The Beyond

Lucio Fulci's Italian Splatter Horror fest means a great deal to meDue to the fact it's the first Fulci Film i discovered late in my CollectingI'm gonna share with you the day I came across the Beyond on DVDIt was late spring of 2001 had no car (Due to my little sister wrecking my only car) It wasn't exactly a great car but, it was mine and I needed a wheels to go to and from my new jobI was able to get my Grandfather to let me take his pride and joy a 1977 Ford T-Bird to work while i looked for a new carFound out about a CD Store 35 miles away That took used CD's in Trade for store credit or cashWent through my massive collection of cd's found 150 cd's to take there for trade (CD's I know longer wanted/I needed to cut down on my cd Collection) Drove to this Store handed the sales man a massive box of CD's told him i'll take Store creditI looked around this store was very cool (It was a typical late 90's Music Store) but, they also sold vinyl records, VHS Tapes , and the new Hot format DVDI wanted to add more to my very small dvd Collection (Maybe had 6-8 dvd's) Keep in mind this was very early on Best Buy & Circuit City still sold more VHS over the dvd FormatThis store actually had a lot of dvd's for a small Music retail shop the problem was they were super over pricedWhile looking through what they had on dvd i seen a few things that Interest me, one being this super Cool Limited Edition Tin of The Beyond (with the coolest art work and a massive warning label on the front of the case (No one Under 17 Should view this Film) The downside to this Limited Tin it was marked at $39.99 so i just put it back and talked to the manager about my Store creditI was lucky to get $125.00 Store Credit so I swallowed really hard and gave in and added The Limited Edition of The Beyond (Anchor Bay TIN) to the stack of stuff I took...... That DVD was a massive blind buy (There were no smart phones to check price matching, etc.)Later on a day or two later I cracked up the TIN (I've bought a number of Special Edition Anchor Bay VHS Tapes) So i knew Anchor Bay at the time was a 5 Star Distributor they really put there heart and soul into this stuff back in the days of dvd'sThis Film blew me away everything about it even on a SD tv you could pick up on the Beautiful Lighting,The Production Values were insane everything is practical and Organic and it adds so much to the film over allThe Beyond IMO one the Best Italian Horror Films ever! It pulls no punches and doesn't pull back when most films wouldThe Ending is Anti Hollywood =Meaning it's more realistic Life is complicated Life is messy There is no real Disney EndingAfter watching this Film the first time I became a die hard Luci Fulci Fan i tried to get all his Horror Work very quicklyI probably watched this dvd at least 5 times in a month 'Cause it was so fresh and unique and just Perfect even the negatives with this film you can turn to Positives......I was so obsessed at the time I over payed to get my hands on the Limited Edition version of Zombie on Laserdisc (Needless to say I payed more for a outdated Laserdisc then for the New Format dvd) But, any Collector can relate to thisCollecting is very much a OCD thing some people will not admit that I on the other hand know what I am and admit it freelyEnough of this Palaver lets get the show on the roadI'm gonna try and review and point out the Positives & Negatives surrounding the Blu Ray home video versions ofLucio Fulci's The Beyond (Note: I've had almost every version of the beyond put out on DVD) I've seen it with terrible edits The Seven Doors of Death **On The Cheap** dvd) to HQ DVD's like the AnchorBay Version & The 2008 Grindhouse Releasing, Inc. VersionThe Arrow Video (UK Release) The "Original" Arrow BR is region FreeThis Version is flat out amazing it's a 2-Disc Set (One Disc Being a BR and the second disc being a dvd) Both disc are region freeArrows Cut is a Brand New Uncut HD Restoration + 160mins of Special Features all there extras are exclusives to Arrow VideoDisc Break down (BR Disc)Blu Ray Contains* Brand New HD Restoration of the film presented completely UNCUT (Full HD 1080p) *English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Original English & Italian Mono Audio optionsBR Special Features: Introduction by Star Cinzia Monreale* Audio Commentary w/ Antonella Fulci and Calum Waddell (Exclusive)*Audio Commentary with David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl (This Audio Commentary is old it's on almost every Previous dvd) But, it's a great Commentary Track all around!!!!AKA Sarah Keller: Cinzia Monreale remembers "The Beyond"Catriona MacColl Q&A from Glasgow Film Theatre (very cool Catriona is one of the Scream Queens That really gets over looked in Horror)Open Your Eyes Easter EggDisc Two (DVD) everything on this dvd is Exclusive to the Arrow Video BROne Step Beyond Catriona MacColl Remembers a Spaghetti Splatter Classic (great interview) after watching this I became a bigger fan of Mrs MacColl 'Cause she's a Legit Actress that fell into the Horror Genre and seems to accept her past and embraces it and Respects the fans!Beyond Italy- Louis Fuller and the seven doors of Death Interview with US distributor and editor of the beyond Terry Levene (very interesting)the Living Dead Legacy of special effects wizard Gianetto Di Rossi (This is a must see Gianetto Di Rossi is without a doubt super under rated he's in the same league as Tom Savini But, most people don't know his name) Which is a tragic shameFulci Flashbacks: Dario Argento, and others close to him remember the Godfather of GoreAlternative colour pre-credits sequenceOriginal International TrailerThe Grindhouse (So-Called Limited Edition BR)I'm gonna be completely Honest this BR is a utter disgrace Grindhouse took there previous dvd version from 2008 and Transfer everything from the dvd on to the HD Blu Ray and put the extras on a second BR Disc to pad this set!! All the extras are copied and pasted from the dvd and it's Cheap and a joke over all The only thing remotely exclusive is the Bonus CD with the Newly Remastered Soundtrack album (The cd comes in this uber cheap cardboard case God forbid they figure out how to put it in the caseI'm pretty sure Grindhouse bought the US Rights to the Arrow HD Transfer and just carried over the Film itself and tacked on "old" dvd extrasThe Grindhouse Version is a quick money grab Nothing more nothing less (No Real exclusives) Except a CD that's in a cheap cardboard caseI payed $30.00 for the BR when it was on sale Massive waste of $$$$ IMOWithout a doubt buy and cherish the Arrow Home Video Version that is the BEST and only way to get a Proper BR of the BeyondBuy the 2008 Grindhouse Release dvd don't Support a Company that Thinks so little of Fans the only thing they give is a bloody CD Soundtrack for a exclusive selling pointI Love The Beyond The film over all is Close to Perfect 9.8/10But, whatever you do DON'T Buy the Grindhouse BR it's a massive money grab that is a smack to the face to Fulci and his fans!

Sometimes I wish I could show you guys how excited I get to do certain reviews. This is one of them.Lucio Fulci. The Godfather of Gore.In horror circles, you either love him or you don't know who the hell he is. For those that dont, it's okay. This is something you have to seek out. He does not show up on Netflix. Despite directing a number of movies, beginning in the late fifties, it wasn't until the early seventies with two giallos that we began to see the Fulci we would all come to love. In 1979, he was given the chance to direct the Italian sequel to George Romeros Dawn of the Dead (in Italy, it was released as Zombi, so Fulcis movie was Zombi 2 there, but today it is just called Zombie), and I can honestly say that I've never seen anyone create zombie art like Lucio Fulci. Over the course of the next six years, he did a handful of gore films, each one beautiful in its own way, and all to be reviewed here eventually. After 1985, he split from his screenwriter, and the next eleven years were filled with failed movies and declining health, until he passed away from complications from Diabetes on March 13th, 1996 at the age of 68. Now let's get to The Beyond!The movie begins in Louisiana in 1927, at the Seven Doors Hotel, where a lynch mob accuses and murders an artist in room 36, because they believe him to be a warlock, and that he has placed a curse on the town. Despite his protest that the hotel was built over a gate to hell, and that only he can keep it closed, they beat him with chains, crucify him, and throw acid on his face. That's the first five minutes of the movie.In 1981, Liza (Katherine McColl) has inherited the hotel, and plans to renovate and reopen it. Unfortunately for her, her actions open the portal, and lots of people die in very violent ways.Plot was never Fulcis strong point, and sometimes it seems like things happen just to set up the death. Liza meets a blind woman named Emily(Cinzia Monreale) who warns her of the portal, but it really just feels like the conversation about the addition of her character went like this.Fulci: Write in a blind woman.Script writer: Why?Fulci: So I can have her dog rip someone's throat out.That's the feel of the entire movie. My plot synapses could actually go like this. Gates of hell. Stuff happens. Someone dies. More stuff. Someone else dies. A little bit more stuff. Another death. Zombies. The End.But that's not a bad thing. You don't watch this movie for story. You watch it for the glorious amounts of gore that pours from every character, every few minutes.To understand how much gore we are talking, when the movie was first released on VHS, it was heavily censored and renamed to The Seven Doors of Death. We had a copy at the video store I worked at, and I was super excited when I brought it home with me one night. That excitement lasted about 20 minutes, and the rest of the movie was me completely bored. It's almost a different movie. Finally, in 2001, the first uncensored copy came to America, and I've owned at least one copy of it since then. While not for everyone, those of us with an appreciation for carnage will adore every blood soaked second of this film.Scare Factor 6/10 It does have its creepy moments but it's usually just imagery. Everytime your mind thinks "That's spooky", it will follow with "But I don't know what the hell it means, so I'll just wait for more death. The plot of the movie does have a very creepy premise. A woman takes over a inheritance, only to find out its a portal to hell. See....that's scary.Gore 10/10 This movie has all of the gore, and then still brings more.Multiple Acid Baths: CheckDog Attack Throat Rip: CheckHuman Face Eating Spiders: CheckMultiple Zombies: CheckThe special effect that Fulci excelled in was eye torture, and there are no less than three examples of this in the film.Even with all of that, my favorite death from this, and one of my favorite deaths of all time shows what happens when you completely obliterate a human head with a very large handgun. I watch that scene at least three times, every single time I watch this.Recommended 8/10 I know I've made it seem like this movie makes no sense, but that isn't really the case. It has a definite plot. It's just not one that you should worry about if something confuses you or doesn't make sense. It's best to keep watching, and not struggle too much to comprehend every little part. The only reason this isn't a 10/10 is that it is for the hardcore. While some of the effects look really fake (I'm looking at you, Human face eating spiders), Fulci was still a master of this art, so it's not for anyone with a weak stomach. That being said, anyone that can handle it, should see this immediately.