thebeyond

The Beyond is regarded by many to be the best Lucio Fulci movie ( I personally like Zombie better), and it's certainly one of the most maggot filled, ultra-gory horror movies of the eighties. It's about a woman called Liza (Catriona MacColl), who has just inherited an old, run -down hotel in Louisiana. Lucky girl eh? Not quite. It's built on top of one of the seven doors to hell, and a guy was even crucified there in the 1800's. A workman has also been injured because he fell off some scafolding after seeing a ghost ( try explaining that one to workcover). On top of all these problems, the basement is flooded with disgusting looking water. Liza calls in Joe the Plumber, who seems to be a minor celebrity in the area who everyone

knows and loves. Maybe he's the Ed Sullivan of plumbing. Joe may know a lot about plumbing, but he knows little about doors to hell. He accidentally opens the gate to hell, and pays for it with his eyes. Joe's body is later found, along with the body of the crucified guy who plucked out his eyes like olives. Liza isn't fazed by all this, and as the movie progresses, all hell literally breaks loose. This film, though a little lacking in plot, is packed with gore in the form of spider attacks, dog attacks, and even a Dawn of the Dead style zombie onslaught in a hospital, all leading to a very surreal climax.

All in all, this is definitely one of Fulci's finest ( as long as you get it unrated, or the U.S. R-rated version). Though it may be low on plot, as usual Fulci makes up for it with style, atmosphere, and uncomprimising gore. I also always like the trademark Fulci smoky cinematography. It always gives his movies a dreamlike ( or is that nightmarelike) quality. I didn't like the overuse of the robotic spiders in the library scene ( look for a quick cameo by Lucio Fulci here). I understand that he had to use them for the actual killing, but mixing robot tarantulas in with real ones as they scampered along the floor made the scene look really cheesy. Some of the scenes were visually spectacular, like the one where Liza encounters the blind Emily on the freeway. I also really liked the scene where the hospital was overrun by zombies, but I have to say that seeing a little girls head blown to peices was in pretty poor taste. Still, at least Fulci had the balls to show it on film. If you can't decide whether you're in the mood to watch The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, or Dawn of the Dead, then you can't go too far wrong with this.