For some unfathomable reason, From Beyond has never really had the respect it deserves. At the time of original release, it was compared unfavourably with the same team's previous hit Re-Animator, and suffered heavy censorship from the MPAA. Since then, it's been shamefully overlooked by critics and barely available for home viewing. This new release is, I believe, the first time on DVD in the UK.

But good things come to those who wait, and From Beyond is a very good thing. Reuniting the Re-Animator team of director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna and actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, it's one of the best horror movies of the 1980s, mixing dark sexuality, ultra-gore, body horror excess and a remarkable visual palate to create a strikingly original tale.

The original Lovecraft tale is effectively used up in the pre-credits sequence, with Drs Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) and Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) building a Resonator machine that allows whoever is using it to see beyond visible reality, opening up other dimensions full of strange creatures. It also stimulates the pineal gland, causing both addiction and sexual arousal, and the experiment ends with a headless Pretorius and a crazed Tillinghast locked up by the authorities.

In an effort to get to the bottom of the mystery, Tillinghast is taken back to the house where it all happened, accompanied by Dr Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) and jovial cop Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree). But once they switch on the resonator, a mutated Pretorious appears, telling them of the sensual pleasures of the world beyond reality. As the three struggle to escape from the crazed monster, the mind-altering aspects of the resonator begin to work on them, unleashing hidden desires, weird monsters and Tillinghast's stimulated pineal glad, which bursts out of his forehead...

Bathed in a constant glow of purples and pinks, From Beyond is visually arresting, and rarely holds back from exploring the excesses of sensory over-stimulation. It's unsurprising that the film had so many censorship issues, given the heady combination of graphic gore (eyeballs sucked out, brains eaten) and the sexual aspects of the story. Sex is at the heart of this story, more than horror in many ways, and the film doesn't shy away from exploring it. The scene where Crampton discovers a wardrobe full of fetish wear is rightfully famous – it's one of the most overtly erotic moments in any 1980s horror film.

Combs and Crampton are excellent here, in roles that are effectively the reverse of those they played in Re-Animator – here, she's the increasingly mad scientist, he's the innocent victim – while Foree brings humour to the film and the everyman cop. There's less obvious comedy in this film – presumably one reason why critics didn't respond as well to it – and the horror has a more surreal, fantastical edge. That's no bad thing. This is a film that builds steadily to a hysterical, deranged finale, and Gordon does a great job of bringing a sense of style and sophistication to a story that could, in the wrong hands, have been merely gross. His visual aesthetic is remarkable. What's more, the astounding prosthetics here are the best evidence you could present in a case against CGI.

From Beyond is a great body horror movie, and one that will hopefully now get the praise it deserves. This new edition goes all out, with several documentaries, a commentary track from Gordon, Yuzna, Combs and Crampton and more amongst the generous extras. Essential viewing.

DAVID FLINT

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