From Beyond
The so called subgenre known as âbody horrorâ is one that has really only been explored in the last 40 years of horror films (mostly because of the advances in special makeup F/X and prosthetics). In a nutshell, it involves the protagonist undergoing the usually horrific process of finding his physical human body undergoing some sort of extreme transformation into something that might be stronger or weaker than the average human and almost always with especially gooey, gory, squeamish results. David Cronenberg pretty much pioneered the subgenre with his work in the 1970s and then perfected it in the 80s with classics such as Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly. Other subgenres would sometimes partially incorporate these elements into their stories (American Werewolf being a prime example) and still other filmmakers would try to swing for the fences with their concepts only to get mixed results. One such filmmaker was Stuart Gordon, a guy who set the horror cinema world (and cinema in general) on fire with his ReAnimator, a film which literally got everyone talking with its borderline insane depiction of a mad scientist who invents a serum to bring dead people back to life only now as savage, animalistic zombies with the added irony of being an adaptation of a story by H.P. Lovecraft. The âironyâ of that was that while yes, Lovecraft did write the original story back in the 1920s, it wasnât really something that could be considered A Lovecraft Story per se, since Lovecraftâs specialty was to write sometimes rambling pieces about some kind of otherworldly nethergods that are always and constantly trying to find their way both back into our world as well as into our general consciousness, a prospect that from all accounts would be a horribly painful and bloody experience for mankind as we know it, notwithstanding the facts that Lovecraft himself besides being an atheist (obviously) who personally believed in none of his own literary creations was also said to be an extremely strange and eccentric person who was married to a woman seven years his senior and she later admitted after his death that he never even managed to consummate their marriage (suggesting some major sexual repression and / or potency issues on his part). When Gordon was ready to direct his followup to ReAnimator in 1986, he once again went back to the Lovecraft well and decided to adapt another tale of his where the original story was said to only be 7 pages long(!), but at least it contained a concept that adhered to Lovecraftâs so called Cthulu mythology that along with being updated to the times in which it was made also would fall into the category of the aforementioned body horror subgenre. Gordon would also reunite with two of his key actors from his previous work, one being Jeffrey Combs (who became an overnight horror legend with his Dr. Herbert West, a character who was really neither hero nor villain but rather a completely crazed wild card) and the other being the gorgeous Barbara Crampton (who became an iconic genre figure in her own right after her wild sex scene with a severed head in ReAnimator), an actress who had the looks and talent to easily be on the Hollywood A List but chose instead to focus more on horror movies, gaining a huge (mostly male) fan following during this time for having the uncanny ability to play usually sweet, sometimes virtuous blue eyed blondes while still not being afraid to engage in nudity and then push the sexual boundaries in her performances whenever the moment called for it. In fact, between two cult favorites in Combs and Crampton (and arguably a third in Dawn Of The Deadâs Ken Foree), itâs kind of hard to figure out which one is the real star by virtue of their individual impact on the film although Cramptonâs buttoned down doctor who gets to unleash her sexuality in all its glory might just get the slight edge. The film begins by showing a young scientist (Combs) getting ready to activate a newly invented machine called The Resonator, a device that creates a magnetic field that in theory puts the human pineal gland into overdrive, allowing anyone to see in front of them things that are apparently always there but are usually invisible to us by virtue of being in a different dimension (or reality), literally enabling humans beings to be able to âcross overâ and have their consciousness expanded so much so that it actually becomes too horrible to comprehend. This proves to be true when Combs activates the machine and his mentor who really invented it (Ted Sorel) winds up getting his head bitten off by some otherworldly being before Combs can get it shut off and then (having been charged with the murder) he winds up in a high end loony bin where Crampton (playing a psychologist who has done groundbreaking work in the field of treating schizophrenia) listens to his crazy story and decides to take him into her custody to go back to the house and reactivate the machine to see what happens. They are accompanied by a cop (Foree) whose main purpose is to make sure that Combs doesnât escape and when they turn the machine on to recreate the magnetic field that opens them up to another dimension, they are shocked to discover that Sorelâs thought to be dead mentor character (a power hungry madman when he was human) is not only still alive in this plane of existence, but is absolutely loving his transformation into some kind of godlike being who can morph into an even more hideous monster all while proclaiming that the most physically satisfying experience with another human being is not through sex with them but rather by connecting with their mind and knowing their thoughts as you share your own. Of course, heâs completely infatuated when he sees Crampton and definitely wishing to get to know her better while still regarding Combs (who seems pretty tortured by what heâs going through) as someone with whom he is actively sharing this experience with. But the real horror is when the machine is turned off and the monsters disappear into thin air as the trio of Combs, Crampton and Foree (the healthy skeptic of the group) find themselves changing, not just physically (Combs soon has a âthird eyeâ start poking out of his forehead), but mentally as well with Crampton being the most dramatic of the group as her buttoned down doctor not only starts becoming more sexually aggressive with the two males but also (against both their wishes) displays a rabid desire to turn the machine back on once again just to see how much further they can go to the edge (as Foreeâs cop likens her to being a junkie). Certainly the variety of directions that the story could go in at this point is seemingly endless which is why the way the movie does wrap up is so disappointing. The main characters wind up back at the looney bin where Combs (whose character up to that point had definitely generated the most sympathy) starts quickly eroding any connection that the viewers might have had with him when he starts attacking random people to eat their brains and then when being back at the looney bin has served its purpose to the story, both Combs and Crampton escape separately as Crampton is now armed with a bomb (where did she get THAT? Home Depot?) and now plans to blow up the dreadful machine that caused all this even as the actual machine can now turn itself on and off at will and utilize whatever self defense techniques at its disposal (including lightning bolts and bee swarms). The film scores points for obviously in some areas being a heavy influence on the undisputed classic Hellraiser (made the next year) in both its makeup F/X and in some of its ideas as well (including openly stating the known and obvious connection between the bondage / BDSM lifestyle and male impotence) and the concept of true intimacy being more about the bond between two peopleâs minds rather than their bodies certainly makes an impact, but the idea that Lovecraftâs all powerful dark gods (again something that had more of an influence on Hellraiser than most people acknowledge) want us humans to be merely an extension of themselves is something that gets lost in a lot of gory grue despite the quality contributions of Combs and Crampton and the body transforming (evolving?) techniques on display here as the story runs out of gas before getting to the finish line and doesnât quite make that leap of all out greatness that the directorâs previous achievement had managed to doâŚ
7/10