The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci)

I'm such a Fulci fan. Have been for ages, though "The Beyond" is the one that leaves me tingling with exuberant reverences of fanatical, gore-gasmic glee! All of his films pretty much satisfy me in one way or another, but "The Beyond" always struck me as Fulci's most solid, straight-forward horror film.

A chick inherits an old Louisiana hotel that holds a gateway to Hell... Then a bunch of cool shit happens!

"The Beyond" - a.k.a. "Seven Doors of Death" - is the second part in Fulci's grand "Gates of Hell" trilogy and definately prods the deepest into theological conceptions of afterlife through the eyes of the atheist film maker. However, nothing gets in the way of the Italian maverick's over-the-top depictions of mutilation that earned this film a spot in the coveted "video nasties" list of fame. Anyone who has seen ONE of Lucio's films knows he was a man who loved eyeball gore. Ripping, gouging, puncturing - it's all about the destruction of optical organs. Probably the best example of this is featured in the long ass tarantula scene...

Aside from the gruesome content "The Beyond" delivers so perfectly, the production quality is great in setting a creepy mood with crisp lighting and brooding atmosphere. There's some downright spooky scenes, such as the build-up to the hot, blind chick's demise and the hotel finally being over-run with walking corpses shown through an exterior shot of lighted windows. The very end is bizarre and somewhat of a 'downer'.

If you're a Fulci fan (though I know some, definately, are NOT), "The Beyond" will rock your world. Fulci lives!