By Melissa Antoinette Garza
THE BEYOND (1981) is one of the rare films that still freak me out. I’ll watch it tonight because the hubby is home. If I was alone, I would not be venturing into this territory. This, Bob Clark’s BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) and Lamberto Bava’s DEMONS (1985) can scare me something awful when it’s quiet.
It begins in 1927, when a lynch mob of villagers rush upstairs and break down the door of a hotel room that an artist named Schweick (Antoine Saint-John) is staying in. He looks unassuming enough, but the scumbags with torches call him a warlock. They kill the poor guy because he paints some strange images. Schweick tries to explain that the hotel was built over the seven doors to hell, and that he’s trying to help them, but instead of listening they torture him to death. They nail him to a wall and throw acid on his face. Well, this plan backfires as it ends up being the catalyst for everything that comes after.
In present times, the gorgeous Liza Merril (Catriona MacColl)inherits a hotel. She starts renovations on it and hires some painters. All is going well, until one of them sees Emily (Cinzia Monreale) a blonde blind woman with only the sclerae visible. Whenever I see her in this movie, Mia Farrow’s words from ROSEMARY’S BABY ring in my ears, “What have you done to its eyes?”
The painter falls and tells Liza what he saw. Odd paranormal things around the hotel begin occurring. Handymen are murdered and witness all sorts of ghastly incidents and strange entities. Joe (Giovanni De Nava) a plumber repairing after a flood is confronted by a demonic force out for blood.
When Joe’s family goes to claim his body at the morgue, acid spills on his wife. Their young daughter Jill (Mria Pia Marsala) witnesses the entire event and is nearly attacked THE BLOB (1958) style by the acid/blood combo. Jill manages to get out the door only to be confronted by walking, grunting corpses.
Meanwhile on a short drive, Liza sees Emily in the road with her guide dog. Liza gets out of the car and Emily introduces herself and says she’s been wanting to meet Liza. One night while talking, Emily warns her not to go into Room 36 because that’s where Schweick was murdered. Liza gets tough and the walls bleed onto Emily’s hands making her run out of the room screaming.
This doesn’t scare Liza off who goes into the room. She sees dead Schweick nailed against the wall and finds the book of Eibon. When she brings in Dr. John McCabe (David Warbeck) to show him, everything in the room is fine again. He thinks Emily is a figment of her imagination and the whole thing is BS until he finds the book and is faced with paranormal events he can’t explain. He finally admits it’s one of the seven gateways to hell and stands with Liza ready to fight their way out.
It becomes a race to salvation as they try to find any escape though every route seems to lead back to the same place.
This is a surreal, insane film that relies on horrific visuals and fantastic actors. There are admittedly aspects of the story that are muddled, but when I’m ready to get scared, its a go-to of mine.
The score, tone, atmosphere and setting are phenomenal. In the last act, Liza and John go to a hospital. John, still relying on his scientific roots, is in search for a rational explanation. The halls are empty and quiet. The lighting dim and the phones are dead. No music plays and only the pressing of the buttons and the few shared words between the actors can be heard until a bunch of zombies bust thru a window. On cue, the music begins and the dread that was in the back of your throat is now making your chest pound as you see the reality that your gut knew was already there. Now, that’s some beautifully executed magic there! Thanks Lucio Fulci!
This is a cult classic. If you haven’t seen this watch it immediately. I wish I could tell you what really made me tense about this movie, but there isn’t just one thing. It’s not like I can say, “if clown dolls fuck you up skip this one….” because it’s not that. Many of the visuals are creepy, but it is something deeper. It’s the way the chords in the music are used with the visuals and performances combined. It’s nothing really tangible that I can explain. It’s just a feeling after the credits roll that someone somewhere is watching me. I hate that feeling. I love that feeling, but I hate that feeling.
THE BEYOND is a bad-ass roller-coaster ride that finally earned some real cult status. At times, you may think that you understand what the film is and what to expect, but then it’s something different. It’s a zombie, haunted house, thriller with satanic panic thrown in. It’s a mix of BURNT OFFERINGS (1976), THE SENTINEL (1977), SUSPIRIA (1977), AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) and DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978). It doesn’t have as cohesive a story as any of those, but it does work.
Every time I watch it, I’ll notice something different and unique about it that makes me love it more. If you’re in the mood for great Italian horror, you could do far worse. Watch it on AMAZON PRIME via SHUDDER or buy it as I don’t see it YOUTUBE available.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
