After waiting and waiting for fuck knows how long MGM finally put balls to the wall and made many horror fans happy campers.  In 1986 a brilliant and much underrated film was released based upon an H.P. Lovecraft story and of course when it comes to Lovecraft who better to adapt it to film than Master of Horror, Stuart Gordon along with the brilliant Brian Yuzna.  The film of which I speak is one beloved by most horror fans who have bore witness to its glory.  For the first time ever on DVD, now completely uncut and unrated, not to mention packed with cool extra shit;
 

    This here review is not just coverage of a fantastic film, but coverage of the DVD features as well, in hopes to get all you sick fuckers out there to get off the couch and pick it up for under $20.00.  After you pick it up, plop back down on the couch and enjoy this film in all it’s gory, I mean glory… oops!

    The ever popular Jeffrey Combs plays Crawford Tillinghast, a brilliant young scientist working with his associate Dr. Pretorious On a machine they call the Resonator.  This machine was created, so it seams, so open parts of the mind which lye dormant,  in particular the Pineal Gland.  

    Shit hit’s the fan when Crawford starts up the machine and finally gets it to work, but by doing so brings outer dimensional creatures along with it.  When Dr. Pretorious finds out about his success in operating the Resonator he has to get a glimpse for himself and of course a little bit of power is never enough.  After turning the power to its fullest the Dr. feels it rush through his body but mostly within the mind.  All seems well until he senses something approaching but this seems not to bug him too much as he is high on Pineal power, that is until he loses his mind… or head for that matter.

    When Combs wakes up in the hospital he begins making wild claims about the Resonator and the things that happened in the attic lab.  Everyone just takes him for a nut job and brushed off his wild ramblings with a shrug, all but one young beautiful Psychiatrist named Katherine McMichaels, portrayed by Barbara Crampton (of Re- Animator fame along with Combs).  The interest in the Resonator and the story Crawford tells gives the psychiatrist a reason to want to see for herself what this thing can really do.  Remember folks, curiosity killed the cat!

    Along with Bubba (Ken Foree), a cop sent along to keep an eye on things, the three venture back to the house to see if Crawfords story matches up.  They soon find out just how real his story was and is.  Upon rejuvenating the Resonator shit become more and more interesting and things from beyond become flesh before their eyes.  One of the creatures that comes to visit is the late Dr. Pretorious, now a hideous fuck demon, something that can be the subject of a horrible nightmare or one fucking hell of a kick ass freak show.

    The Resonator has changed Crawford at this point, he is now overcome by the powers of his mucho active pineal gland, forcing him to do horrible things beyond his will.  Katherine and Bubba have to stop this thing from regenerating again or shit could get a fuck of a lot worse for Crawford and themselves.  But the question remains… Can they?

This is just a very brief overview for you, there are too many things I can talk about and too many things to give away, however, go fuck yourselves!  Watch the shit for yourself!

    For story to screenplay I give a 9.  Not any can pull of an H.P. Lovecraft short story to film quite like Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna.  Adapted to screenplay by Yuzna, he stuck to the basics and kept Lovecraft deep in the heart of this film, as always.  

    For Direction I give a 10.  I’m sorry but only Stuart Gordon can truly make a Lovecraft story into a film with precision as well as taste and love for the stories.  His works are mainly based off of Lovecraft stories and he has yet to let me down.

    As for the acting I give a 9.  Combs, Crampton and Foree are always fun to watch.  Combs being the loyal Stuart Gordon guy he is always puts his all into the roles he plays in these films.  As for Ed Sorel who portrayed Dr. Edward Pretorious, he was by far one of the most disgusting and flat out malicious and filthy demon bad guys a horror fan could ever ask for. He can slime a screen like no other.  The few others who were cast in this film for short periods get an A as well.

    For F/X I give a 10.  For the time, the air swimming creatures and other nasties, especially Pretorious when he becomes full blown beast are absolutely, fantastically wicked.  Many gore sequences and creatures to behold in this film… and not a cheese about them.

    This film gets my overall rating of a 9.  Years have passed with hopes of this being released on DVD and the dream has finally come true.  This film is by far one of the finest of the 80’s if not one of the best overall.  For horror fans of all kinds, from the nastiest of nasties to the mainstream, this id for you.  Just Remember that you are watching a film acclaimed by true horror fans around the world.  
Special Features Review:  (being that I am reviewing the DVD in its entirety)

    Audio commentary is always fun, and to listen to Stuart Gordon and other cast members talk about making this classic is both enjoyable and extremely informative.  Definitely worth the listen if you are a fan of commentaries.

    The directors perspective featurette is fantastic with talks of H.P. Lovecraft and mucho info that is not mentioned in the commentary, such as his personal experiences in getting to create this film and the hard times as well as the good.  I always find what Gordon has to say to be extremely interesting because he is, without a doubt, a master of horror.

    The Editing Room feature is cool because you will get to see and hear of scenes lost and found and what was decided to be re added to the film to give it the little extra that the fans love to see.

    The interview with the composer I thought was fun to watch but at the same time I also felt we didn’t really need it for this particular films features.  Worth the watch though.

    Gotta love photo montages, that’s pretty much all I have to say for this feature.  No matter what the film, seeing pictures and behind the scenes photos is cool as hell.

    The story board to screen comparison was fucking awesome.  The film was made almost identical to the visions depicted in the scratchy sketches.  This aside from the directors perspective was my favorite feature on the disc.