When Barbara Crampton landed the role of Megan Halsey in Re-Animator, last year's surprise horror hit, she had little idea it would become a cult classic. "We thought it would be either a hit or a piece of junk," she recalls. "We only knew that it was funny." Later, when it hit the theaters, Re-Animator--based on an H. P. Lovecraft story--garnered the type of rave reviews even experienced moviemakers dream of.
For instance, the Los Angeles Times called Re-Animator "simply the best, funniest Grand Guignol horror picture to come along in ages." Even The New Yorker's finicky Pauline Kael was impressed, both by the movie and by its female lead. "Barbara Crampton, who's creamy pink all over, is at her loveliest when she's being defiled," she gushed. Naturally, immediate plans were made to reteam Crampton with much of the cast and crew for a new cinematic effort called From Beyond.
Director Stuart Gordon, who headed Chicago's Organic Theater before taking off to make films, shot From Beyond in Italy. So Barbara got to spend nearly three months in Rome. Her character, a repressed psychiatrist who gets in touch with her sensual needs at inopportune--and gruesome--moments, is also a departure: "She really lets go--violently." But can From Beyond live up to Re-Animator's promise? "It's different," Barbara says. "But you'll laugh when you see it."
