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I guess I must have been in a bad mood when I first watched this as I really didn't like it. Now I've watched it again (simply because I'd forgotten I'd even watched it, I really enjoyed it - like I've done so with many (so-bad-they're-good) Italian horror films of the eighties. It's about a hotel in Louisiana which is basically a 'hell-mouth' and, seeing as Buffy probably wasn't born when this was made, it's up to a woman who wants to refurbish it and a doctor who can only shoot a zombie in the head every three shots (I counted!).

It's a bit weird where there are some secondary characters who just wander around talking badly. Yes, it's dubbed in many places - I noticed that severely when I first watched it and it's still as overly-dramatic now. In typical Italian horror movie style, it's almost deliberately all over the place and the sharp edits which give the film a truly disconcerting atmosphere. Plus there are some scenes which are almost funny while being bizarre - like when a woman seems to freak out because a beaker of water overturns in slow motion (and she then comes off worse, believe it or not).

And there's the gore - which was damn gool if you're into 'claret' and generally want to see a hundred and one different ways of inflicting pain on eyeballs. Back in the eighties (before every 'head-shot' was computer generated) film-makers had to come up with new and interesting ways of doing gore on the cheap. And, to be fair, that's one area where The Beyond succeeded. The gore wasn't just gore, but also pretty inventive, providing me with more than a few moments of on-screen horror that I've never seen before.

I'm glad I've given this film another go as - this time - I found it really entertaining and it's an example that you clearly need to be in the right mood for the right film.

A Louisiana hotel is discovered to be one of the seven gateways to hell. The other world does not wish the hotel opened, so a horde of zombies is unleashed on the town. Also, there is a character named Joe the Plumber.

Starring the lovely and talented Catriona MacColl, directed by Lucio Fulci and written by Dardano Sacchetti... who has a virtual monopoly on Italian horror. This is a great cast and crew.

Howard Maxford says the film's "occasional visual flair may commend it to Fulci completists." I was under the impression this was considered one of Fulci's stronger films, but his comment makes me wonder.

Indeed, the visuals are Fulcis' strong point. An eye getting torn out, a crucifixion, eye piercing, shards of glass, tarantulas, acid... he does the best gore one can expect from a low budget film. (Thank you, effects wizard Giannetto de Rossi.) Luca Palmerini, who calls the film "first rate", claims there are many references to classic Italian horror, the films of Tobe Hooper and Winner, and the literature of Graegorius and Sidney. These were clearly over my head, but only add to the greatness of the film.

My horror idol Jon Kitley sums it up best: "Fulci isn't interested in a coherent storyline, with all the loose ends tidied up at the end of 90 minutes. He is more concerned with creating a series of sequences meant to scare you. Horrify you. And hopefully, even gross you out." This fits Fulci perfectly, but also is not a bad way to describe Italian horror in general. (Fulci freely admits the film has "no logic" and is "plotless".) I love the smile Catriona MacColl flashes as David Warbeck tries to put a bullet in the front of a pistol while in the elevator. Clearly, anyone who knows how to use a gun would not load it this way. But also, Fulci could have cut the film a second earlier and avoided the momentary smile that appears in an otherwise tense and terrifying scene.

Any die-hard horror fan or fan of Italian horror must see this film. It is a true classic, regardless of the fact it may be overlooked by some horror historians (Italian horror has always taken a backseat to American or British horror, and even among Italian films, Fulci takes a backseat to Argento.) Check this one out.

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

Director Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND opens with a flashback to 1927 Louisiana, where townsfolk take the law into their own hands, killing a man in hideous, grisly fashion. This is also when we are told of the seven gates of hell.

Fast forward to 1981, and Liza Merrill (Catriona MacColl) has inherited the very same hotel where the aforementioned death occurred. Within seconds, unfortunate "accidents" begin to take place. Liza just wants to fix the place up, unaware that occult terror and unspeakable doom await!

Another entry in Fulci's wonderful horror cycle, this is one dreadfully dreary, flesh-crawler of a movie! In spite of ridiculous dubbing, goofy characters, and the infamously questionable "tarantula scene" (Why mix fake spiders in with real ones?), the Director somehow manages to keep it so utterly bleak, that all is forgiven! Ms. MacColl is even better here than she was in CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD! David Warbeck is also good as the dauntless Dr. John McCabe. Of course, stealing the show is Cinzia Monreale as the enigmatic, blind, yet supernaturally sighted, Emily. Her intro is unforgettable!

Obviously, a zombie uprising is in the cards, and these are some memorable, shambling dead! There are several classic set pieces, showing Fulci at his finest. Gorehounds will be in ecstatic bliss, since Fulci pours on the gore by the bathtub-full!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The devastating denouement that drains us of all remaining hope!

P.S.- For added enjoyment, count how many times you have to yell at Dr. McCabe to "Stop wasting bullets and aim for the head!"...

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.

L'Aldila/The Beyond(1981) is the film that brought interest in the cinema of Lucio Fulci. I became a big fan of his work after watching this movie. Have seen a good portion of his films since. The opening prologue is shot in a gorgeous sepia color. The murder/torture of Schweick represents the censorship and repression of the artist. Anchor Bay did a excellent job in the restoration of the film for DVD.

The chain whipping scene in it is a repeat of the one in Don't Torture a Duckling(1972). The chain whipping in The Beyond is much more gory. There are a couple of reasons why the chain whipping scene in Don't Torture a Duckling is more powerful and potent then in The Beyond. The scenes take place in natural settings. Goes for violent realism. The death of Maciara is depressing to watch.

L'Aldila(1981) was part of a trilogy called the 7 gates trilogy. This started with The Gates of Hell(1980), continued with this film, and was to end with The Beyond 2. Unfortunately, this trilogy would never be completed. This is a shame because I would have loved to see that film to know if it was good as the first two movies of the trilogy. The original intentions of The Beyond are different from the final results. This was because of budget and time restrictions. I wonder how much better the pic might have been with a modest budget and a little more time.

The make up effects is one of the film's best features. Despite the low budget, Giannetto De Rossi's effects are spectacular. The effects are done with flair and pizazz. Giannetto De Rossi did his best when working with Fulci. The effects for the death of Joe the Plumber are very good. The best effects in the film is the scene involving the young girl near the end.

The cinematography is spliced with atmosphere and style. Sergio Salvalti contributes to the film's gothic flavour. The cinematography contains a dreamish flow that makes the film beautiful. The score is one of my favourites for a horror film. The score fits perfectly with the scenes in the film. As good as anything done for Argento by Goblin.



The Beyond(1981) is an 'Absolute Film' where image and sound are the most important part of a film. On the making of this, Fulci once said, ("My idea was to make an absolute film, with all the horrors of the world. Its a plotless film, there's no logic to it, just a succession of images"). This is something that people who hate the film don't and will never understand. Many people do not like this because of its nonlinear structure. He also said, "In Italy we make films based on pure themes, without a plot and The Beyond like Inferno refuses conventions...people who blame the The Beyond for its lack of story don't understand that it's a film of images, which must be received without any reflection". Receiving a movie like this without any reflection is a hard thing for many film goers to do.

The works of Antonin Artoud and H.P Lovecraft play a major influence on The Beyond(1981). Fulci was inspired by this controversial French artist. The ideas of Artoud are present in most of Fulci's work. Schweick the painter bears a little resemblence to Antonin Artoud. Artoud was the founder of "The Theater of Cruelty" which talked to "Restore to the theater a passionate and convulsive conception of life, and it is in this sense of violent rigor and extreme condensation of scenic elements that the cruelty on which it is based on must be understood". This idea can be applied to The Cinema and this film.

The comment "Violence is Italian Art" by Fulci is relative to the movie and the history of Italian art. Its one of the few films where atmosphere and gore mix well together. Has good moments of spirital horror. The atmosphere is eerie and terrifying. The gory set pieces are satisfying. The surreal atmosphere and bloody imagery is what makes the film a classic.

The Beyond would influence many later American and Italian horror flicks. One, The Evil Dead(1983). Two, Hellraiser(1987). Three, Hellbound:Hellraiser 2(1988). Four, The Church(1990). Finally, Dellamorte Dellamore(1996).

The Beyond(1981) will never be a mainstream favourite because its not for everyone. The themes are well written by Dardano Sacchetti. Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck are very good in the roles of the heroine and hero. Veronica Lazar from Inferno(1980) is sinister as Martha. The director did a great job with the little resources that he had to work with. The ending will haunt your dreams for days to come.

A couple of years back (late 90's), I had the pleasure of experiencing Fulci's The Beyond the way it was meant to be watched...on the big screen at the Angelica Movie Theater in Soho (NYC) at midnight, in all of its uncut glory (thanks to Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Films).

For a couple of hours, I was taken aback to the greatest days of horror! It even had previous of movies like 2000 Maniacs, The Evil Dead and Zombie (aka Zombie 2) before the movie started. To truly appreciate this movie, one has to remember the era it came from. The post Exorcist and Dawn of the Dead period saw many imitations, especially from Italy. However, there were a handful of filmmakers that had actual imagination, skills and creativity to set their pictures apart from the rest. Of the bunch, Argento, Bava (father and son), and Fulci stood quite apart from the rest, each with their own talents.

Fulci was perhaps the most prolific of them, adding a flare of his own Art to his works. His movies each played like paint on canvas from beginning to end. The Beyond was his greatest Masterpiece, combining a better plot than most of his works, with the high quality level of gore Fulci was and always will be well known for.

The Beyond starts with a Warlock being executed in the 1930's by a lynch mob. Little do they know that the hotel where the act takes place happens to be one of the seven doorways to hell. Flashing forward about 50 years later, Liza inherets the hotel and decides to restore it. From there all hell breaks loose. The ending is as disturbing as it gets, and the deaths are both unique and horrifying (vintage Fulci).

I remember walking to the subway station that night, still thinking about what my eyes had just seen (occasionally looking over my shoulder) - realizing I had been genuinely scared and disturbed by a movie that at the time was about 17 years old. Man I miss the "Hey-Day" of horror, and the true masters of it!

May I introduce you to one of the most flat-out insane Italian horror/gore movies to come down the pike. For sheer audacity, this one has no equals (or at least darn few).

"E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldila" (or "The Beyond", as I fondly remember) is the beguilingly simple story of a cute little hotel in the deep South (Southern Louisiana, that is; NOT Southern Italy!) whose basement has an inconvenient little doorway to hell where undead warlocks, zombies, tarantulas and other creepy crawlies lurk to entomb man in darkness, death, despair and other such "D" words.

I tell you, almost wall-to-wall gore FX permeate this film and the blood-drenched sensibilities of director Lucio Fulci make every scene a nail-biter, gut-wrencher, heart-stopper and probably will involve sundry other parts of your body, as well.

Actors MacColl and Warbeck do their stalwart best fighting the undead and let's face it: if you've seen the very end of this film, can you seriously be scared by anything else in life?

Take my advice, kids: rent this movie, buy this movie, do anything you must to get a hold of this film. If you love blood, guts and quicklime, get "E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldila" NOW!

Ten blood-soaked stars for this beauty.

And remember: DO NOT ENTRY.

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.

I can't get my head around all the people giving this film 10 stars and claiming it's one of the best horrors ever made. I like early 80's horror films and as cheesy as some of them are, you have to appreciate that they were made near on 30 years ago. This however, was one painful watch.

The Good: The gore and effects were very well done for the time and still hold their own now. Credit where it's due but that's about it.

The Bad: The cheesy god-awful music just bellows out at the most inappropriate times and then cuts off without warning. How a horrific scene is supposed to have any effect when cheesy 70's pop music blurts out of nowhere is beyond me.

The acting is atrocious, most of actors are Italian and are dubbed over in English, this is all fine and dandy but the shock horror expressions that they pull are hilarious. Their over the top facial expressions and body movements totally distract you from everything else that's going on.

The plot, there isn't one. Seriously, woman inherits old hotel, said hotel is built over the gateway to hell, lots of random people die for no real reason, the end.

The deaths, people just lie there and get eaten or covered in acid or torn apart by zombies without even bothering to move or trying to escape.

Common sense, there isn't any. In one scene the 2 leads are being chased by extremely slow zombies and the male lead shoots about 10 zombies in the chest and gut to no avail. Then he shoots a couple in the head and they drop to the floor. Seems simple enough right? Hit them in the head and you kill them, hit them anywhere else and it's a wasted bullet. So why oh why does this bumbling idiot waste the next 20 or so bullets shooting the zombies in the chest and shoulder?

The blind woman, she has to be the most annoying actress ever. In one scene she thinks someone is in her living room and she backs into a corner and she screams and shouts...And screams and shouts...And shouts and screams...And so on and so forth for a good 5 minutes, "no, no go away leave me alone" she wails constantly, over and over for 5 solid minutes, it completely did my head in and was totally unnecessary.

The scares, there aren't any, there is nothing scary about this film at all, sure, there's a decent amount of gore in the film but none of it is scary or even unnerving. The music, acting and shoddy camera work see to that.

As I said, I love early 80's horror films, The deadly spawn, Phenomena, Demons, I spit on your grave, The burning to name but a few, but The Beyond is a big pile of steaming crap. One reviewer on here wrote "If you haven't seen The Beyond you are not a real horror buff" Well my friend, I have seen The Beyond and if you can call this "Horror" then you have my sympathies. Quite simply put, it is rubbish, even for an early 80's film.

My vote is 3 for the gore effects alone.

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!

If someone uses as reference the IMDb rating of L'aldilá he is going to notice something particular. L'aldilá unlike many B-Euro-horror movies of the 80s has almost a 7 points rating with less than 2000 votes. The reason: Many people worship this cult movie. If someone ranks this movie with a 1 on the other side there will be a 10 to compensate. We are speaking about a true cult movie. Acclaimed by a small number of fans worldwide, a movie scorned by critics and the regular viewer. One strange case indeed.

The story is a disturbing mix of elements. In the first minutes during the execution of Schweick , it is clear what kind of tale is L'aldilá. Vengeance beyond the grave, an apocalypse that is unavoidable. Common people trapped in the middle. One of the merits of Sarchetti's script is the character of Katriona Maccoll a real down to earth human being, his partner is a curious but good man. Both of them tried to do things right, but in the end that won't help . The brutality of violence is another great detail, is unexpected, extreme and very, very graphic. And as the final touch, the climatic ending. The assonant music has its logic, this is disturbing terror, it wouldn't be the same with new-age, reggae, or a ballad.

Lucio Fulci was an unique director. With L'aldilá he tried to create an 'artaudian' study of horror. He achieved that. He used less than 90 minutes to mix ominous menaces that are beyond this world waiting their time for return and extremely gory horror. The unavoidable tragedy strikes in the form of hungry zombies. He was a demanding director, he never let that their actors underestimate their roles. His use of zoom-effects are a trademark, the zoom in used in a completely original way. Let's say the zoom is the hand of someone that keep your eyes open in an awful or transcendental sequence, Fulci forces you to pay attention when he wants your attention. Delightful. Nowadays audiences are very comfortable watching horror movies. They expect to see some scares and then laugh with the jokes of some stupid teens avid of rave music and easy sex. Fulci in that aspect was an author beyond his time. He tried to shock people, scare them, revolve their stomachs, those were his methods to gain the public but he NEVER underestimated the audiences, he gave his 100% and made cult classics.

Note for Fulci newcomers: The more interesting works of this director are in the period of middle 70's to 1985. If you see two or three of his movies in this period and you dislike them then don't bother anymore because you will never like his style.

Forming a loose trilogy with Fulci's "The Gates of Hell"(1980)and "House by the Cemetery"(1981),this gruesome bloodbath is one of the best horror movies ever made.Set in Louisiana,the film opens with a 1927 prologue featuring a Satanic painter being crucified and melted alive with quicklime in the basement of an old hotel.54 years later,Liza(Catriona MacColl)inherits the hotel and sets about restoring it.Little does she know that a 4000-year old book containing the prophecies of Eibon marks her new home as one of seven gateways to Hell.The atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw,the music by Fabio Frizzi is excellent,the set pieces are great,and the gore effects by Gianetto de Rossi and Germano Natali are really effective.The gore is extreme for example a poor plumber has his eyeball poked out by a zombie,an architect has his face eaten by hungry tarantulas who chew out his tongue,a blind Emily has her throat ripped out by her guide dog(this scene reminds me a similar sequence in Dario Argento's "Suspiria").Anyway if you haven't seen this cult masterpiece don't call yourself a horror buff.10 out of 10-what else?

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Beyond; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 1.50 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00

Lucio Fulci steps grandly into the Haunted House sub-genre with the Beyond - And knocks it out of the park. What I admire most about Fulci is his unwillingness to hold back. If you're going to do something, then do it with panache. Though the plotline isn't too complex, it doesn't deter Fulci from inventively getting carried away, especially with the movie's finale.

The writers give us the tale of Liza Merril, who inherited an old Louisianna hotel. Unbeknown to her, the house has a dark past and blacker secrets. A painter renting one of the rooms taps into the hotel's corruptness, exhibiting itself via his artwork. Frightened, the townsfolk storm the artist's room and liquidate him in an unequivocally nasty fashion. They nail his crucified form in the building's basement. And in doing so, they allow the evil to ooze out into the world. Now Liza's having the old place renovated and preparing it to reopen the wickedness finds it has new toys with which to play. Anybody setting foot near the hotel had better beware. The writers give the audience a delicious taste of the macabre. They fill the narrative with credible characters, some of which are bizarre and some mysterious. They sprinkle in liberal amounts of passages from an enigmatic book. And they pepper the whole story with ominous iconography. There's enough in this story to keep you beguiled.

But your bewitchery doesn't end with the narrative. Fulci's direction will keep those peepers of yours frozen on the screen. He is a true master of the cinematographic art. The entire movie is abundant with smooth pans, rapid close-ups, varied camera points of view, quick cuts, and iconic compositions - he's especially dazzling with close-up eyeballs in this flick. Another plus is the special effects. These are gruesome, and although the popping peeper isn't too realistic, the chain-whipping is. It even made me wince, and I don't wince easy.

And, the magic doesn't end with the story and the direction. This cast is splendid. Even David Warbeck isn't too bad - if you've read my other reviews, you'll know I'm not a great fan of his. However, though the role is similar to others he's taken, he's less gung-ho in this flick. He would've been better if he'd completely removed the stick from his arse, but at least it's halfway out. I particularly liked Veronica Lazar as Martha. In The Beyond, she is the Queen Of The Scared Stare. Her face says everything though her mouth hardly utters a word. And the rest of the cast is splendid in their portrayals. Though Catriona MacColl as Liza, and Cinzia Monreale as Emily, can incline towards the hammy side - but it's only once in a while, so it's not too bad.

If you've not watched a Lucio Fulci film yet, do yourself a big favour and check out The Beyond. It's not as good as The House by the Cemetery, but it's close and well worthy of your time. Gorehounds included.

Now, lay down your paintbrush because it's time to review my Absolute Horror list and see where I ranked The Beyond.

Take Care & Stay Well.

First of all, I like horror films and have nothing against blood, gore & violence if it has any meaning to the film. But most of the gore in this film has no meaning at all, it just seems that Fulci was obsessed with overexaggerated scenes of blood & guts. For example the scene where a man falls from a ladder in the library. If it was some other director the man would have simply fallen and died when he hit the floor. But thats not enough for Fulci! After the fall the man is attacked by spiders who shred his face into a bloody mess! Really, what does that have to do with the rest of the film? Overall I think Fulci is way overrated. The reason i hunted down some of his movies (they are not too easy to get hold of in Sweden. Especially uncut) was that I had seen on the Internet that many horror-fans consider him one of the greatest horror-directors. I now have seen New York Ripper, Zombie, House By The Cemetary and this one and I find all of them to be plain garbage. It seems to me that Fulci was without any talent whatsoever. This movie is not scary, not funny, it is just ludicrous. The only way you can get something out of watching this is if you like to watch bad films like Plan 9 From Outer Space or if think it is fun to watch lots of fake-looking gore.

Let me start by saying that my initial review was uncharitable at best, and in a completely wrong context. Time to fix that.

If this had been my introduction to his work, or 'Don't Torture A Duckling,' or literally any of his movies but 'The House By The Cemetery,' I would have warmed to Fulci much sooner than I did. He knows his brand, and sticks to it like a pointy object to an eyeball in his signature style of gore. His footprint in the genre is undeniable, from 'The Dead Hate The Living' to the 'Terrifier' franchise. All that commands a certain level of respect, one I couldn't grasp the first time around.

You have to meet this thing where it's at: the work of a filmmaker so in his groove that he seizes the opportunity to go absolutely nuts. The movie is jam-packed with indulgent unrealistic "gore" effects, eyeball carnage, questionable plot points, an iconic Argento scene reproduced badly and for too long, all followed by an expectedly puzzling ending.

It's a decent setup, a woman inherits a hotel in Louisiana, and finds it's haunted. Bloody chaos ensues. A classic trope ripe for Fulci's maximalist approach to the genre. And boy does he deliver everything you'd expect from him.

The one paragraph I will leave in here is this: From a technical, traditional perspective, and looking at 'The Beyond' in a vacuum as I did at first, Fulci seems to have NO idea how to build tension or suspense. It's like he thinks that the longer he draws out the buildup to a kill, the more suspenseful it is, and the longer he draws out a kill, the scarier it is. In reality, all it does is leave you so bored with the buildup that you don't care about the kill anymore, and so bored with the kill by the time the character actually dies that you can barely remember how it's supposed to serve the plot...

...but having seen his giallo works, I can only conclude that this is on purpose. For some reason. It's not that he can't do these things, he did them quite well in 'Don't Torture A Duckling.' But when it comes to horror, he just ... chooses not to. I don't get it, but his hard-core fans regard it as part of the charm, in which case I have to say it does what it's supposed to in tremendous fashion.

I sometimes find the Argento rips annoying, but I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? It's certainly true of this movie and 'Terrifier'--watch them in chronological order and you'll recognize the scene I'm referring to.

All in all, I'm actually glad I watched this thing. It's not really my style, but it's given me an appreciation for the genre as a whole that I didn't have before, and for the legacy he left behind. I wouldn't have "gotten" the end of 'The Dead Hate The Living' without it. I wouldn't have enjoyed 'Terrifier' half as much as I did. It's made my experience as a horror freak richer.

I would definitely class it as essential viewing, which is why I've given it 8 stars--the two I knocked off are just pet peeves. If you know what you're getting into, it's a hell of a ride. If you want to apply 'Night of the Living Dead' standards to it... well. The sign says "Do Not Entry."

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.