Horror Fest Day Two: From Beyond

I'm at a loss to describe H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond, so I'm just going to try to tell you what the experience was like.

As a big fan of Stuart Gordon's other Lovecraft inspired films (Re-Animator, Dreams of the Witch House, Castle Freak, and... well maybe not so much Dagon), I've always wanted to see From Beyond, but I could never seem to find it on video and until very recently there was no dvd of it (officially at least), so it was a big treat to be able to pick one up when it finally came out two months ago.

Gordon is reunited with Re-Animator vets Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton, along with Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead, The Devil's Rejects), who make up the central group of two scientists and an ex-NFL player turned cop (guess which one is which) who try to recreate the mad experiments of Doctor Praetoreous (Ted Sorel) and his Resonator, which stimulates the pineal gland and opens our perception of other worlds.

Of course, it also allows the hideous monsters to see us, and attack us, and that's just the beginning of some of the demented shit that Gordon has in store for us. It's probably easier if I just provide you with a list of some things you'll see over the eighty six minutes that is From Beyond:

- Home made S&M videos
- Flying eel monsters and jellyfish monsters
- Brain eating through the eye socket
- Pineal gland castration
- Giant worm monsters living in the basement
- Mutants that sprout wings and multiple heads
- Heads being twisted off in monster's mouths
- Barbara Crampton again being molested by the monster
- Jeffery Combs being ingested in various ways
- Ken Foree being eaten by... locusts? (maybe)
- Knee caps ripped open
- Electro Shock therapy
- The token black character saying "Speaking of heads being eaten, I'm hungry" and "Damn!"
- Delicious soul food
- Guys running around in speedos
- Naked people covered in jelly


All this and so much more can be seen in From Beyond, a movie that defies conventional wisdom and is funny in some very twisted ways. If you like Re-Animator, trust me when I say you need to see From Beyond.

I think we're going to step away from the movies to go check out a Haunted House, but believe you me we'll be back with a vengeance!