The Beyond was Fulcis attempt to make an absolute film where sound and image are more important than linear storytelling. This lends the movie a weird, dreamlike quality, but not everyone sees it that way. Excuse me for a moment, wrote Roger Ebert in his review, while I laugh uncontrollably at having written the words the plot involves. Ouch, Roger. Well, anyway, the plot involves a hotel that was constructed over one of the seven gateways to hell and the inexplicable events that take place when a young woman inherits the place. For starters, theres an atrophied corpse in the cellar that attacks anyone foolish enough to venture down there, either gouging their eyes out or impaling them on rusty nails. The film builds to a climax set in a hospital being taken over by the living dead, with our heroes pausing only to shoot zombies through the head. If the sequence feels out of step with the rest of the picture, thats because the producers demanded its insertion in order to capitalize upon the zombie craze. Despite this rather blatant exploitation, the film manages to rise above and become something else, something better and is frequently hailed as Fulci's finest work.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
