|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The Beyond (Limited Edition) | Year: 1983 Classification: Horror Directed: - Lucio Fulci Actors/Actresses: - Catriona MacColl - David Warbeck Awesome rerelease of an amazing movie Rolling Pictures (founded by Tarantino) and Grindhouse (Co-founder Sage Stallone, responsible for rerelease of Cannibal Ferox) team up to rerelease this classic Italian horror movie. For those new to Fulci, or even Italian horror, here is a film to start with. Italian horror films, such as those from Fulci and Argento, rely less on plot, so don't expect any classic lines, a realistic plot, first-rate acting or a Hollywood ending. Instead, what the Italians were going for was mainly atmosphere, and you get lots of it here. Horror films back then were more visual and atmospheric, designed to truly scare the audience, relied less on Computer FX, and no confusing script; The plot only serves as a clothesline for the AMAZING gore scenes here (all close-up), which come out of nowhere and will shock even the most jaded viewers. These include realistic scenes of tarantulas eating away at a face, two gruesome scenes of eye gouging, a dog attack on its owner (homage to Suspiria), and a gunshot to a girl which blows away the top half portion of her head. Needless to say, gorehounds and horror fans must pick this up, especially the Limited Edition, which automatically is a keeper, and will be worth more than what it is selling for in the years to come. This film, always condemened for its hokey acting and lame dialogue, was very important to the Italian horror film movement, and this film was just as significant. Just like Kurosawa's "Stray Dog" was important to the growth of Japanese film, Fulci's "The Beyond" was one of the great classics of Italian horror (and one of the last), right up there with Bava and Argento, and no doubt influenced many horror filmmakers to come (Raimi, Jackson etc). The Collector's Edition comes with a keeper's box, a 40+ page in-depth analysis of the film, Fulci, and other Italian filmmakers, and miniature posters from other countries. This restoration of a classic movie is important, as it harks back to the days where filmmakers did not rely on computer special effects, but in fact constructed FX from scratch (this shows the effort of real artists), while having fun at it (and thus more realistic). This film is true inspiration: Made on a very small budget (nowhere even close to $1 million), this film still survives, very much talked about at film festivals and finally, rereleased in a very beautiful print (you couldn't tell it was made nearly 20 years ago), this is the one you must have in your collection. Congratulations to Rolling Thunder and Grindhouse. Support the horror scene, so that many more horror films out there only available in the public domain can be rereleased in beautiful prints so the fans can enjoy truly what a horror film is. "The critics don't get it, and the critics never will." (Note: the subject line is taken from the DVD booklet, and is all too true.) The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981) Many hardcore fans of Italian horror cinema consider The Beyond to be Lucio Fulci's best film; more than one will likely opine, if you ask, that The Beyond is the finest Italian horror film ever made. While that's probably stretching the case more than a little (I still prefer Fulci's raw, almost unbearably campy Zombie), there's a whole lot to be said for The Beyond as loads of fun. Without doubt, it is one of Fulci's brightest moments. (Note that all description below is from the uncut version on the Anchor Bay limited edition DVD, and as I've never seen the cut version released to theaters, some of what is described below may not sound familiar to those who have already seen the movie, which had a theatrical re-releases in 1998 as Seven Doors of Death.) The Beyond takes place in the Louisiana bayou country. It opens with a scene in 1927 detailing the brutal lynching of Sweik, an eastern European of some sort who the natives believe has placed a curse on the town. During his lynching, Sweik protests that, in fact, he's the only person keeping the town from falling under the curse. Needless to say, they mob doesn't listen to him, or a very short film we'd have. We then skip to 1981, as our heroine, Liza (Fulci regular Catriona MacColl, seen most recently in the well-received 1998 film A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries), inherits the hotel where Sweik was staying at the time of his unfortunate demise. The place is haunted, especially Room 36, Sweik's room. As well, the basement is constantly flooded, and no one can figure out why. A plumber is dispatched to find the source of the water, and in his attempt he instead finds the source of the hauntings. Complications, as they say, ensue. The Beyond works in no small part for the same reason that John Carpenter's contemporary film The Fog works--the events are presented with absolutely no context. The filmmaker hands up a plate of hot, steaming horror and raises no questions as to why any of this is happening. This is an important distinction; whether the film itself raises unanswered questions is often the difference between the success and the failure of a venture like this one. Fulci doesn't raise the questions, and The Beyond works. Argento doesn't raise the questions, and Suspiria works. (Argento tried to raise the questions in Inferno, and boy, did it ever not work.) Fulci throws us an extra bone, however, in<BR>allowing one character to raise one question that no one in the film is capable of answering. Very nice touch, that. Beyond (no pun intended) the film itself, the DVD release falls apart a bit, which is somewhat surprising in any Anchor Bay release, and is especially troubling in such an expensive, limited disc. Most of the extras that come with the release are either soundless (which is quite annoying when the extra is, for Its all about the visuals in The Beyond And the visuals are astounding. The camera and the director breathe in and revel in every shot, their attention is totally unwavering and they have an eye for the beauty in the scenes, actors, and in the horror as well. Frankly, I couldnt take my eyes off it if I tried, it demands your attention.<BR> Find me any film let alone a horror film from 1983 that looks so crystal clear, so well framed, and so well filmed, its impossible. This film is timeless in that respect, if you told someone this was a 1980's period piece that was filmed in the late 1990's they'd believe you. Like all Italian horror of the time, the emphasis wasnt put on the script, which is being generous to some of the scenes. The visuals rule the day though and win out, the quality of all these elements puts you in a forgiving mood for the lesser qualities of the film. Haunting in a good way. Buy The Beyond at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Beyond Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Beyond This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
