12/30/2018

From Beyond (1986) - Gordon's wild and imaginative second Lovecraft adaptation



A horrifically disfigured face stares intensely out from the appropriately garishly indicative poster for Stuart Gordon's From Beyond

A mad scientist is killed by his own machine, the Resonator. His trials are recreated, and a portal to the horrors of a different world gets opened.

From Beyond is written by Brian Yuzna (Takut: Faces of Fear (2008)), Dennis Paoli (The Dentist (1996)) and great Chicagoan co-writer/director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator (1985), adapting the same-titled 1920 (year written) short story by H.P. Lovecraft (The Other Gods (1921)).
It is a film that makes you go wow! An authentically wild ride; well-written, over-the-top and continually enthusiastically acted: Jeffrey Combs (Transformers Prime (2010-13)) and Ken Foree (Kenan & Kel (1996-00)) are particularly energetic.
From Beyond is a neon-drenched 1980s gem in gore horror, full of crazy monsters and disgusting effects, which will make your eyes spin!

Related post:

Stuart Gordon: The Dentist 2 (1998) or, Open Wide ... Again! (co-writer)








Gordon and Combs give an interview together here

Cost: 4.5 mil. $
Box office: 1.2 mil. $ - North America only
= Uncertain - but likely a mega-flop (returned at least 0.26 times the cost)
[From Beyond was released 24 October (USA) and runs 80 minutes, with an unrated video cut running 86 minutes. It was shot in Rome, Italy around January 1986. Italy was chosen over the US in order to cut costs. The film opened #13 to a 514k $ first weekend in 190 theaters in North America. It was released generally in at least 6 other countries as well as at a handful of festivals, but grosses from abroad are not available. Gordon returned with Dolls (1987). Combs returned in Cyclone (1987). From Beyond is fresh at 75 % with a 6.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of From Beyond?

12/29/2018

2018 in films - according to Film Excess

Top 9: The Best Movies of 2018:




1. A Star Is Born - Bradley Cooper + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Debut Movie of the Year: Bradley Cooper + Best Musical of the Year + Best Remake of the Year + Best Dog Performance of the Year: Charlie + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year




2. Mission: Impossible - Fallout - Christopher McQuarrie + Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Fight Scene of the Year: Bathroom fight scene + Best Car Chase of the Year: Paris chase + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year
 


3. I Feel Pretty - Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein + Best Comedy of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year




4. A Quiet Place - John Krasinski + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Apocalyptic Movie of the Year + Best Screen Couple of the Year: John Krasinski & Emily Blunt




5. Tully - Jason Reitman + Best Dramedy of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year




6. Shoplifters/万引き家族 (Manbiki kazoku) - Hirokazu Kore-eda + Best Japanese Movie of the Year + Best Tokyo Movie of the Year




7. The Nun - Corin Hardy + Best Religious Horror Movie of the Year + Best Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Taissa Farmiga




8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - J.A. Bayona



9. Black Panther - Ryan Coogler + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Letitia Wright + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Most Overrated Movie of the Year 

Failed, mediocre and/or poor films (in alphabetical order):

A Fortunate Man/Lykke-Per - Bille August  + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Esben Smed
Border/Gräns - Ali Abbasi 
The House that Jack Built - Lars Von Trier 

[12 titles in total]

Notes:

At just 12 titles seen yet, this is the regrettably slimmest annual listing so far. Topping the year are Bradley Cooper's sensational musical surprise smash remake A Star Is Born, followed by Christopher McQuarrie's second suspenseful action blessing, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, with Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein's uplifting body image romcom I Feel Pretty taking bronze. Following on the list are John Krasinski's tight survival horror A Quiet Place, Jason Reitman's birth depression dramedy Tully, Hirokazu Kore-eda's insightful Tokyo-set social realism Shoplifters, Corin Hardy's Gothic religious horror The Nun, J.A. Bayona's major box office dino actioner Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and finally Ryan Coogler's hyperboled superhero escapade Black Panther.
Without any films reviewed yet with downright bad reviews, - just 3 titles that got the lukewarm 3 hearts, - the year doesn't qualify for a bottom list yet. - But it will likely follow at the first update by the end of 2019.
Great filmmakers who made underwhelming films in 2018 include Lars Von Trier (The House that Jack Built) and Bille August (A Fortunate Man).

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]
 
 


1. The House that Jack Built - 9.3 mil. $ range
2. Tully - 5.76 mil. $ range
3. A Fortunate Man - 5.33 mil. $ range
 = Combined losses: 20.39 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]


1. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 343.46 mil. $ range
2. Black Panther - 338.76 mil. $ range
3. Mission: Impossible - Fallout - 138.4 mil. $ range
4. The Nun - 125.4 mil. $ range
5. A Quiet Place - 119.24 mil. $ range
6. A Star Is Born - 116.88 mil. $ range
7. Shoplifters - 16.2 mil. $ range
8. I Feel Pretty - 5.8 mil. $ range
= Combined profits: 1,204.14 mil. $

2018 titles on the watch-list:

Johnny English Strikes Again, Early Man, Beautiful Boy, Sicario: Fay of the Soldado, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Isle of Dogs, Unsane, The Spy Who Dumped Me, The Meg, Searching, Wildlife, The Guilty, Burning, The Tale, Alpha, Blaze, Finale, The Favourite, Boy Erased, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, BlacKkKlansman, The Front Runner, Halloween, Mandy, Assassination Nation, The Happy Prince, Never Look Away, Suspiria, Green Book, Roma, Long Way Back Home, Birds of Passage, The Other Side of the Wind, Eight Grade, Free Solo, Cold War, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Vice, The Sisters Brothers, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, The Mule, Annihilation, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Welcome to Marwen, Stan & Ollie, Bird Box

Previous annual lists:
  

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
   

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
 

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

What do you think of the 2018 list?
Which 2018 titles would make to your top and bottom lists?
Which worthwhile 2018 titles are missing on the watch-list?