Ep 143 - 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) After the cult success of Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon expanded his visceral, darkly comic take on H. P. Lovecraft with From Beyond (1986) and Dagon (2001). Working with writer Dennis Paoli, Gordon transforms cosmic dread into something immediate, tactile, and perversely entertaining. From Beyond reunites Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in a story of scientific obsession and bodily mutation, featuring surreal practical effects—mutating flesh, overactive pineal glands, and interdimensional horrors. With Dagon, Gordon trades lab horror for a decaying coastal nightmare. Set in a rain-soaked Spanish village, the film follows outsiders confronting an ancient sea cult, with grotesque makeup effects emphasizing rot, mutation, and dread. Together, these films showcase Gordon's unique ability to make Lovecraft's abstract horror physical, grotesque, and wildly entertaining. Join AC and his fantastic panel of guests (Nile Arena, Derek Bohtelo, Gordon Briggs, Craig J. Clark, Graham Skipper) as we celebrate the OTHER Gordon/Lovecraft adaptations, FROM BEYOND and DAGON! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NILE ARENA has created cinema collectives, worked the film festival circuit, and lent his voice to podcasts dedicated to the silver screen. His literary/weird fiction journal, Success Stories, is available now at some of the places books are sold. DEREK BOTELHO is an author, film journalist, playwright, and visual effects artist. Not one to rest on his laurels, nor do much about them either, he is currently writing his first novel. GORDON BRIGGS is a devout cinephile, who also teaches Fine Arts courses at University of the Rio Grande. In addition to teaching, he publishes two film columns for his local papers. If you follow him on social media, he will give you two film reviews a day, every day. In his free time, Gordon enjoys cosplayjng super villains. CRAIG J. CLARK watches a lot of movies. He started watching them in New Jersey, where he was born and raised, and continues to watch them in Indiana. He is a frequent contributor to Crooked Marquee (https://crookedmarquee.com/author/craig-j-clark/) and writes the monthly Full Moon Features column for Werewolf News (https://werewolf-news.com/category/full-moon-features/). He is not a werewolf himself (or so he says) GRAHAM SKIPPER is a filmmaker and actor, best known for playing Herbert West in Stuart Gordon's stage production Re-Animator the Musical, as well as his roles in Almost Human, The Leech, Beyond The Gates, and Man Finds Tape. He has also directed the films Sequence Break and The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine. Graham lives in Austin, TX. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!