The nightmare continues

If we have learned anything about legendary the Italian director Lucio Fulci's previous films it's to expect confusion and prepare for the nightmare that is about to play out before our eyes. In 1981's The Beyond (aka Aldilà, L', Seven doors of death, And you will live in terror:the beyond) we get a bit of confusion and a whole lot of nightmare sequences making this installment in Fulci's catalog of films my personal favorite.
A remote and cursed hotel that just happens to be built over one of the seven gateways to hell begins to posses and exterminate anyone who enters. Liza Merril (Catrolona McCall) is the unlucky woman who inherits the demonic hotel and soon realizes something is horribly wrong with the evil estate, and so begins a series of horrific events from zombies roaming to a blind woman who warns her to leave the hotel and a number of other bizarre scenes, some that make sense and others that do not and leave the viewer puzzled. Liza soon becomes friends with Dr. John McCabe (David Warbeck), as the two begin their journey to try and solve the mystery of the hotel.
The Beyond is really many different types of films wrapped up into one. It's a ghost story, a mystery, a zombie movie and more, at times it feels like The Beyond does not know what kind of film it wants to be. The zombie aspect of the film was actually tacked on and was not something Fulci wanted in this film, he wanted it to play out more as a ghost story but due to the recent success of the zombie films for that time the studio basically forced Fulci to throw it in.
Another great touch to the ominous feel of the film is Fabio Frizzi's hauntingly symphonic score, making the atmosphere even more creepy, if that's possible.
Sergio Salvati's photography is excellent and surreal. And thanks to the imagination of Giannetto de Rossi we get some unbelievable special effects that really push this film over most others from that time and even films of today. One of the great special effects in this film is when the young possessed girl is shot in the head exploding half of her face off ends up being extremely shocking due to the realism of the shot, and the masterful work of Rossi. The zombies are pretty well done, not the best I have seen but good none the less. The man slowly eaten to death by real tarantulas is very unnerving as they slowly pick him apart piece by piece. Just when you want the scene to end Fulci pushes it a bit farther to control the viewers fear and make it almost unbearable, for anyone who hates spiders, that scene would be agony to sit through. There are a multitude of other great practical effects scenes through out the film you just have to see for yourself. There is also an eyeball impalement scene that is guaranteed to sicken even the most jaded of horror fans. During the final scene in the Beyond's abyss, the sand-covered bodies lying on the ground were actually stark naked street derelicts, who were "paid" in alcohol.
Some may argue that the film feels disjointed due to it exploring of so many different themes, but I think that is part of which gives it the film it's charm. I never lost interest at any point in watching this, although confused at times, for the most part I stayed entertained and glued to the screen.
Lucio Fulci passed away in 1996 and the horror community lost a true genius of not only the horror genre, but in film making history. There will never be another Fulci and we will never see horror films reach the same level of the pure sense of dreadful atmosphere he created in The Beyond and City of the living dead. Fulci even dipped his toes in the spaghetti western genre and came out with a pretty cool film called Four of the apocalypse, a definite recommend.
Another Favorite of mine is The psychic (aka Murder to the tune of seven black notes), Which I consider to be one of Fulci's greatest masterpieces.
Fulci's films are his legacy, weather you like his films or not there is no argument against the fact that he put his stamp on cinematic history and changed the way we see horror movies.
Grindhouse releasing just released a fantastic 2 disc DVD set of The Beyond with a ton of extras including a hi-def digital anamorphic transfer that looks amazing, commentary with Catriona McCall and David Warbeck, rare on set interview with the mistero himself Lucio Fulci and much, much more. This one is a definite purchase.
The Beyond is a nightmarish view in Fulci's world and could not have been done by anyone else. It's stylish, scary, Gorey and in all senses of the word a true piece of cinematic horror.

Rating: B
Review by Jason