Beyond and Back

Brad Crandall returns as presenter/host once again, (most suitable he is too, great booming voice!) this time making his entrance in an eerie cemetery, before telling us about the near-death experiences of several people, shown here in re-enactments.

A Schick Sunn Films docudrama, one of many made in the 1970's, is surprisingly eerie and even moving in places, though exactly how much research was done to verify these people's claims is debatable. Some of this is undeniably hokey, even amateurish, but it has a sincerity about it that won me over, not to mention it creates a nice eerie mood.

Some reviewers even claim it prevented them from killing themselves, thus inspiring them to not give up on life, which is wonderful.

Only available on a rare VHS, and based on a book by Ralph Wilkerson, it deserves an HD release, but for now can be found on YouTube.

I saw "Beyond and Back" only once -- in May 1978 during its initial theatrical run. But the film proved to be a lifesaver -- literally.

It saved my life. I went to see it at a time when I was very lonely and despondent and was contemplating suicide. I was 25 years old at the time and was depressed over what at that time had been an inability to find love in my life -- that is, the love of a companion, having fallen in love with someone fir the first time in my life, only for that love to go unrequited.

I won't spoil it for those who have never seen "Beyond and Back," but suffice it to say, it convinced me that suicide is not a viable option.

Ironically, I recently saw a clip of "Beyond and Back" on YouTube exactly 30 years to the day after I saw it in the theater. It's really cheeky by today's production standards, but it's still worth watching, even if only as a vintage 1970s period film.

I've been on a tear of these pseudoscience "documentaries" as of late, and while some of them are outrageous but still entertaining, most are downright dumb.

And I believe all right. I believe this is a massive load. While not as painfully Christian as, say, anything by the likes of Pure Flix/Pinnacle Peak, Beyond and Back is really quite entertaining in its overacted, extremely riffable VHS quality that I'm watching on YouTube.

My parents allowed me to see this crappy documentary for some reason when I was a small child. I was traumatized by it and never again got out of bed without looking back to see if my body was still lying there! Still, every time I get out of bed, the thought occurs to me. So don't let your kids watch it! That is, if you can even get your hands on it, which I strongly doubt!

By the way, the storyline that affected me most was about a guy who entered the hospital with a chest cold, then left his body and encountered evil satanic nurses. Nice. I can't believe I can remember some crappy documentary from 1978 and that it affected me so much.

I think this movie contributed to an extreme fear of death in me from a young age, and I'd have been vastly better off never having seen it. I am no longer as impressionable of course, in fact I'm a callous skeptic, but I cannot erase the emotional damage caused by this stupid 70's documentary. Lame, I know.

I remember Sunn Classic Films quite well. Actually I was in Beyond and Back, and would like to know if there is any way to get a copy of it. Sunn Classic Films' documentaries were quite good for their time (the 70s). The Lincoln Conspiracy was my favorite.