What we have here, in my opinion is one of the godfather of gore's greatest movies. To this day I still can't believe the impact this film had on me. The dream like atmosphere, the lack of violence, the sheer amount of eyeball damage just shocked me to the core.
The film begins with a sepia tone, and shows a boat carrying what looks like an angry mob to a hotel. They enter the hotel, go up to a room and proceed to assault an artist who is painting a picture of a vast hellish space. He is hit numerous times with an iron chain (surely a nod to one of Fulci's previous movies, Don't torture a duckling), and is then carried downstairs to the underground part of the hotel, where the artist is crucified and has a substance thrown on his face which causes his flesh to melt from his skull.
All of this horror is accompanied by Fabio Frizzi's amazingly chilling score, which in my opinion surpasses anything Frizzi has done before.
After this heart stopping intro to the movie, we are introduced to Catriona Maccoll's character, who is lucky enough to inherit the hotel where this crucifixion happened. Strange things then begin happening, which includes the opening of one of the seven gates of hell.
To say that this movie doesn't make sense is a moot point, as its meant to play out like a Lovecraftian nightmare and in my opinion, Fulci succeeded in every way. The whole movie has a completely otherworldly feel to it and although the film doesn't contain much violence, that isn't to say it skimps on the blood. Infact to this day, The Beyond is still one of the bloodiest films I have ever seen, with one scene in particular sticking in my mind.
Did I mention this film also has zombies?? Although it seems their intention in this movie isn't to feast on the main characters flesh, but to chase them both into hell.
All in all in my opinion, I still feel this is Fulci's greatest work of horror, and to anyone who hasn't seen this, I definitely rate it as one of the greatest horror movies ever made.
You can purchase The Beyond on Region 2 Blu Ray from Amazon by clicking here.
You can purchase The Beyond on Region 2 DVD from Amazon by clicking here.
Darkest regards............Dani.
I love THE BEYOND to death. I'm one of those that agree with the the popular consensus that this is Fulci's greatest moment.
ReplyDeleteI almost spit my coffee out at "the lack of violence". lol
Nice blog!
In my opinion , most of the scenes,apart from the eye gougings , aren't violent.The spider scene for example , the dog attack , the glass flying in the doctors face , i meant as a comparison to other Fulci movies there is a lack of violence.Cheers for the kind words.
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