The Beyond - Uncut [DVD] [2001]

Lucio Fulci began his career in film at the Experimental Film Studios where he was accepted by Luchino Visconti himself, and spent many years as an assistant director. During this period he made comedies, musicals and westerns, but it was in the late seventies/early eighties when he made the films that would secure his reputation as the King of Gore/Zombie flicks. Between 1979-1981 he made 'Zombie Flesh Eaters' (1979); 'City Of The Living Dead' (1980); 'House By The Cemetery' (1981) and 'The Beyond' (1981). All four are essential viewing for any Fulci fan. Did anyone see these at the cinema?I can't think of anything cooler than being able to say you saw these on the big screen. I'm sure the majority of people saw these for the first time on video and it's in this format that these films gathered their cult following, that is of course before they got banned and label as video nasties. Yeah sure ban them it'll only add to the legend. Fulci was the natural successor to George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, 1968) when he took the zombie film further by adding the blood and guts splatter of the 'godfather of gore', Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast, 1963).

'The Beyond' opens in 1927 where the film has monochromatic brown texture and within a couple minute we get our first taste of things to come followed then by the title sequence with it's foreboding music. Sergio Salvati and Fabio Frizzi who work on all four of the above-mentioned films delivered the cinematography and music respectively. Special make effects were by Giannetto De Rossi and Germano Natali, Rossi would eventually go on to work with Bernardo Bertolucci on 'The Last Emperor' (1987). The dubbing can be a bit distracting but that's just the nature of Italian cinema production techniques and no reason to slate the film. The great thing about 'The Beyond' is it's wonderful gothic atmosphere, slow pacing along with its surrealist plot. The key to any horror film is atmosphere and I can't believe the rubbish that Hollywood dishes up as horror nowadays. How many more times am I going to have to hear Blue Oyster Cults 'Don't Fear the Reaper' playing on a soundtrack or watch the beautiful people running away from hyper energetic wire-fu zombies. Oh please, this is the way zombies should behave.... they hardly move.

It would be silly of me to say that this is great cinema when it's not anywhere near the genius of many, many world cinema giants. What is important though is that it is viewed within the context of gore/zombie cinema, a much-maligned subdivision of horror, not art house or even mainstream cinema. If gore/zombie films are what you like then this is for you, if not then that's ok, but within context this is a five star zombie film. Fulci didn't care what the critics thought of his films but rather what the fans wanted. Check out the other three of this zombie quartet all of which are must haves for serious horror collectors.

I found this movie to be a fun watch. It starts out kind of slow but picks up once the zombies start to arrive. On the cover of the DVD it said "WARNING: The SHOCKING and VIOLENT nature of this film may be too intense for some viewers." Well I didn't find this movie to be as violent as I was expecting from reading that. Instead I found that it was an interesting zombie tale from the 80's that was very stylish. Lucio Fulci loves the doing something to the eyes when someone gets killed. I really liked the part in the beginning of the film when a zombie reaches its hand through a hole and pokes the guys eyes out. Another memorable scene is when a zombie grabs a lady and shoves the back of her head onto a nail which makes her eye poke out. Plus the ending was a big surprise to me. The only reason this gets an 8 star rating is because of how slow the movie moves in the beginning and because I didn't think the music in the film fit the scenes. You get this music that reminds me of the kind of music you would find on the show "Love Boat." It does have a good bit of gore, and if anyone wants to get started on Lucio Fulci's movies, I suggest starting on this masterpiece.
This is a great DVD. The picture and sound quality are great. I would have liked it better though if you could have put the German Color Pre-Credit Sequence into the movie instead of just watching it in the special features. It really adds to the film to see it that way. Seeing it in its widescreen format really is a great way to watch it too, and best of all the DVD is the Uncut version of the film. There are two hidden features on this DVD. One is a very graphic trailer for the Lucio Fulci film called "Cat in the Brain" and the other is for the opening scene from "Seven Doors of Death" which is another title for The Beyond. To access the "Cat in the Brain" trailer, go to Images from The Beyond, highlight the menu button on the screen and then press the left arrow key on your remote control and you will highlight the Eibon symbol. Press Enter and you will get to see the "Cat in the Brain" Trailer. For the other hidden feature go to the Audio Setup area and highlight "Resume." Press the left arrow and you'll highlight the Eibon symbol. Click that and you can view the other title sequence from "Seven Doors of Death." For all the collectors I recommend you getting the Limited Edition version, that is if you can still find it. Though it has nothing more then the regular version Anchor Bay released except it has a few more posters. If you can't find that one then you should get the regular one, they are pretty much the same. I recommend this DVD to any DVD collector.