Le démon aux tripes

I will consider this DVD viewing a first-time watch for me, because I saw the unedited edition now released on disc by Code Red, under the European title THE DEVIL WITHIN HER (not to be confused with the Joan Collins film of the same name). Indeed, this Italian horror movie has gone through several title changes -- from CHI SEI? in its own country, to its most recognizable American name, BEYOND THE DOOR. But the only way to see it is under the complete DEVIL WITHIN HER form, since the U.S. version -- which I did see on a crappy videotape 20+ years back -- is a much more incomprehensible mess. Two directors tackled this (Ovidio G. Assonitis and Roberto D'Ettore Piazzoli), which is obviously a ripoff of THE EXORCIST with hints of ROSEMARY'S BABY. Director Ovidio states he got the idea from seeing the Polanski film, and from only reading the Exorcist novel.

Juliet Mills (of TV's NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR) stars as a British woman named Jessica living in San Francisco with her husband Robert (Gabriele Lavia) and her two small children. She becomes impregnated with what may be a spawn of the devil himself, and as a result she goes through a series of disturbing trends: smashing her hubby's favorite fish tank, eating a raw banana peel from the street, kissing her sleeping little boy lustfully on his lips, spewing blood and vomit, and rotating her head and levitating. A strange bearded man (Richard Johnson) who has had ties with her from the past, follows her husband around and introduces himself as Dimitri, a cultist who is now trying to help Jessica and to also release his own soul.

I don't think this is a good movie, but it's serviceable horror fare with enough shocks and eerie optical effects considering it's an EXORCIST copycat made on a limited budget. Some of the photography is hauntingly done, and Juliet Mills is quite good in her part as the possessed mom. The participation of Richard Johnson also lends something of class to such horrific goings-on. I think this film gets too harshly judged, though I am not surprised if most of those reviewers only got to see the inferior common U.S. Theatrical Cut. **1/2 out of ****

If "The Exorcist" is a big taco, "Beyond the Door" is a taco burp: vaguely reminiscent of the real thing, but with no substance or nutritional value. I don't like tacos anyway, and I don't like this movie. It tells the tedious, glacier-paced story of a dull woman who is pregnant with some sort of demonic baby and starts vomiting pea soup and spinning her head around. She and her family are plagued by a Mr. Beale-esque gentleman who tries to exorcise the demons, but may have his own nefarious reasons for helping- like we care. The only good parts in this crappy, boring movie are the foul-mouthed little kids who cuss like sailors and read cheap romance novels. Also appearing is the guy from "Deep Red", "Zeder", and "Inferno", but this performance is much different from his previous roles because this time he has a mustache.

Not recommended, although I do heartily recommend Mario Bava's "Shock", which was released as "Beyond the Door II" despite the fact that it has nothing to do with "Beyond the Door" and actually has things happen in it.

I won't waste time summarizing the plot for this film since the other users have done quite a good job themselves. Basically, you've got just one more in a stream of films that cashed in on the success of William Friedkin's 1973 classic "The Exorcist". I can only recommend "Beyond the Door" to those who enjoy these types of movies. Director Ovidio G. seems to be the Italian version of William Girdler, who directed his own "exorcist" knock-off that same year with "Abby", a blaxsploitation version that was actually taken out of theaters after two weeks due to a lawsuit filed by Warner Brothers for plagiarism. If I'm correct, "Beyond the Door" was also attacked by Warner Brothers but I'm not sure what the outcome of that one was. It did manage to stay in the theaters though and actually did good at the box office. "Beyond the Door" copies "The Exorcist" in almost every way and you will either hate it or love it. This time, instead of a young girl, we have Juliet Mills (Nanny and the Professor, Passions) who levitates, vomits, spins her head around, and curses like a sailor, saying things like "lick the whore's vomit" in a demonic voice. Sound pretty familiar? "Beyond the Door" was marketed during it's theatrical release as being filmed in Possess-O-Sound, which was basically the same thing used for the Sensurround effect in the film "Earthquake"; huge speakers with the bass turned way up. To sum things up, this is not a well-made movie at all. I was especially turned off by the devil himself doing a little narration at the beginning of the film. You will, however, have a good time watching it and be entertained if you like this kind of thing. There's a few lines of dialogue from the girl playing the daughter that are a hoot and have to be heard to be believed. I'm pretty sure that whoever wrote this script was smoking some of the wacky tobbacy. I voted 7/10 for entertainment value and being one of those movies that are bad in a good/fun way. Otherwise, I give it only a 3.

BEYOND THE DOOR definitely riffs on THE EXORCISTS, but has an entirely different feel. While THE EXORCIST took normal, banal moments or settings and injected them with a sense of dis-ease, BEYOND THE DOOR has a disturbed, dream-like feel to it. There isn't a single normal thing about this movie to lull viewers into safety or complacency. Juliet Mills' erratic, violent behavior, the montage-like exteriors as Mills shops in San Francisco and her husband visits the psychic are weirdly unsettling with no pretensions. Ditto for the sequences with the children and the glowing-eyed dolls. The scene in which Mills is trussed up in bed with electrodes attached to her scalp is almost unbearable to look at for Mills' creepy facial expression. I first viewed this when I was a sophomore in high school, watching it on an independent TV station late at night. The movie weirded me out like no film before it(until I saw ALICE SWEET ALICE)and was truly unsettling. Very symbolic, with attempts to convey concepts of evil through cinematic language. Interesting, if only for seeing a different interpretation of the demonic possession genre.

In all fairness, this movie is a ripoff. However, if you know what it's gonna be and you're cool with that, it is damn entertaining.

From the get-go with the kids cussing and the bizarre antics of the parents, you know you're in for an Italian trash treat. It just gets better and better. By the end, you'll be loving life, if you're anything like me.

Recommended for fans of Fulci, Argento, D'Amato, etc. It was a little more old school than I thought it was gonna be, but I'm good with that. It is definitely more early 70's than late 70's. I like that Bava used the same kid in "Shock" aka "Beyond the Door 2." 6 out of 10, kids.