‘You will definitely quiver with fright…’
Beyond the Door is a 1974 Italian horror film about a pregnant woman who becomes possessed and is seemingly going to have Satan’s baby. Also known as The Devil Within Her. Original Italian title: Chi sei? [“Who Are You?’].
Directed and co-produced by Ovidio G. Assonitis (Piranha II: The Spawning; Madhouse; The Visitor; Tentacles) and Robert Barrett from a screenplay co-written with an uncredited Alex Rebar (The Incredible Melting Man). Also produced by Enzo Doria and Edward L. Montoro.
The A Erre Cinematografica-Montoro Productions movie stars Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson (The Haunting; Zombie Flesh Eaters), Gabriele Lavia (Deep Red), Elizabeth Turner, Nino Segurini, Barbara Fiorini, Carla Mancini, David Colin Jr (Shock aka Beyond the Door II) and Jonathan T. Tran.
Detailing a woman possessed by a demon, Beyond the Door was an obvious rip-off of The Exorcist. Warner Bros. promptly filed a lawsuit, claiming copyright infringement. The lawsuit was unsuccessful after it was determined Warner Bros. had no rights to key horror scenes depicted in The Exorcist. The film became an independent hit, earning an estimated $15 million at the US box office.
This meant Beyond The Door paved the way for several other “Exorcist rip-offs” (many originating in Italy) that were successfully released in the US and elsewhere. Some of these include Abby, The House of Exorcism (a bile-spewing re-edit of the 1972 film Lisa and the Devil), The Antichrist, Naked Exorcism, and the Turkish Seytan.
Reviews:
“It is surely no accident that Beyond the Door steers clear of the expensive new effects technologies that were revolutionizing horror and sci-fi movies in the mid-1970s, relying instead on techniques that Georges Méliès would have recognized. This film also benefits from some of the best sound design I’ve ever encountered, which is a tremendous asset in scenes like the opening Satanic ritual.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“Though the first hour or so contains some mildly creepy horror imagery and plenty of unintentional laughs and thus isn’t completely worthless (though hardly “good”), the final 45 minutes where Jessica is confined to her bedroom is a slow, excruciating, derivative bore that pretty much wipes one’s memory clean of some of the funnier stuff that came before.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
” …the film can become talky in spurts, but again, the number of unique and bizarre visuals makes up for that and the straight-faced performances of seasoned vets Mills and Johnson certainly bring the modest production up more than a few levels. The score by Franco Micalizzi is cemented in the 1970s, but that only attributed to its retro-chic status today…” DVD Drive-In
“Marvel at that completely ineffective score and the lifeless dialogue scenes that desperately need music but don’t have any, matched only by the bits where they obviously lost the sound altogether but kept the footage in any way. It’s all very, very strange. The ending makes no sense at all, but I suppose anyone who had stuck it out until then would be disappointed if it did.” House of Mortal Cinema
“It’s all trash, but it’s scary trash. I wouldn’t call it entertainment, but it’s a diversion, all right. Yuk.” Roger Ebert, January 1st 1975
” …Beyond the Door features all the prerequisite vomiting, screaming and head-spinning, but lousy dubbing and a forced feeling don’t do it any justice. Mills gives a valiant performance here, but the loopy plotline and derivative stylings keep this from being a superior effort.” The Terror Trap
“When not reprising events from the Friedkin and Polanski films, Beyond the Door fails to make much sense, but director Oliver Hellman (Ovidio G. Assonitis) manages to inject a bit of atmosphere into the familiar proceedings.” TV Guide
“The biggest problem with the movie is that it’s just so dang boring. Despite a couple of decent possession scenes, for the most part, it was strictly Beyond the Bore. Mills, however, is excellent…” The Video Vacuum
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