'From Beyond' -- Stuart Gordon's Follow Up to 'Re-Animator'

"Re-Animator" may be the definitive Stuart Gordon cult classic, but his follow-up "From Beyond" is just as good. Like the former, it's based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, whose love of horror and fantasy made him a unique writer in his field. "From Beyond" also represents the kind of horror movie Hollywood isn't bothering to make right now: one with a vivid imagination and something other than your typical slasher fare. Were it made today, it would probably get bypassed by a "Saw" sequel and relegated to a straight-to-video release.

Jeffrey Combs stars as Crawford Tillinghast, a scientist who creates a machine called the Resonator. It is designed to stimulate the pineal gland which, for those who didn't pay attention in science class (don't worry, I didn't either), allows subjects to see beyond normal, perceptible reality. Aside from getting an "orgasm of the mind," they see creatures unlike any others which proceed to attack Tillinghast and his sadomasochistic partner Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel).

Pretorius gets murdered and Tillinghast is arrested and wrongly charged with the crime. After meeting Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton), who is shocked at a brain scan showing his pineal gland as larger than ever, she goes against her superiors and takes Tillinghast back to the house to start the Resonator up again to confirm his story. From there pain and pleasure take on visceral new meanings even Pinhead from "Hellraiser" wouldn't have thought of.

Gordon effectively finds the shock and awe in this story, which gets at our conflicting desire to play it safe yet still test our limits. These characters have no business reactivating the Resonator, but like them we are fascinated with what could happen. He also brings much of the black humor from "Re-Animator" to this one, allowing us to take the story only so seriously. With antennas sticking out of heads and characters wearing bizarre costumes, you could almost call this his version of a David Cronenberg movie.

All the actors in "From Beyond" remain incredibly underrated long after this film's release. Combs is superb as a doctor who is even more of a loose cannon than Herbert West, and you come out of this wondering why he isn't a movie star. Barbara Crampton matches him scene for scene as McMichaels, who goes from a person in control to one completely out of it with great abandon. Then you have "Dawn of the Dead's" Ken Foree, who plays the only guy here who hasn't completely lost his sanity.

But one performance worth singling out is Ted Sorel's as he dives head-first into the perverse nature of Dr. Pretorius. Seeing him excited about the next ultimate drug makes him such a repellant character, yet Sorel still makes him so charismatic. Even when covered in makeup and looking slimy and mutated, the effects never upstage his excellent performance.

Director Gordon, working with a bigger budget this time, revels in the love he has for Lovecraft's work, which shows all throughout "From Beyond." This is clearly not a guy who wants to just churn out forgettable junk, but one who brings us to a horrifying place we may not want to visit but are still compelled to. Scary movies aren't living up to the genre right now, so maybe they can take a few lessons from this one. If you loved "Re-Animator," you're bound to love this one as well.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

See also:

The Cult of "Re-Animator" Follows it to New Beverly Cinema

Barbara Crampton Talks Acting in "Re-Animaor," "From Beyond"