The Beyond (1981 film)
Liza's architect, Martin, visits the town library to inspect the hotel's blueprints, which reveal an ample, unexplained space in the basement.[12] Film scholar Wheeler Dixon similarly wrote that the "slight framing narrative is merely the excuse for Fulci to stage a series of macabre, distressing set pieces".[14] Fulci himself was a Catholic, and previous films of his dealt with aspects of his faith that troubled him, such as Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), which touched on corruption among clergy.[16] Simpson points out that only Schweick, the warlock lynched in the film's 1927 prologue, and Emily, a "seeress who transcends temporality", possess the "necessary sight" to interpret the contents of the book.[18] Simpson describes the trilogy as being loosely "connected by the trope of hapless mortals literally living on top of an entrance to Hell and then inadvertently falling into it".[18] De Angelis recalled Fulci discussing the film's concept with him: "So he's telling me this story about a couple moving into a house, where underneath is hell."[18] After receiving De Angelis's approval, Fulci requested that Sacchetti begin writing a full screenplay based on the brief treatment they had completed.[18] According to De Angelis, much of the plot was devised based on vague ideas Fulci had for various death scenes, as well as several key words that he felt unified his vision.[18] Some elements of the screenplay were derived in an arbitrary manner, such as the design of the Eibon symbol, which Fulci based on the shape of a trivial amateur tattoo his daughter had gotten on her arm.[18] Due to logistical restrictions, however, this was unable to be filmed, and the existing final sequence—in which the characters enter a vast desert landscape full of corpses—was devised by Sacchetti "on the spur of the moment".[18] In an interview, Fulci gave the film's budget as 580 million Italian lire, half the amount that De Angelis would declare it cost.[11] Although Fulci originally intended to cast Zombi 2 star Tisa Farrow as Liza Merrill,[11] English actress Catriona MacColl was chosen after having worked with him previously on City of the Living Dead.[11] Originally, the roles of Joe and Professor Harris were to be played by Venantino Venantini and Ivan Rassimov, respectively, but they were replaced by two of Fulci's friends, stage actor Tonino Pulci and Zombi 2 co-star Al Cliver, whom the director affectionately nicknamed "Tufus".[25] During filming, the production designers aged the home's exteriors by spraying the siding with water and dark dye, as well as throwing cement and sand on the floors to make it appear dusty and dilapidated.[20] To achieve the film's stark visual style, cinematographer Sergio Salvati photographed the New Orleans exteriors using "warm colors" in hope of capturing the "sun, the heat, [and] the jazz" of the city.[18] Salvati contrasted the urban New Orleans settings with the "cooler" interiors of the hotel, which often feature cool blue, orange, and violet lighting.[23] After filming had completed in the United States, additional photography took place at De Paolis Studios in Rome, primarily consisting of the special effects-intensive scenes.[22] Some additional sequences featuring Emily's dog were also shot in Rome, which required the production to find a lookalike German Shepherd in Italy."[26] Special effects designer Giannetto DeRossi created half of a prosthetic mouth for the actor, Michele Mirabella, from latex and a dental cast he obtained from his dentist.When I started writing music some years before, I had learned to combine these two sounds; but for many reasons, the roles of strings and wind instruments were mainly created by keyboards.[28] Rolling Stone reviewers noted that as the film progresses toward its conclusion, "Frizzi's score also darkens, growing heavy, underlining the inescapable fate of the characters.[41] The uncut version of The Beyond was not made commercially available in the U.S. until after Fulci's death in 1996;[36] the North American distribution rights to the film were acquired by Bob Murawski and Sage Stallone for their company Grindhouse Releasing, which partnered with Quentin Tarantino and Jerry Martinez's Rolling Thunder Pictures and Noah Cowan's Cowboy Booking International to re-release the film through a series of midnight screenings that began in Los Angeles, New York City and five other locations on 12 June 1998, followed by a national roll-out.[47] Grindhouse gave the film a second theatrical re-release in North America to celebrate its 24th anniversary, starting on 9 February 2015 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Yonkers, New York, and ending on 27 March 2015 in the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, Illinois."[51] The Akron Beacon Journal's Bill O'Connor criticized the plot for a lack of coherence, writing: "People get killed all over the hotel.[55] Time Out London, alternatively, called it "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."[57] A similar sentiment is echoed by Bill Gibron of PopMatters, who wrote of the film in 2007: The Beyond is an incoherent, chaotic combination of Italian terror and monster movie grave robbing that is almost saved by its bleak, atmospheric ending.It has more potential than dozens of past and present Hollywood horror films, yet finds ways to squander and squelch each and every golden gruesome opportunity.It would probably work best as a silent movie, stripped of the illogical scripting, stupendously redundant Goblin-in-training soundtrack drones, and obtuse aural cues.The limited-edition set was packaged in a tin box with alternative cover artwork, including an informative booklet on the film's production as well as various miniature poster replications.Aside from two previously released audio commentaries — one with MacColl and Warbeck, and another with Salvati — the disc's special features include new interviews with Monreale, Mirabella, and Mariuzzo, and behind-the-scenes footage of Fulci from the filming of Demonia.
The Beyond (2018 film)Enzo SciottiItalianLucio FulciDardano SacchettiGiorgio MariuzzoFabrizio De AngelisKatherine MacCollDavid WarbeckSarah KellerAntoine Saint-JohnVeronica LazarSergio SalvatiFabio FrizziSouthern Gothicsupernatural horrorCatriona MacCollLouisianaGates of Hell trilogyCity of the Living DeadThe House by the CemeteryNew Orleansvideo nastyRolling Thunder PicturesGrindhouse Releasingsurrealisticcult followingwarlockend of the worldlynch mobblack magicNew York CityseanceblueprintsparalyzedCinzia MonrealeVeronica LazărAl CliverMichele MirabellaLaura De MarchiCinefantastiqueDon't Torture a DucklingblindnessseeressZombi 2trilogytreatmentEuclidean geometryItalian lireTisa FarrowThe Black CatVenantino VenantiniIvan RassimovStefania Casinicontact lensesSpaghetti WesternSilver SaddleMadisonville, LouisianaMetairieMonroeMadisonvilleVieux CarréDillard UniversitySaint Louis Cemetery no. 1Lake PontchartrainFairview-Riverside State ParkLake Pontchartrain CausewayLouis MallePretty BabyGerman Shepherdpuppeteeredwhite enameldental castsulfuric acidcrucifixionMellotronRolling StoneComingSoon.netcompact disccomic bookX ratingJohn CarpenterHalloweenKim HenkelTobe HooperThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreanglicisedBob MurawskiSage StalloneQuentin TarantinoNoah Cowanmidnight screeningsLos AngelesPeter ParkerSam RaimiSpider-Manclose-upDarkmanAlamo Drafthouse CinemaYonkers, New YorkMusic Box TheatreChicagoIllinoisLa Cage aux FollesEscape from New YorkInfernoKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesSun-SentinelAkron Beacon JournalThe Monthly Film BulletinRoger Ebertreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoesaverage ratingAllMovieTime Out LondonJohn Kenneth MuirPopMattersGoblinAnchor Bay EntertainmentBlu-rayhigh-definitionAmazon Videoseamless branchingblack and white