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The Beyond is one of Director Lucio Fulci's best films. According to the jacket some believe this movie to be one of the greatest zombie films of our time.
The zombies follow the basic premises established in George A. Romero's Dead trilogy. They are slow moving, and can only be killed by destroying their brains. Like City of the Living Dead, these zombies are a result of the Gates of Hell being opened, but that is where the similarity ends. This time Schweick, an artist, opened the gates the town's people called "an evil warlock". It appears that the Schweick found the key to the Gate, the Seven Doors Hotel, and opened it. These zombies do not use objects where in Romero's zombie they used simple tools.
The movie starts with violence, the death of Schweick, and slowly builds towards the impending doom. The filming of the opening scenes, which supposedly occurred 54 years prior, gave the film an aged atmosphere. We are immediately treated to Fulci's gore with the death of Schweick. There is an imaginative scene with a zombie dog attacking its owner. An alligator was used in Day of the Dead, however the alligator never attacked anyone. Another imaginative scene, which detracted from the film, occurred when spiders attacked and took bites out of a paralyzed man.
The special makeup
effects are good, showing zombies in varying stages of decomposition. We never
learn why some of the dead are horrible disfigured, but had not been that
way when they died. There were several gory scenes that were trademark Fulci.
Character development was good giving background and dimension to the core
characters. This is a horror movie worth seeing, and a must for zombie and
Fulci film fans.
The movie begins in 1927 at night outside of a Hotel, we later learn the Seven Gates Hotel, located in Louisiana. We see two rowboats loaded with men some rowing and some carrying torches moving down a river.
Mob
in boats
Two cars arrive at the hotel and several men get out, just as the boats pull up to the shore. The men in the boats join the men that arrived in the cars and they all enter the hotel. Inside room 36 at the hotel we see a painter, we later learn his name is Schweick (Antoine Saint-John), painting a picture. The picture is of a barren landscape with bodies on it.
Schweick's
painting
They go up to room 36, break in and confront the trembling artist. The leader of the mob calls the artist an unholy warlock and strikes him with a chain. He goes on to say that because of the Schweick the Hotel and the town will be cursed forever.
Schweick
The mob carries Schweick into the basement. Schweick tells the men that the hotel was built over one of the seven gateways to Hell and only he can help them. The men whip Schweick with the chain then nail him to the wall. They take some boiling white liquid and throw it on the artist. The liquid seems to melt Schweick's skin. They show some symbol on the wall next to Schweick.
Schweick
and mob
We jump to a woman, we later lean that her name is Emily (Cinzia Monreale),
entering a room carrying an oil lamp. Emily walks up to a table with a book
titled Eibon on it. Emily reads from the Book of Eibon that there are seven
dreaded gateways concealed in seven cursed places. Emily continues reading
that he who opens one of the gateways to hell will allow evil to invade the
world.
Emily
with the Book of Eibon
The movie jumps to 1981 Louisiana where we see Liza Merril (Catriona MacColl) exiting the same hotel and telling Martin Avery (Michele Mirabella) that she just inherited the hotel and that she can't afford to do all of the repairs Martin would like to do. Liza calls up to Larry (Anthony Flees) one of the two painters on a scaffold painting the second floor. Larry looks in a window and sees a woman's eyes that are all white. The shock causes him to step backwards and fall off of the scaffolding injuring himself.
Liza
and Martin
Emily
Inside of the hotel we see a delirious Larry talking about "the eyes". Liza asks Arthur (Gianpaolo Saccarola) where the doctor is. Dr. John McCabe (David Warbeck) arrives, looks at Larry and says that he needs to get Larry to the hospital. After the doctor leaves with Larry, Martin finds Schweick's picture. When he and Liza look at the picture the service bell for room 36 rings. Joe (Giovanni De Nava) the plumber arrives to fix the plumbing in the basement. Liza takes him down in the basement where Martha (Veronica Lazar) meets them. Liza and Martha go upstairs and leave Joe to work. Joe finds the wall where water is leaking from and uses a chisel to break through the wall. He goes through the hole into a room where the water is two feet high. On the wall we see the symbol that was next to Schweick when he was killed. Joe finds another wall where water is leaking through. A hole develops in the wall and when Joe looks through a hand comes out grabbing Joe's face. One of the fingers gouges out Joe's eye and he begins screaming. Martha goes into the hotel's basement and finds Joe dead with both eyes missing and his face seeming to be melting. Floating near Joe, Martha sees another body that appears to have been so for a while.
While driving down the highway to town Liza comes across Emily now blind with white eyes and her dog, Dickey. We see that Emily's eyes are the same eyes that caused Larry to fall off of the scaffolding. Emily knows Liza's name and tells Liza that she has been looking for her. Liza drives the Emily's home and they both enter. Emily tells Liza that she must give up the hotel, and go back where she came from. When Liza asks for an explanation Emily cannot tell her the reason.
At the Hospital Dr. McCabe has just completed an autopsy on Joe and is sewing him up. Dr. Harris (Al Cliver) is looking at the second body. The other doctor states that the body is in amazing shape for a body that has be dead for 60 years. Dr. Harris The other doctor hooks that body up to a machine designed to measure brain waves then leaves.
Schewick,
Dr. Harris and Dr. McCabe
Maryanne (Laura De Marchi) visits the hospital with her daughter Jill looking for Joe, her husband. Maryanne tells Jill to wait outside in the hall while she goes into the room to put clothes on Joe. Maryanne turns and sees something that causes her to scream. When Jill enters she sees Maryanne lying on the floor with a clear liquid pouring on her face. The liquid is causing her mothers face to melt. The liquid on the floor approaches Jill who backs away in horror. When Jill opens a door to get away from the liquid a body falls or comes after. It is not clear which.
Joe
and Maryanne
Jill
Dr. McCabe sees Liza driving down the street and they go to a bar to talk. Liza tells Dr. McCabe that she was a model, dancer, secretary and fashion designer before finding out that she had inherited a hotel from her rich Uncle. She tells the Dr. McCabe that she cannot fire Martha or Arthur because they came with the hotel. Dr. McCabe states that it is strange because he has never heard of them.
Liza
and Dr. McCabe
At the funeral of Joe and Maryanne we see that Jill's eyes now look the same as Emily's only Jill can still see.
Back in the basement at the Hotel the water is really moving. It's night and we see Liza walking through the Hotel with an oil lamp. Emily is there and asks Liza why she did not leave like she (Emily) had told her to. Emily states that now she will have to tell her everything. Emily states that 60 years ago everyone in that hotel disappeared. A painter named Schweick had found the key to the gateway to hell. Emily seems to hear a noise and states that Schweick has returned. Emily starts feeling Schweick's picture when the service bell for room 36 rings. Emily tells Liza never to enter room 36 because Schweick has returned and room 36 was his room. Emily's hands, which have been feeling Schweick's picture, start to bleed. She screams and for a blind person does well running soundlessly down a hall and out of a door with her Seeing Eye dog behind her.
Liza goes upstairs and uses an ax to pry open the door to room 36. All of the furniture has sheets on it and there is a sheet over the window. On the table she finds the Book of Eibon. While in the room a door slowly closes. When she enters the bathroom she sees the body of Schweick nailed to the wall over the tub. She runs down stairs and runs into Dr. McCabe. When they both enter the bathroom there are nails on the wall but no body. Liza tells Dr. McCabe about Emily the blind girl. Dr. McCabe says that no blind girl lives around here. When Liza looks at the table the Book of Eibon is gone.
While walking down a street with Martin, Liza sees the Book of Eibon on a table in a bookstore. When she enters to get the store and picks up the book off of the table she and picks up the book it is no longer the Book of Eibon. Martin leaves her and goes to the town hall to get the plans for the hotel. The town clerk (Lucio Fulci) tells where Martin where everything is then goes to lunch. He finds the plans for the, what we now learn was called the, Seven Doors Hotel. Lightning strikes and Martin falls off of the ladder he is on. Tarantula size spiders come out and begin eating the paralyzed Martin. The plans for the hotel disappear.
Fulci
and Martin
Dr. McCabe goes to the house where Emily lives and finds a house overgrown with vegetation and boards across the door. He the house has obviously been uninhabited for years. He finds the Book of Eibon and takes it.
Back at the Hotel Martha enters room 36 to clean it. She finds a black liquid in the bathtub and pulls the drain. When the water runs out the body of Joe is there. He gets up and kills her.
Dr. McCabe begins his autopsy of Schweick and sees the symbol that was on the wall next to the artist on the artist's arm.
Back at Emily's house five zombies, Schweick, Joe, Martin, Arthur and Maryanne, surround her. Emily tells Schweick that she did everything he asked her to do and that she does not want to go back. Emily is killed
Schweick
Joe
Martin
Arthur
Maryanne
Liza goes into the basement looking for anyone and is attacked by Arthur.
She manages to get away. And meets Dr. McCabe who has entered the Hotel. She
tells the Dr. McCabe that Arthur who was obviously dead attacked her. Dr.
McCabe tells her he is tired of her lies. Dr. McCabe asks Liza who is she
really? He tells her that he read the Book of Eibon and that the hotel is
one of the seven gateways of Hell. The basement that they are in suddenly
starts shaking as if in an earthquake. They run out of the Hotel and go to
the Hospital. As they leave the Hotel fills with shadows.
They drive down streets, which are surprisingly deserted. The hospital is also deserted when they arrive. They go to the laboratory and try to find Dr. Harris. While there a zombie breaks the glass and grabs Liza by the hair. Dr. McCabe gets Liza free and tells her to get to the elevator. Dr. McCabe starts using his gun. When he shoots the zombies in the body they keep coming but when he shoots them in the head they drop. Liza gets in the elevator leaving Dr. McCabe who runs into a room and finds Dr. Harris. The glass in a door explodes outward and hits Dr. Harris killing him.
Dr. McCabe gets to an elevator and finds Liza and Jill, who Liza found in the autopsy theater. Now they must try to escape a Hospital full of zombies.
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