Friday, April 11, 2014

The Beyond (1981)

Original title: ...E tu Vivrai nel Terrore! L'aldila

AKA: Seven Doors of Death

Director: Lucio Fulci

Writers: Dardano Sacchetti, Giorgio Mariuzzo, Lucio Fulci

Composer: Fabio Frizzi, Walter E. Sear (U.S. version)

Starring: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar, Anthony Flees, Giovanni De Nava, Al Cliver, Michele Mirabella, Gianpaolo Saccarola, Maria Pia Marsala, Laura De Marchi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Behind this doorway lie the terrifying and unspeakable secrets of hell. No one who sees it lives to describe it. And you shall live in darkness for all eternity.

Plot: A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where after a series of supernatural 'accidents', she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.



My rating:6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I haven't seen this in many years and it held up a little better this time.  Before I remember being disappointed in the special effects but I've grown to let stuff like that slide depending on the rest of the picture. Yeah, the makeup effects are lacking but there are a lot of them and that shows that they were trying to squeeze every dollar they could out of the budget to make this a bigger production.  It's got good atmosphere but it drags in a couple of spots and it's because of scenes going way too long.  The tarantula scene is a good example.  It's creepy as shit but it loses its effectiveness by going on and on and on.  Sad, too, because it's one of the better scenes in the picture.  There are some other nice moments but it's the pacing and drab vibe that holds it back from greatness. The ending when they get into Hell is pretty cool but it ends right there leaving you wanting more.  Now that I've seen it twice I think I can put it to rest for good.  There are far too many movies to watch for the first time that I'm OK not seeing it again. 


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