Way back in the 1980s, when I was just finding my way in the world and long before my interest in horror movies, or movies in general, found a way to the foreground of my mind, there was a grand era of horror films moving silently through the motion picture landscape. Well, perhaps it wasn't so silent, but my interests lay in other areas so it might as well have been silent to me.

One of the filmmakers who was making an impression on said landscape was Stuart Gordon. In 1985 he made his big screen debut with Re-Animator. It turned out to be a success, so producer Charles Band tapped him to attempt to recreate that success. The follow-up turned out to be another HP Lovecraft-inspired gem, From Beyond. It may not have lived up to its predecessor, but there is no denying just how captivating the movie is.

I did not experience the gooey glory of Gordon's creation until the latter half of the 1990s, during my short tenure working as a video store clerk. I remember watching the worn out VHS tape and loving what I saw. However, as the DVD age dawned, the film was buried in a corner of my mind and more or less forgotten. Every once in awhile I would look for a DVD, but it was never found. Then came the fall of 2007, and the DVD was announced for release by MGM. Not only that, but it would be an unrated director's cut! Now, I know that it has been out for a while — I have had it in my possession as long — however it is only now that I am able to revisit it.

From Beyond centers on the invention of Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel). It is called the Resonator, and it acts directly on the pineal gland in the brain. The device stimulates the gland, awakening the so-called sixth sense. With this gland active creatures are seen all around, swimming through the air like malevolent eels.

The phenomenon is first witnessed by Pretorius' assistant, Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs). He shuts it down and tells his boss, who proceeds to turn it back on and turn the power back up. This proves to be a mistake, as something else comes through and takes over Pretorius' mind, and it is not friendly. Crawford narrowly escapes, but cannot convince anyone of his sanity and the very real threat posed by the invention.

Crawford is eventually turned over to the custody of Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton), a hot shot young psychiatrist who wants to revisit the experiment, against Crawford's emphatic requests. Off they go, along with Bubba (Ken Foree of Dawn of the Dead), their muscle, back to the Pretorius house.