A Simple Plan

Well, I can't really add much without compromising Kevin's scheme, so I'll take this opportunity to talk about Stuart Gordon's From Beyond.

I first saw this film a decade or so ago, and subsequently forgot it existed. The other day I noticed MGM had restored and released the director's cut on DVD. Figuring there were worse ways to spend $8, I picked it up.

It is, of course, a fantastic movie. It is chock full of real effects, corporeal effects. You know, slimy rubber phalluses wiggling awkwardly alongside the actors (Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Ken Foree!), and puppets galore. You know, how these films should be. Contemporary horror films like Silent Hill have no soul. They would do well to regress a bit.

Anyhoo, the film is an extension of H.P. Lovecraft's eponymous short story. Two scientists construct a machine called The Resonator to stimulate the pineal gland in an attempt to awaken a sixth sense. It works all too well and they discover some vicious creatures living in a parallel space. The creatures discover them too, and one of the scientists loses his head (literally). The other destroys the machine, and loses his head (figuratively).

The cops suspect him of murdering his associate, but can't quite figure out how. On the insistence of a psychiatrist, they allow him to recreate the experiment to prove his innocence. And then monster mayhem ensues in the fashion of bygone 80s horror.