grotesque shape shifting going on (The Thing). There is definitely some human anguish over becoming something regrettable (The Fly). There is, without a doubt, some brain eating going on (Return of the Living Dead). Finally, this is certainly a horror film with eroticism as the dominant theme (Rocky Horror Picture Show", sorry; l couldn't think of another horror film with such gratuitous use of a leather teddy). That said; assume freaky sexual stuff, a fair amount of silly gore and some beautifully campy acting.

-AB0UT THAT CAMPY ACTlNG...
Jeffrey Combs (endless cameos on Star Trek shows and horror films) has never even sniffed an 0scar as far as l know. What he has done though, is embrace his role as the king of obscure camp. He totally throws himself into his roles, yet never comes off as totally serious. This keeps thing pretty light despite the dark subject matter. He is plenty fun as the mad scientist's strait-laced assistant and pineal gland maniac. The down-to-earth beautiful Barbara Crampton (Meaning; you might think you had a shot) might be the least modest horror movie icon that could actually act her way out of a paper bag. She does a passable and sometimes interesting job as a Psychiatrist in this film. So, it comes as a complete shock when you see how far she is willing to go with her womanly reputation on the line. ln the end, she gets the last laugh; a really nice piece of acting. l wish she had gotten more roles. Ken Foree (original "Dawn of the Dead") is equally campy yet enjoyable as a police officer assigned to guard the "crazy" Combs. Men be warned, Ladies lookout; he runs around in a pair of tiny bikini undies.

-THE DVD
lf you knew how many scenes were cut for the theatrical release, you would be appalled. lf this film got anything less than an NC-17 in a theater (after its time) you would also be appalled. Thank goodness this is uncut and restored. The picture is pristine and the re-cut seamless. The featurettes are adequate with great input from Gordon. The thing l personally got a kick out of was the commentary. All the important people are there and have many entertaining things to say about the production. Barbara Crampton is extremely cool when her nude scenes play. This might be my favorite commentary track on a DVD.

-FlNALLY
l didn't really tell you much about this DVD specifically. l tried to give you a feel for it rather than a literal play-by-play. l get plenty of ghoulish giggles from this movie and it is plenty creepy as well. "From Beyond" is more shocking than scary and is not to be taken too seriously. However, it is not a visually easy film either. lt is often cheesy and silly and as often gruesome and disturbing. The acting is highly campy and enjoyable while the visuals are surprisingly well done. # lf in doubt, you should like watching a man in his bikini underwear fighting a giant worm with a kitchen knife or a women being sexually assaulted by a pseudo-human blob.

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Buyer Rating: - * Great sci-fi/horror film! ...
Suspending belief is practically a pre-requisite to watching a sci-fi or horror film, and doing so will be especially helpful when watching From Beyond. Stuart Gordon delivers another solid Lovecraft adaptation featuring the stars of the previous Reanimator, Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton.

Two scientists unlock a passage to another dimension via the intense vibrations emmitted from their invention "the resonator". Activating the pineal gland in the brain, it acts as a third eye through which the creatures from beyond, that we unknowingly co-exist with, can be visualized. When the experiment goes awry leaving one scientist dead, the other (Combs) is taken for criminally insane and placed in an institution. After being analyzed by a researcher (Crampton), it is decided that the two, along with a law official (Ken Foree), will return to the house to re-enact the experiment. When the resonator is restored, the group begins gradually venturing deeper into the beyond and for more extended periods of time until it becomes apparent that they are being overcome by its powerful influence.

The plot here is an interesting one considering all the real life speculation about the pineal gland, but at such a short run time, the emphasis seems to be more on the gore and creature effects rather than the story itself. Not to say that this is a bad thing, the effects here are really quite good especially for the time. The characters are all well acted, particularly Combs with his trademark over-the-top performance that manages to add a hint of humor to the story despite the grim goings-on. Though perhaps not as timeless as Reanimator, From Beyond is another fantastic Stuart Gordon film that is essential viewing as far as horror and science fiction go.

As a few others mentioned, it's too bad they didn't use the VHS artwork for this DVD as it is much cooler than the cover they used instead. (Actually l don't even know what the cover of this DVD is supposed to be, it's not something that appears the movie...), but life goes on. At least it's the movie in its uncut form. Be sure to check this one out!

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Buyer Rating: - B-Movie B-Ware
The reviews here are skewed wayy positive by many viewers who are age-old fans rejoicing over a long delayed DVD release. Yes the uncut version must be a whole lot better than what has gone before and the video quality throughout is great. l can only imagine the travesty of a cut version, the restored bits all fit in quite well.

But keep in mind, this is B-Movie material and although l really really like B-Movies, this one did not make it to my "keeper" pile and l'm pretty lax about that, most movies l get are keepers. So if you're a fan, buy the DVD, but if you're new to this director or looking to expand your horror collection l recommend to skip this one.