The Good

Stuart Gordon knows how to make very interesting, intelligent and entertaining films.

The Bad

Sometimes I found certain aspects of this film to be confusing.

From Beyond is Stuart Gordon's take on a tale from H.P. Lovecraft. This story which mixes science, sex, horror and intrigue is essentially the tale of a machine called The Resonator. This machine has the ability to take charge of the sixth sense in humans and after killing its maker the machine is now acting on its own and turning people into brain eaters. Much of this was made possible by a scientist who wanted to continue researching this machine and therefore opened the door to a universe beyond anyone's control.

In all honesty, From Beyond is one of those films that I am not sure I understand that well. This doesn't make it bad but it leaves me a little detached from the proceedings. At the same time, I think that director Stuart Gordon brings an interesting enough take to this whole thing that it ends up really working out well for everyone involved.

In many ways From Beyond reminded me of Don Coscarelli's Phantasm, in that it told a somewhat linear story but seemed to be going for mood and bigger ideas most of all.

Features

Storyboard to Film Comparison

There are four of these to go through and they are all set up pretty much the same way. They show both the storyboards and the actual movie side by side, and you can actually switch back and forth between that and only having the storyboards appear on screen. These were neat to watch although I did it on small screen and I don't know that I got the whole experience that was intended.

Interview with the Composer

Commentary Track

Featuring Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna this track was actually a lot more fun that I thought it was going to be. Gordon talks about how this project came so close after Re-Animator that they reused some of the sets for From Beyond. They all then talk about how it was a very cold set temperature-wise, the movie was shot in Rome, and then they make fun of the clothing that a lot of characters are wearing from that time (this film is from 1986). After this they talk about making sets out of plywood, working with one another, and bringing the writings of H.P. Lovecraft to the big screen by only using his portions early in this movie.

Photo Montage

Director's Perspective

I loved this, in fact of everything that came on this DVD I think this was my favorite segment simply because of how personal it got with Stuart Gordon. He talks about how horror films reflect the oppressiveness of society and that he feels the horror boom is the result of 9/11. He says that there's so much fear in the world that people need horror movies. He then goes about explaining how this movie got made, why he chose H.P. Lovecraft again and how much fun he had making this film.

The Editing Room: Lost and Found Featurette

Video

Widescreen - 1.85:1. MGM and Fox have done a pretty good job with the look of this release. The DVD compression seems to have added a whole new layer of freshness that presents itself throughout this film. Sure the effects may not be that amazing compared to what is shown today, but they really have done quite a fine job pulling this whole thing off. Yes, this movie is dated but it doesn't look worn or dirty on this release.

Audio

Dolby Digital. English - Dolby Surround. Subtitled in English, Spanish and French. Close Captioned. The audio on this DVD was also solid. I think what sort of hurts this film is the dramatic horror music that sometimes seemed out of place. There was also a strength to the way the sound effects played. They were all very rich and really helped place us in the sci-fi world being shown on screen.

Package

The front cover of this DVD presents a sort of funhouse look at this film with a human body having been effected by The Resonator with a skull in its mouth. The back cover features a bunch of shots from this movie (that sadly make the effects look dated), a quick description of what this film is about, a Special Features listing, a credits list and technical specs.

Final Word

Having seen the image of the being with half its body being pulled off for I don't know how long, it was nice to finally get to see the movie behind it. In all honesty From Beyond was pretty much what I expected it would be. Coming out around the same time as David Cronenberg's Videodrome, I expected that this film would be full of big, intelligent ideas that the horror movie serviced as opposed to being full of horror with big ideas in the periphery. While I think that Stuart Gordon is ultimately a more accessible filmmaker than David Cronenberg, I think that both of these films are arty and esoteric enough to be in the same genre yet they are different.

From Beyond is a richly textured film that asks a lot of it's viewers and does give a lot back in return. If you own no other editions of this DVD, I would certainly suggest adding this one to your collection.

From Beyond was released October 24, 1986.