Lucio Fulci's 1981 zombie horror film, The Beyond, a film once considered too graphic for American audiences, has found a staunch advocate in director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino was instrumental in bringing the film back to theaters in 1998, allowing for its eventual reappraisal.
Fulci's film, part of his unofficial "gates of Hell" trilogy, centers on Liza (Katherine MacColl) who inherits the Seven Doors Hotel in New Orleans, only to discover it's built atop a portal to Hell. The film is known for its extreme gore and unsettling imagery, including dislodged eyeballs and flesh dissolving in quicklime. Critic Roger Ebert famously detested the film, calling it "stupefyingly lame" and noting its graphic violence in his book I Hated Hated Hated This Movie.
However, Fulci himself described his intention in a 1982 interview with Starburst Magazine, stating, "My idea was to make an absolute film, with all the horrors of our world. It's a plotless film: a house, people, and dead men coming from The Beyond. There's no logic to it, just a succession of images." He further elaborated that his vision was not far from filmmaking goals seen in modern cinema, like James Cameron's Avatar, in that both sought to project otherworldly images without getting bogged down by complex drama.
The film's surrealism extends beyond its visceral gore. A scene on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, where Liza encounters a blind woman and her dog standing frozen in the middle of the bridge, evokes a Lynchian atmosphere. Despite its initial critical rejection and release under the alternate title 7 Doors of Death, The Beyond has been recognized by fans and filmmakers alike for its unique approach to horror. The film's themes of religion and the perception of Hell as an internal state, as discussed by Fulci, add layers to its shocking visuals.
In an era where graphic horror films like Obsession and surreal nightmares like The Backrooms gain mainstream traction, Fulci's early '80s "video nasty" remains potent. The Beyond is described as a film that still has the power to delight fans of extreme horror.
