The Beyond

A woman attempting to fix up an old southern house she inherited accidentally stumbles upon one of the seven doors to hell and unleashes a torrent of nightmarish terror into the world.

Lucio Fulci films can be an acquired taste. While his talent for creating unforgettable and gory images is obvious, his scripts don't always make the most sense and this is no exception. It gets by on mostly style and gore effects alone and the script is nothing more than a skeleton.

This is a creepy horror film plenty of brutal images and gory events . A New Yorker heir ( Katriona MacColl, Fulci's ordinary ) moves an old mansion-hotel in Louisiana and she wishes restore it . She investigates the weird deeds happened in a room and by basement of the old motel that is built on top of the door to the beyond. Bloody and purulent specters roam there. She is confronted with rare happenings as a worker has a lethal fall, the plumber is cruelly murdered and her blind friend is bitten by a dog that breaks his neck. When she escapes to the hospital along with friendly doctor McCabe ( David Wabeck ) she doesn't know what a new horror is waiting there . Early rare deeds begin to happen to them, as they start hearing noises, rare characters and tragic killings. Quote from the book of Eibon: "And you will face the sea of darkness, and all therein may be explored¨.

Chilling Italian terror flick full of screams, chills, thrills and lots of blood and guts. Gory, gruesome , pretty repellent , and ghastly gore feast in which the stumbling stiff dead are reanimated and committing astonishing murders . This is a classic excruciatingly splatter film in which the intrigue,tension, suspense appears threatening and lurking in every room, corridors , cellar , hospital , morgue and many other places . This unrelenting shock-feast packs good make-up and special effects make-up by the maestro Gianetto De Rossi. Produced on a tight budget by Fabrizio De Angelis , Fulci's usual producer and occasionally director. Eerie musical score composed and conducted by Fabio Frizzi . Usual secondary actors as Veronica Lazar , Al Cliver and of course special appearance of Lucio Fulci as librarian clerk . This genuinely frightening story with correct utilization of images-shock is well photographed by Sergio Salvati on location in Louisiana and Italy . The motion picture is realized by one of the most controversial filmmakers of terror movies ,Lucio Fulci in his usual style with flaws and gaps but is professionally made because he is a skilled craftsman . He creates a strange horror thriller that manages to be both scary and skilfully made, deserving its cult status . Reviewers are divided over booth the morals and talents of Fulci (1927-1996) who sometimes directed under the alias ¨Louis Fuller¨. For some critics many of his movies are cruel and shockingly violent, yet their gory surface often conceals religious, social commentaries or intelligent issues. Whether he should be viewed as a cheap sensationalist or just a genius Fulci has a loyal fan base and undeniably has an important and unique influence on the terror genre , creating great works on a low budget such as proved in ¨ The black cat ¨, ¨Manhattan baby¨, ¨Gates of Hell¨, ¨Island of the living dead¨, ¨New York ripper¨ , among them. this is one more imaginative horror pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style . It's just one long unrelenting guts-feast and passable budget horror movie that still packs a punch for those who like to be terrorized out their wits . This gore-feast that tried to disguised itself under many other titles will appeal to Lucio Fulci aficionados.

This film has great atmosphere. There are some great moments and elements here.

I like it's approach to horror. To me it inspires the imagination.

It holds up as a gory film, even today. Which is an accomplishment.

However this film is not for everyone. You have to be able to appreciate older movies. And have a little open mindedness. But it does hold up well.

With movies like this, with giallo in particular, it won't be appreciated by some close-minded modern viewers.

Because this film works on inspiring the imagination.

With movies like this, it taps into that sense of wonder connected with fear and mystery.

A capacity for wonder is sorely lacking in our day.

Why this film works well is that it taps into wonder, fear and mystery. It implies more than it shows.

In usual Fulci style, it zooms up and focuses on the gore instead of cutting away from it, or whatever. Which I really appreciate.

But if you truly understand this movie, the impact comes not from gore but from what is implied in the story. And the atmosphere.

The film has a great ending which really makes the film for me.

Now it is a little bit of a slow burn. But even in that there is death and gore happening so it certainly shouldn't be considered boring.

But it takes time to build into the crescendo of the final act.

Some might consider it dated but in actually it has that charm of time. It has this late 70s horror vibe that can be really enjoyable for a genre fan.

(Yes, I know it was made in '81)

Ultimately, an objectively great film.

But I would only recommend it to open minded, perceptive viewers who can appreciate it like it deserves.

The Beyond is one of Fulci's best films. The film takes place in modern day Louisiana as a woman oversees the the renevation of an hotel that she inherits. Strange and gory things start to happen and poof the hotel just happens to be over one of the 7 doors to hell. Very bloody with a slightly incoherent plot the film is a lot of fun and I suspect that no Fulci fan should be without their copy. Visually I think this is Fulci's best film (that I've seen) and the acting is what you'd expect. 7 / 10: FULCI LIVES

If you think Dario Argento doesn't give a damn about coherent plots, check out Lucio Fulci! 'The Beyond' does have a (Lovecraftian) plot as such - a woman inherits a hotel in Louisiana that contains one of the doorways to Hell - but that is basically an excuse for Fulci to string together a series of fantastic and frequently gory images. These include zombie attacks, eye gougings, a better dog attack scene than 'Suspiria', the crucifixion of a Satanist, and a sequence involving tarantulas which has to be one of the high points of horror, anywhere, anytime.

'The Beyond' is sensational and a bona fide modern horror classic. Absolutely essential viewing!