Lucio Fulci is virtually unknown outside of Italian horror film fan circles. He inspires much delight and much derision in the people who are familiar with his work. Now, I love Lucio's work, but I cannot understand why The Beyond is so vaunted compared to say - Don't Torture a Duckling and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Fulci, in these films, made an awesome Giallo in the former, and an awesome zombie movie with the latter. However, the bulk of Fulci fans point to The Beyond as Fulci's finest achievement (led by Quentin Tarantino). The Beyond doesn't really have a storyline other than the gates to Hell have been opened in a Louisiana hotel and people are wandering around being afflicted by supernatural events. Supporters of Fulci point to his daring visual style in The Beyond, the hallucinatory/oneiric symbols and the radical non linear narrative. Call me a philistine, but I have watched The Beyond several times and failed to pick up any plot or meaning to it. I think the fact that it is a meaningless film actually increases Fulci fans' interest in it because they believe there is something profound going on when it is just sheer guff. I would rather watch the critically excoriated New York Ripper than The Beyond. For Fulci fans that disagree - watch Don't Torture a Duckling and then look me square in the eye and tell me that The Beyond is a better film. You won't be able to do it.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
