5. The Beyond (1981)
Cult Euro horror fare by Lucio Fulci which is widely regarded to be his best film. The storyline concerns a Louisiana hotel where an artist was murdered in the 1920s. This murder opens a portal to Hell in the Hotel. Unwitting Liza buys the old hotel in the 1980s and the renovation work she has done on the Hotel reopens the portal to Hell. This sets off a series of trippy and nasty events with murderous spiders, young girl ghosts floating about the place, some very slow zombies lurking around and the original artist who was murdered comes back to life and starts killing everyone. The ending of the movie is notoriously bleak as the hero and heroine enter a blank landscape with bodies lying everywhere. It is implied they are going to die. Despite its low budget, the make up effects in the Beyond are superlative. The score also fits the film beautifully as well. There is no point looking for a plot in The Beyond, or trying to analyse a tentative plot. The film was made entirely of images and set pieces that are just placed there by Fulci to be marvelled at. It does the job - the movie is haunting and the imagery compelling. Tarantino loves it and lent his name to a DVD release in order to get the film a wider audience.