The Beyond is a 1981 Italian horror film about a young woman who inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural “accidents”, she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
The movie was directed by Lucio Fulci (The New York Ripper; Zombie Flesh Eaters; Don’t Torture a Duckling; A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin; et al) from a screenplay co-written with Dardano Sacchetti and Giorgio Mariuzzo, based on Sacchetti’s storyline.
The Fulvia Film was produced by Fabrizio De Angelis and stars Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John and Veronica Lazar.
The original Italian title is …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà, which translates as “… And you will live in terror! The afterlife”. The film forms the second part of Lucio Fulci’s so-called ‘Gates of Hell’ that includes City of the Living Dead (1980) and The House by the Cemetery (1981).
Plot:
1927: In Louisiana‘s Seven Doors Hotel, a lynch mob murders an artist named Schweick, whom they believe to be a warlock.
1981: A young woman, Liza Merril (Catriona MacColl), inherits the old hotel in Louisiana. Following a series of supernatural “accidents”, she discovers that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell…
“Its dreamlike fluctuations create a unique sense of delirium. City of the Living Dead‘s collage effect has been massaged into a smooth, undulating continuity. Lyrical camerawork sweeps the eye across the feverish imagery for appointments with fascinating bouts of violence. Cinematic space is in total flux, narrative is eluded.” Stephen Thrower, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci book
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“A shamelessly artless horror movie whose senseless story – a girl inherits a spooky, seedy hotel which just happens to have one of the Seven Doors of Hell in its cellar – is merely an excuse for a poorly connected series of sadistic tableaux of torture and gore.” Time Out London 1981
Cast and characters:
Catriona MacColl … Liza Merril (as Katherine MacColl) – Horsehead; City of the Living Dead
David Warbeck … Doctor John McCabe – RatMan; Panic; The Black Cat; Craze; Twins of Evil; Trog
Cinzia Monreale … Emily (as Sarah Keller)
Antoine Saint-John … Schweick
Veronica Lazar … Martha
Larry Ray … Larry (as Anthony Flees)
Al Cliver … Doctor Harris
Michele Mirabella … Martin Avery
Giampaolo Saccarola … Arthur
Maria Pia Marsala … Jill
Laura De Marchi … Mary-Ann
Calogero Azzaretto … Zombie at Hospital
Ottaviano Dell’Acqua … Zombie at Hospital
Roberto Dell’Acqua … Glass-Smashing Zombie
Lucio Fulci … Town Clerk
Gilberto Galimberti … Zombie
Tonino Pulci … Joe the Plumber
Dardano Sacchetti … Mob Member
Amedeo Salamon … Zombie at hospital
Sergio Salvati … Mob Member
Cinematographer … Sergio Salvati
Editor … Vincenzo Tomassi
Music … Fabio Frizzi
Filming locations:
Filmed on location in and around New Orleans, as well as the outlying cities of Metairie, Monroe, and Madisonville, in late 1980, additional photography took place at De Paolis Studios in Rome.
Technical specs:
1 hour 27 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.35: 1
Release:
The Beyond was given a North American theatrical release in late 1983 by Aquarius Releasing, who released it as 7 Doors of Death; this version featured an entirely different musical score and ran several minutes shorter.
Film fact:
Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing – who restored the film in 1998 – is a film editor and used a shot from The Beyond in the spider-bite dream sequence in Spider-Man (2002).
Trailer:
Free online on YouTube [4K UHD]:
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