H. P. Lovecraft’s body of cosmic horror has a certain prestige to it. One pictures the slow, impossible march of something larger than life as it trudges through the sea. The reality beyond human understanding becomes the haunting domain of dawning horrors, capable of incalculable damage, yet strictly disinterested in human affairs. It seems high-minded next to modern blood and gore. Stuart Gordon found the revolting, gory, grotesque fun in Lovecraft in hisFrom Beyond.
The world is colder without Stuart Gordon. The beloved cult filmmaker passed in 2020 but went quiet after 2007. His final film wasStuck, one of the most harrowinglow-budget thrillersever made. Before that, he was the MVP of legendary producer Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, even directing their final film, the endlessly underratedRobot Jox. Throughout his illustrious career, the most consistent thread was Gordon’s love of H. P. Lovecraft.
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Two mad scientists, Dr. Edward Pretorious and Dr. Crawford Tillinghast, finish a miraculous invention called a Resonator. When Tillinghast activates the machine, the world goes purple, and strange creatures become visible. The Resonator stimulates the pineal gland, allowing scientists toperceive a neighboring reality. One of the monsters bites Tillinghast, prompting him to free as Pretorious loses his mind. As the cops arrive, they find Pretorious missing his head and Tillinghast cowering in the corner. The police bring Tillinghast to a psych ward, where Dr. Katherine McMichaels runs him through a CT scan. She discovers his rapidly growing pineal gland and then orders him to be released to her custody. Tillinghast and McMichaels reactivate the Resonator with a detective named Bubba, re-entering the purple reality and finding Pretorious. He explains that his new home offers pleasures beyond anything available on Earth. When Pretorious attacks Tillinghast and McMichaels, they turn off the Resonator to seal him away again.
Now aware of the Resonator’s power, McMihaels believes the machine could help people. She thinks she sees a link between disorders like schizophrenia and an overactive pineal gland. If she’s correct, she could have the key to understanding mental illness. Tillinghast refuses her request toturn the Resonator onagain. She turns it on against his wishes, allowing Pretorious to return and attack. As they struggle with the beings they’ve released, Tillinghast starts to change. The scientists must find a way to return what they’ve freed before their curiosity threatens to turn Earth into something else entirely.
What isFrom Beyondbased on?
From Beyondis based on H. P. Lovecraft’s short story of the same name. The story was written in 1920 and first published in 1934. Director Stuart Gordon loved theworks of H. P. Lovecraft. His first film wasRe-Animator, an adaptation of Lovecraft’s “Herbert West - Reanimator.“Re-Animatoris an unmistakable cult classic. It’s one of the formative “weird” horror movies for several generations.From Beyondisn’t as iconic as its older brother. Both works are loose adaptations. Gordon would later direct takes on “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Dreams In the Witch-House.“Lovecraft’s “From Beyond” is a short story. Gordon’sFrom Beyondblows through the original plot beats in the opening scene, adding a ton to the source material.
How doesFrom Beyondend?
Pretorious returns unexpectedly, reactivating the machine while Bubba tries to persuade McMichaels and Tillinghast to leave. Bubba sacrifices his life to save them from insectoid monsters. Tillinghast defends McMichaels, but his enlarged pineal gland suddenly bursts through his skull. A writhing worm protrudes from his forehead, turning him into a non-verbal monster. McMichael rushes him back to the hospital for more tests, but he attacks and mutilates her boss. McMichael flees with a bomb, leaving Tillinghast to chase her. She plants the explosive as Tillinghast attacks. She bites off his extended pineal gland, allowing him to reclaim his senses. Pretorious reactivates the Resonator and swallows Tillinghast whole. Their consciousnesses fight for control of their shared body, splitting it physically. McMichael leaps out a high window as the building explodes. She fractures her knee on a rough landing,visibly losing her mindas she screams, “It ate him!” over and over.
From Beyondisn’t for everyone, but it is very much for some people. It’s a grotesque, darkly hilarious nightmare painted in big, bold, creative choices. Stuart Gordon’s Lovecraft adaptations remain perfect living embodiments of a specific eraof low-budget filmmaking. They’re classics of a sort, and they remain influential today.Suitable FleshandGloriousare modern takes on old material that seem to take a few pages out of Gordon’s book as well as Lovecraft’s.From Beyonddeserves the attentionRe-Animatorgot. Everyone knows whether this kind of thing is for them, so it’s the perfect project to seek out.
