Suitably over-the-top artwork by Jinda features on this Thai poster for From Beyond. Loosely based on the short story of the same name by famed horror author H. P. Lovecraft, the film was director Stuart Gordon’s second following Reanimator (1985). Gordon once again called on the services of two of the stars of that film, with Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton both returning. The film was produced in Italy in order to keep costs down and the director also shot his film Dolls at the same time in the same studio.

Combs plays Crawford Tillinghast, a physician and assistant to Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel). The pair have been working on a device called The Resonator which they hope will stimulate the pineal gland. The machine appears to be a success but one unforeseen consequence is that it allows people in the vicinity to see creatures from an alternate dimension that are all around them. Determined to carry on, Pretorius is eventually attacked and seemingly killed by an unseen creature. Tillinghast escapes from the laboratory and is arrested by police who suspect his involvement in the scientist’s death. 

Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Crampton) begins treating Tillinghast and eventually persuades the hospital to allow her to release him into her care to investigate his claims. The pair return to the Pretorius’ home accompanied by a police detective called Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree). The trio soon discover that the scientist is alive but no longer very human in appearance. Once again The Resonator is activated and events start to spin out of control.

I’ve been unable to find out much about Jinda other than the titles of several of the Thai film posters he painted the artwork for. If anyone has anymore information on him please get in touch.

A true cult horror classic, Re-Animator was based on H. P. Lovecraft‘s 1922 short story ‘Herbert West–Reanimator‘ and was director Stuart Gordon‘s first feature film. Originally planned to be a TV series set around the beginning of the 20th century, a pilot and a number of episodes were scripted by Dennis Paoli and William Norris. Eventually the trio decided to update the story to present day Chicago since the period setting was increasing production costs, and were then persuaded to make it as a feature film after Gordon was introduced to producer Brian Yuzna. The infamous horror director/producer Charles Band‘s Empire Pictures agreed to help with post-production in return for distribution rights (note the logo on this poster).

One of the reasons for the films cult success was the hiring of Jeffrey Combs to play the lead role of scientist Herbert West, which led to one of horror’s all-time great performances. Coombs’  portrayal of West is pitch-perfect, blackly comic and the film is unquestionably elevated by his presence. At the beginning of the film West’s medical student is dismissed from a Swiss University after a failed experiment to bring his dead professor back to life using a concoction he has been developing for several months.Some time later, West arrives at a New England university and immediately carries on his experiments, enlisting the help of his room mate Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott). When Dan’s girlfriend Megan grows suspicious of their activity, a series of events see the body count rising and West is able to test his new serum and ‘defeat death’.

The film has brilliant, gore-heavy special effects that stand up well nearly thirty years on and it’s a perfectly paced horror that was, unusually for the time, lauded by most critics. It went on to spawn sequels and launched Gordon’s career as a horror director of note.

This is the photo style one sheet and features one of the all-time great horror tag-lines. There is also an illustration style one sheet that can be seen here.