I had to rewatch this Fulci classic as i hadn't seen it for some 15-16
years and this time on a Blu-ray (last time on the old US Anchor Bay
DVD)
and, my taste hadn't changed since then as The Beyond is an
Undisputed Horror Masterpiece, and one of Fulci's 2-3 best
films if not the best.
Why? So many has written so much about this and so much more eloquent
than i could master, so i pass. But to cut it short, the film is like
a
beautiful but monstruos experience, a feverish nightmare with scenes
of horror just floating around with the logic of a dream. Almost arty.
The fine cinematography by Sergio Salvati permeates the film with
a thick southern Louisiana atmosphere. Also with a soundtrack by Fabio
Frizzi and spectacular special effects by master Gianetto de Rossi
displayed in the gory setpieces ... the spider attack is gruesome.
The Dicky the Seeing Eye dog attack on Emily much
resembles the Seeing Eye dog attack on Flavio Bucci's Daniel in 1977
Suspiria.
Scenes i really liked were: The scenes with Cinzia
Monreale's blind Emily at the piano and with her Guide dog Dicky,
a German Shepherd lying
on the floor watching her, and later the scene with her and Dicky
vs. zombie corpses and finally her death by Dog.
The old bookstore with the creepy manager, the Town Hall attendant
and the spiders, and the shadows of the undead seen through the windows
of the Hotel. At times i found this film to be a bit Bavaesque even,
and that's a good thing. The Ending scene is haunting, and like nothing
i've
ever seen on film. Cinematography at it's best and true art like some
old oil painting.
The
old US Anchor Bay DVD
Poor Liza (Catriona MacColl), she's happy as she finally
have had some luck, when she inherited an old Louisiana Hotel. But
little did she know
that the house not just were filled with Ectoplasm, but also were
situated above one of the Gateways to Hell. No lucky break for Liza.
She meets a mysterious blind girl, Emily (Cinzia Monreale) who warns
her about the secret of the Hotel, where 50 years earlier the artist
Schweick
was lynched accused by the locals of being a warlock. But is Emily
of this world, or not?
Warning to Arachnophobiacs though as the famous tarantula attack setpiece
is nasty, brrrrr, i hate spiders, and some of them were real, i think.
Even at his most brutal as in The Beyond, The New York Ripper or in
The House by the Cemetery Fulci managed to make them atmospherical
and with a fascinating pulse. Also Don't Torture a Duckling, A Lizard
in a Woman's Skin, Beatrice Cenci and his offbeat spaghetti western
are
favourites of mine.
The Spanish Blu-ray in anamorphic widescreen with
english audio DTS-HD 5.1 (or italian audio DTS-HD 2.0) with english
subtitles, no extras.
The old US Anchor Bay DVD in anamorphic widescreen
2.35:1 with mono audio english or italian with english subtitles.
Extras: a commentary
by Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck, interview clips with i.a. Lucio
Fulci, the lost german intro sequence in color (otherwise in black
and
white, stills gallery