Mad Science Is The Best Science: Our 14 Favorite Crackpot Geniuses

Break out the death rays and clone armies!

By David Wharton | Updated 9 months ago

Dr. Pretorius (From Beyond)
While this spot could just as easily have been filled by Herbert West of Re-Animator, we decided to go with a lunatic scientist from another one of Stuart Gordon’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptations that stars Jeffrey Combs: From Beyond’s Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel). The only entrant on this list that could possibly go mutated toe to mutated toe with The Fly’s Seth Brundle, Pretorius also performed the seemingly impossible by creating the Resonator, a device that allows those nearby to peer into other dimensions, and get a peek at and the hellacious beasts hovering just beyond human understanding. So it’s like a trip to Walmart on a Sunday, only with marginally higher risks.

Pretorius is a man who doesn’t take “no, please turn that blasted machine off” for an answer, and his maddening insistence on experiencing the beyond seemingly ends when his head gets lopped off. But in true horror fashion, this is only the beginning of his true transformation, and he eventually turns into a giant wad of spit-ridden bubble gum whose former fascination with S&M comes forth through multiple instances of attempted monster-rape. Although viewers only get a glimpse of Pretorius’ scientist skills before things get all mutated and gloopy, the existence of the Resonator is proof positive that this guy would have been better off as a gynecologist.