FROM BEYOND (1986) & DAGON (2001): Goo, Gore & Elder Gods (Stuart Gordon’s Wet and Weird Lovecraft Films)

FROM BEYOND (1986) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)
DAGON (2001) d. Stuart Gordon (Spain)

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Following the cult success of Re-Animator, director Stuart Gordon continued refining his visceral, darkly comic approach to H. P. Lovecraft the following year with 1986’s From Beyond and, 15 years later, Dagon (2001). Rather than adhering strictly to Lovecraft’s prose, Gordon and screenwriter Dennis Paoli emphasized sensory excess—transforming cosmic dread into something immediate, tactile, and perversely entertaining.

MASTERS OF HORROR: SEASON 1 - LOOKING BACK AT 20 YEARS OF MOH!!

MASTERS OF HORROR (2005-2007) was a horror anthology series like none before, making its small-screen bow on the cable channel Showtime in October 2005.

Created by Mick Garris, the show brought together some of the most renowned names in horror filmmaking to direct hour-long episodes that showcased their unique visions. Predating the wave of multi-voiced anthology films like V/H/S and ABCs of Death, each episode was a self-contained story, with genre icons such as John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, Stuart Gordon, John Landis, Joe Dante, and Don Coscarelli, alongside newer voices such as Lucky McKee and Takashi Miike, exploring different themes and scenarios ranging from supernatural terror to the murderer next door.

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The idea behind the series emerged from informal dinners hosted by Garris, with established horror directors sharing ideas and mutual admiration for one another, as well as discussing the genre’s rich history and diversity.

RE-ANIMATOR (1985) AT 40: GREEN, GOO, GUTS, AND GAGS!!

RE-ANIMATOR (1985) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)
BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (1990) d. Brian Yuzna (USA)
BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR (2003) d. Brian Yuzna (Spain)

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Stuart Gordon’s debut feature Re-Animator is a fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek blend of horror, sci-fi, and dark comedy that helped define the splatter subgenre of the 1980s. Loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s serialized novella and set at the fabled Miskatonic University, the wildly intense Herbert West (deliciously played by Jeffrey Combs) embarks on a series of experiments to bring the dead back to life—with increasingly chaotic and outrageous results.

ROBOT JOX (1990) Blu-ray Review

Robot Jox (1990) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)

Can a film be both derivative and ahead of its time? Drawing from Hasbro’s popular line of Transformers toys, Japanese kaiju and anime, and Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds TV series, Robot Jox is an entertaining grab bag of influences and styles that, even if it never quite gels into a consistent tone, emerges as an enjoyable cinematic Frankenstein’s Monster, lurching back and forth across the line separating satire from silly, but noble sincerity. It’s also more fun and cohesive than any of Michael Bay’s wretched Transformers flicks and serves as an obvious forerunner to Guillermo Del Toro’s very similar Pacific Rim.

DOLLS (1987) Blu-ray Review

Dolls (1987) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)

“They Walk. They Talk. They Kill.” Following the success of Re-Animator, Gordon’s second directorial feature shot for Full Moon (though released a year after From Beyond due to the extensive post-production special effects work) was this dark fairy tale of murderous children’s playthings combined with the “motley crew of rain-drenched travelers taking refuge in old dark house” horror staple. While her parents (Carolyn Purdy-Jones, Ian Patrick Williams) are portrayed as over-the-top unfeeling monsters, little Judy (Carrie Lorraine) provides one of the few sympathetic turns as the plucky youngster who appeals to the kindly, mysterious dollmakers (Guy Rolfe and Hillary Mason) who reside therein.

CHASTITY BITES (2013) DVD review

Chastity Bites (2013) d. John V. Knowles (USA)

In the small conservative southwestern community of San Griento, life is its own particular brand of hell for fiery liberal high school student Leah (Allison Scagliotti, Warehouse 13) and her demure bosom buddy Katharine (Francia Raisa, Secret Life of the American Teenager), being the constant butt of taunts and jokes from the popular clique of chicks dubbed “the Hiltons.” But there’s a much more serious threat on the horizon in the form of Liz Batho (Louise Griffiths, The Revenant), a newly arrived and seemingly radical extremist seeking to promote abstinence among the fairer sex. The new spiritual leader soon has the town – and Katharine – wrapped around her immaculately manicured and suspiciously youthful fingers, even as exclusively virginal bodies start piling up in her wake.

DOLLS (1987) movie review

***UPDATED DEC 2014 TO REFLECT SHOUT! FACTORY'S COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY RELEASE***

Dolls (1987) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)

“They Walk. They Talk. They Kill.” Following the success of Re-Animator, Gordon’s second directorial feature shot for Full Moon (though released a year after From Beyond due to the extensive post-production special effects work) was this dark fairy tale of murderous children’s playthings combined with the “motley crew of rain-drenched travelers taking refuge in old dark house” horror staple. While her parents (Carolyn Purdy-Jones, Ian Patrick Williams) are portrayed as over-the-top unfeeling monsters, little Judy (Carrie Lorraine) provides one of the few sympathetic turns as the plucky youngster who appeals to the kindly, mysterious dollmakers (Guy Rolfe and Hillary Mason) who reside therein.