From Beyond, Jean de Florette, & Manon of the Spring

It's the "1986 called and it wants its movies back" film fest post.

From Beyond is pretty much a normal H.P. Lovecraft story adapted by the people who were behind Re-Animator. As such, it suffers from being nowhere near as good as that film. One bonus is that this doesn't have a head giving head. That was very freaky. And also at only 85 minutes long, it felt padded. Which is to be expected, since it's based on a short story. I always enjoy a good Jeffrey Combs performance (and Ted Sorel isn't too bad either (even after he has his head bitten off)), but this one was unfortunately dependent more on Barbara Crampton. Who, while having a nice set of breasts and not being afraid to show them off, isn't all that good. When I first saw Ken Foree, I realized he was the token black guy and was going to die. Luckily for the film and my enjoyment of it, most others died too. But not all of them ended up fighting a big sandworm-type thing in their orange bikini briefs. Really? That's how you're going to take advantage of having Ken Foree in your film?

Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring tell the story of a hunchback and his farm, which two neighbors basically steal from him by covering up a spring, and his daughter who takes revenge upon them. It's pretty good, although it's basically two parts of a single story, so you have to watch both. Meaning four hours of French, and only two hours do you get to see Emmanuelle Béart. The first two you're stuck with Gérard Depardieu as a hunchback. Not that pretty. And the ending was a kick in the balls.