DVD Review: From Beyond (Unrated Director's Cut)

“Humans are such easy prey.”

Stuart Gordon’s follow-up to Re-Animator finally makes it to DVD in uncut form and fans have been awaiting its arrival to stimulate their pineal glands. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) is conducting some strange experiments under the supervision of Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel). One night Crawford turns on his resonating machinery and strange things begin to appear. Dr. Pretorius ends up losing his head – literally. Crawford ends up in an insane asylum after the night’s events.

Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) thinks that she can find the answers to her experiments in the pineal gland by taking Crawford back to the house on 666 Benevolent St. to recreate the experiments. Since Crawford is suspected of beheading the not so good doctor they’re escorted by officer “Bubba” Brownlee (Ken Foree) back to the creepy mansion. Crawford fires up the machine again and strange things begin to happen again, including the reappearance of a slimy Dr. Pretorius and strange sexual urges on the part of the occupants of the house. Director Stuart Gordon knew that his follow-up to Re-Animator had to impress, so he again delved into H.P. Lovecraft territory and took a seven-page short story by the master and made From Beyond. He also got Re-Animator cast members Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton to return although their characters seem to be opposite of their Re-Animator counterparts. The ratings board had a time with Gordon’s film since Re-Animator was released unrated and went around them. The cuts were thought lost, but some sleuthing turned up a work print in MGM’s vaults and this DVD version restores the cuts. There’s a particularly gruesome when Combs sucks out the eyeball of Stuart Gordon’s wife (who is playing a bitchy doctor) and then sucks out her brain. This new addition restores all the red stuff. However, the new resolution makes some of the effects scenes rather obvious, especially Combs wearing an appliance on his bald head. I don’t know that From Beyond lives up to the gruesome fun that was Re-Animator, but it is a pretty good little film. From Beyond is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, Barbara Crampton, and Jeffrey Combs. The 8 minute “Reflections of Stuart Gordon: The Director’s Perspective” is a solo interview with Stuart Gordon. The 4-minute “Editing Room Lost and Found” is about tracking down the lost footage and restoring it and interviews Gordon, James Ousley (of Sony Technical Services), and John Dunn (Telecine Colorist at Ascent Media). The 4-minute “Interview with the Composer” chats with composer Richard Band. Next is a 4-minute “Photo Montage” to music from the film. Finally there are 5 storyboard to film comparisons (Introduction (1:23), Appearance of Dr. Pretorius (1:33), Death of Bubba (2:23), Hospital Escape (3:07), and Katherine Frees Herself (1:18)). You can use your remote’s angle button to switch between the views in this section.

It’s grand to finally have the uncut version of the film on DVD. It’s quite lucky that they were able to find the footage in a film can and technology had progressed enough that the work print footage could be reintegrated back into the film. From Beyond (Unrated Director's Cut) is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.