The Beyond (1981) review

17. The Beyond (1981)

Directed by: Lucio Fulci

Produced by: Fabrizio De Angelis

Screenplay by: Dardano Sacchetti, Giorgio Mariuzzo, Lucio Fulci

Starring: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazăr

I’ve often referenced Dario Argento and Mario Bava as the masters of Italian giallo films, but one name that mainstream critics disregarded for a long time was Lucio Fulci. His movies—which still had suspense and mystery elements but often contained graphic violence and bloodshed as well—were frequently seen as exploitation, but genre fans have idolized his work, which earned him a reputation as “The Godfather of Gore.” He first gained notoriety with “Don’t Torture a Duckling,” but his biggest international breakthroughs were “Zombi 2”—which was marketed as a sequel to “Dawn of the Dead,” but that’s another story—and today’s film, “The Beyond,” from 1981. It’s technically the second in his “Gates of Hell” trilogy after “City of the Living Dead,” but this is what he’s more known for. The story is pretty nonsensical and the performances are lacking, but it has an impressively surrealistic visual style, and some of the most memorably grotesque special effects I’ve ever seen.

It takes place in New Orleans, although numerous scenes were shot in Rome; a woman named Liza (Catriona MacColl) inherits the dilapidated Seven Doors Hotel, hoping to refurbish and reopen it. But a painter is injured and a plumber dies after they encounter a strange supernatural entity; then Liza is met by a blind woman named Emily (Cinzia Monreale), who warns her not to reopen the hotel, a sentiment echoed by local Dr. John McCabe (David Warbeck), who Liza befriends. However, more terrible events occur the longer Liza and her associates stick around, as Emily tells her of an ancient tome called the Eibon, and a painter named Schweick (Antoine Saint-John) lynched for practicing black magic, whose corpse they had discovered and is now missing. Sometime later, John reads the Eibon, and learns that the hotel is apparently one of the seven gates to Hell, through which the undead can rise again.

Most of the performances are unconvincing, even though the actors are photographed well; whenever someone like Emily or Martha (Veronica Lazăr) the hotel maid are on screen, there’s a keen sense of dread. By the way, Fulci gets a cameo as this really strange librarian at a place where Liza sees the Eibon. So even though you don’t really latch onto the characters, it’s more about how they serve the visual storytelling, which the film accomplishes through the makeup, point-of-view cinematography and eerie sound design. By the way, some of the actors were presented with more “American” names, I guess as a way to appeal to Western audiences; Catriona MacColl is credited as Katherine MacColl, Cinzia Monreale is called Sarah Keller, and even Fulci is credited as Louis Fuller.

The special effects are mind-blowingly awesome, making for some extremely brutal death scenes. Schweick is crucified by a mob in the opening, Joe (Tonino Pulci) the plumber’s (heh heh) widow Mary-Anne (Laura De Marchi) is doused in acid while seeing him in the morgue, and there are numerous shots of eye-gouging, a Fulci specialty. But the two most elaborate and twisted sequences are when architect Martin (Michele Mirabella) falls off a ladder and is eaten alive by tarantulas, and when Emily’s dog Dicky suddenly turns on her and kills her. The dog in this scene was a fake dog head, and Emily had a layered prosthetic neck that gets completely ripped to shreds; the spider attack is repulsive, and a credit to Fulci for lingering on the dismemberment as long and as close to the camera as possible. I feel like I have a strong stomach for gore in movies, but there are honestly a couple of moments here that had me covering my mouth a little bit; it’s that gruesome. But at the same time, the technique and ingenuity used to create these visuals can’t go unnoticed, which is easy to do so with our CGI sensibilities; so you have to give massive kudos to Fulci and effects designer Giannetto DeRossi.

Like I said, the story isn’t very coherent, especially with how certain characters relate to each other or why particular events happen. But the movie is more focused on the overall mood, very macabre and unsettling, complemented by the colors of the hotel, streets and hospital, and Fabio Frizzi’s musical score. I also wish the overall arc that encompassed a literal opening to Hell amounted to something a little more interesting than just a pack of zombies, although the subtext—prevalent when Liza and John are driving to the hospital in the climax, with nobody in sight on the street—makes it feel appropriately creepy. However, it makes for kind of a rushed and abrupt ending; I think with the mythology that had been built up, they could’ve gone for something more grandiose.

“The Beyond” is tough to sum up because the craft is great, but I wish I cared more about the characters; they’re all either just there to provide exposition, or not too engaging because of the weak performances. But it’s a good film if you know what to expect; the dialogue is pretty decent—I really like Liza’s line “You have carte blanche, but not a blank check”—there’s a good sense of disorientation, and the visuals, extreme as they are, make for an unforgettable viewing. It wasn’t released in North America until more than two years later, and it ran seven minutes shorter with most of the gore removed under the title “7 Doors of Death.” Then in 1998—two years after Fulci’s death—the uncut version was released by distribution company Grindhouse Releasing, partnered with Quentin Tarantino. Just two months prior to his death, Fulci—despondent and in poor health—appeared at the Fangoria horror convention in New York City, and told starstruck fans who braved blizzard conditions that he had no idea his films were so popular outside Italy. But he’s earned a place in horror history: underappreciated at the time, but now a bloody auteur, and his legacy exists in this ghastly gore fest.

My rating: 7.5/10