THE BEYOND was originally released in 1981 as E VU VIVRAI NEL TERRORE-L’ALDILA. This is another apocalyptic Lucio Fulci film that was tampered with for its North American release. The film was trimmed of all violence, re-edited, rescored, and renamed THE 7 DOORS OF DEATH. This caused critics to believe that the film’s narrative was incompetent, and that the director was a hack. But THE BEYOND lived on in the VHS bootleg sector. Thankfully, Sage Stallone (Sylvester’s kid from the Rocky movies) and his Grindhouse Releasing somehow obtained the North American video rights to THE BEYOND. Stranger still, Quentin Tarentino’s Rolling Thunder Pictures picked up the theatrical distribution rights and the film played midnight showings throughout America for the first time. Whatever Rolling Thunder picks up falls into the home video domain of Mirmax Entertainment. Of course, that Disney-owned studio wouldn’t know how to handle a film like this, so a deal was struck that would allow Anchor Bay to release the film on DVD in conjunction with all parties who have a stake in THE BEYOND. So this DVD was basically 20 years in the making. Was it worth the wait?

The late David (THE BLACK CAT) Warbeck toplines as New Orleans physician, John McCabe. Fulci regular Catriona (HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY) MacColl is Liza Merril, a New York professional who inherits a hotel of the damned. Sarah (THE HOUSE THAT BLED TO DEATH) Keller plays the spectral blind girl, Emily. Veronica (INFERNO) Lazar portrays Liza’s friend, Martha. Another Fulci regular, Al (ZOMBIE) Cliver, plays Dr. Harris, a man besieged by the living dead. Michele (DEMONS 2) Mirabella portrays Martin, a realtor. Antoine (DUCK, YOU SUCKER!) St. John is the warlock, Schweick. Even Fulci himself has a well-placed cameo as a crusty town clerk.

In 1927, at the cursed Seven Doors Hotel in New Orleans, a mysterious warlock named Schweick (Antoine Saint John) paints a picture of hellish Armageddon. The disturbed residents of the town (played by crew members Dardano Sacchetti, Sergio Salvati, and Vincenzo Tomassi) form a lynch mob, and travel to the hotel by boat. When the mob arrives, they break into room 36 (Schweick’s room) and promptly beat and crucify him. While this is going on, a terrified resident of the hotel named Emily (Sarah Keller), literally gets pulled into the mysterious book called the tome of Eibon (a book similar to the Necronomicon). Cut to 1981: Liza Merril (Catriona MacColl) is a New York yuppie who inherits the New Orleans hotel, oblivious to the fact that her legacy is one of the legendary 7 Gates of Hell. She intends to renovate the hotel since it was closed in 1927; as she prepares for the reopening, strange things begin to occur. A painter working on the hotel accidentally falls from the scaffolding, and mysteriously goes blind. Liza’s plumber, Joe, unwittingly reopens the portal to the netherworld. Being a tough New Yorker, Liza ignores these bad omens, and begins going out with physician John McCabe (David Warbeck), when he comes out to the hotel to treat the workmen.

THE BEYOND features some of Lucio Fulci’s best directorial work. He still zooms into (and lingers on) all the gore effects. But the lighting is much better than his films from that era (such as the murky HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY). Fulci takes his time with the editing, and the result is the scenes have a much smoother transition. Fulci demonstrates his mastery of light and shadow by manipulating the human eye. He allows shafts of light to penetrate the dark scenes, giving the images tremendous depth and contrast. This is an approach that Dario Argento used so successfully in his earlier films. The plot may not be completely linear, but the atmosphere and presentation are totally consistent. Fulci uses simple techniques to milk the surreal ambience of the film by supplying colored contact lenses to the cast. He films close-ups of the cast members, who stare at the camera to meet the eye level of the audience. THE BEYOND is full of subtle cues that make it a visual feast.

Critics don’t like to credit Fulci for the talented director he is, but even they must marvel at some of Fulci’s poetic qualities. Check out the scene where Liza watches Emily run from the hotel, and this image lingers on in the mind of Liza. The scene where Liza meets Emily and her dog on a mist covered causeway is a beautifully composed shot. Fulci himself admits that THE BEYOND is not built on logic; that he intended the atmosphere and visuals to carry the film. Yes, the director includes lots of gore scenes throughout, but they are staged with style and imagination. There is a macabre sense of beauty that is present in THE BEYOND, thanks to Fulci’s underestimated efforts.

THE BEYOND has a serious subtext as it explores issues of greed, human decency, and respect for other human beings. The world of THE BEYOND is bleak, with all the major characters either dying, or are consigned to an apocalyptic limbo. The film also explores religious themes as well, and if you don’t believe me, check out the crucifixion scene, where the warlock is nailed to a wall like Jesus on the cross. The film also offers a most effective and unexpected ending reference to the afterworld. Though the script is not perfect, it offers a thought-provoking and cerebral narrative, that rises above commercial, have-sex-and-die Hollywood horror films.

The charismatic David Warbeck plays his character rather tongue-in-cheek, and gives John MacCabe a slight British accent that is reminiscent of Sam Neill’s voice. Catriona MacColl was rather tentative in previous Fulci efforts, but by the time THE BEYOND was filmed she had hit her stride. Not only is she is rather nice looking but she can play a strong, intelligent woman too (something today’s low budget actresses just cannot do). Sarah Keller also is a believable tortured soul as the blind Emily. It is not easy to portray a realistic blind person, but you don’t doubt Keller’s character once. Special mention goes to Veronica Lazar as Martha.

Depite this technically being Fulci’s best film there are some flaws. The biggest inconsistency of the entire film is when John MacCabe discovers he can stop the approaching zombies by shooting them in the head. So what does he do? He goes back to shooting them in the body! When he runs out of bullets, he drops 9 shells down the barrel of his gun, and starts shooting again! Hospital signs read non-sensical things like "Do Not Entry". The portal to hell is located in the basement of the hotel, but this is impossible since New Orleans is below sea level, and no houses have basements because of this. These inconsistencies are obviously the result of a foreign low-budget film crew doing location shooting in America. While I’m complaining, some of the dialog in Dardano Sacchetti’s script is pretty laughable. Of course the dubbing hurts in the dialog delivery also. But this all serves to give THE BEYOND an amusing, campy appeal.

There is a still gallery that showcases the production, stars, and promotional material. See how THE BEYOND was released in Italy, Germany, Japan, and other nations. The promotional artwork from these countries is astounding. Also included is the original German opening of the THE BEYOND. This opening is the same as the international version, except the sepia tint to the opening prologue has been removed, rendering the colors in their natural state. Apparently the German distributor requested this change be made. The crucifixion of Schweick is more vividly bloody with the addition of color. Director Jim Van Bebber of DEADBEAT AT DAWN fame directed a music video for the terrible death metal band, Necrophagia. The song is called And You Will Live in Terrror and man does it suck. But this so-called band uses clips of THE BEYOND in their video. So for completist’s sake, the video is worthy of being on this DVD. We also get an interview with Fulci on the set of one of his most recent efforts, DEMONIA. Then we get Fulci and Warbeck as the guests of honor at a horror con. Lastly, a glimpse of the stars David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl reminiscing about the production. Included are 3 different theatrical trailers for THE BEYOND. One is the original international trailer, the Rolling Thunder rerelease trailer, and finally the German trailer (all these trailers are 16x9 enhanced)!

The audio commentary is by the two Fulci favorites, David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl. It is clear that they have developed a friendship over the years, and their charisma spills out into the commentary. They talk about the filming of the BEYOND like it is a film of great importance, yet they fondly poke fun of it too. And their opinions of Fulci conclude that he was indeed a gifted, insane filmmaker. Their observant commentary lends an air of legitimacy to the proceedings and the viewer definetly sees the artistic merit of THE BEYOND. Sadly, genre actor David Warbeck passed away weeks after the commentary was recorded (he was sick at the time but you could never tell by his delivery). There are also two Easter Eggs for treasure hunters. We won’t tell you how to solve them, but we’ll clue you in on what you’ll find: a trailer for Fucli’s CAT IN THE BRAIN, and the opening title sequence for the original U.S. debut, THE 7 DOORS OF DEATH, which credits the director as Louis Fuller!

THE BEYOND is probably Lucio Fulci’s greatest accomplishment in the world of haunting visceral horror films. Fulci proves his critics wrong by crafting a stylish environment of surrealism, and incorporates memorable lighting techniques into the visuals. Fulci said it best himself before he passed away when he said, "Back then my art was shit. Now my shit is art." We should all thank Quentin Tarintino and Sage Stallone for rescuing this apocalyptic tale of blood and gore from bootleg oblivion; you can now go down to your local Best Buy/Circuit City and pick up a copy of one of master’s crown jewels, THE BEYOND. Anchor Bay has gone all out to make the DVD something special, and boy did they deliver the goods. No matter what your pretences are, you can view the film in Italian with English subs, with the original English mono mix, or the DD 2.0 and 5.1 remixes. There are enough extras to keep you glued to the TV for hours, and don’t forget that classic audio commentary by the stars. Of course, Anchor Bay has created a conundrum for themselves with this DVD; how are they ever going to top this one?

THE BEYOND is available from DVDEmpire.com

BATT THE BEYOND/HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY is available from DVDEmpire.com

 

 

-  Darren Collette