Die Geisterstadt der Zombies

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.

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."

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.

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!"...

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.