From Beyond (1986) ****

Unlike Stuart Gordon's debut Re-Animator (1985) (review), which I saw on VHS at the tender young age of perhaps 12 or 13, I don't believe that I saw From Beyond (1986) until I was 27 (on DVD). Regardless, I fell in love with it immediately. In 2023 we are blessed to have FB in an excellent 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome (I'm still waiting for Arrow Video to upgrade R-A to UHD).

While not the all-time camp classic that Re-Animator is, From Beyond is still a blast. It's the second best H.P. Lovecraft adaptation from Gordon (of five, three of which were produced by Brian Yuzna), who also adapted that other most famous horror fiction writer, Edgar Allan Poe, twice. Like Re-AnimatorFrom Beyond plays fast and loose with Lovecraft's 1934 short story, trading faithfulness to expand the story and really, let's face it, for the opportunity to deliver a gleeful mix of melodrama, comedy, sex, and gooey f/x, which Gordon was so good at.












Comments