Beyond The Door (1974)

OCTOBER 1, 2011

GENRE: ITALIAN, POSSESSION
SOURCE: THEATRICAL (REVIVAL SCREENING)

When Phil and the New Bev parted ways earlier this year I assumed that the all nighter would go with him, as it was his baby. But in his intro, in which Phil was thanked (and loudly applauded) first and foremost, Grindhouse night guru Brian Quinn explained that the staff of the theater convinced Michael (the owner) to keep it going, and thus after spending a day at Shriekfest I found myself plopped in my favorite seat (which has a broken armrest - I will kill that sunofabitch!), ready to spend 12 more hours at the movies. First up: Beyond The Door (Italian: Chi sei?, or "Who Are You?").

While past festivals have included a top tier Italian horror title (Gates of Hell, Zombie, etc), the decision was made to make this year's lineup entirely "rare", in that none of the movies have shown theatrically in the area for the past 4-5 years (as opposed to something like Zombie, which shows quite a bit - and for good reason). In fact I had never even heard of Beyond The Door, and knew nothing about it other than the fact that it was an Exorcist ripoff.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the movie. After a strange opening involving a bearded dude and a car crash, we cut to a family on a shopping trip in San Francisco. Now, normally this would not be very interesting to anyone, let alone me, but this being an Italian horror movie from the 70s, there's actually a lot to love. For starters, the children of the family both swear without much concern from the parents, even though they seem to be about 5-8 years old. Also, the little boy drinks pea soup from a can with a straw poked into it, and gleefully litters when he is done. Perfect.

Obviously the pea soup thing is just a direct reference to Exorcist, but director Ovidio G. Assonitis really goes the extra mile to prove it's more than that. In addition to using it for what it's for (possessed women to spit at concerned friends), the kid constantly has cans of it around, even apparently putting one on his nightstand the way most folks place a glass of water down there. He even has a giant painting of it above his bed! The obsession is never explained or even mentioned, I think, making it all the more charmingly ridiculous.

I also enjoyed that the mean-spirited profanity apparently came from their dad. At one point the little girl mutters "Christ, what now..." when he knocks at their bedroom door, and after he comes in and addresses the issue (the little boy has a bruise), he asks his daughter why she is such an idiot. Later the mom slaps her around a bit, shortly before kissing the boy full on the mouth (I think she's possessed by this point so it's kind of OK). I'm so used to seeing movies where just one person in the family is messed up; it's quite refreshing to see one where I couldn't even tell which one was possessed at first because they were all so goddamn awful (read: awesome).

Then of course there are the usual silly moments, like when the mom asks the dad about baby names and suggests "Steve" (not "Steven"), to which the dad asks why it matters. Or when the little girl asks the dad to promise not to leave them alone with the mom anymore, a request that is immediately followed by a cut to the next scene, in which the dad is outside, sans the kids. Plus numerous other instances where they swear for no reason. I just hope that their dialogue was what was intended; as with most Italian productions, it features a mix of English and Italian speaking actors, all of whom use their native tongue. So while the parents were speaking English, the kids were clearly dubbed from Italian, which makes me wonder if some producer didn't see the value in foul mouthed children and change it from originally normal sweet-natured dialogue.

And thus it's a shame when they exit the film (sent off to be safe), as it loses much of its comedic value. It's not a particularly exciting film, with a low body count and, as with Exorcist, a slow build toward the full on possession sequences. But it's also needlessly convoluted, as the whole movie is just a long term ploy between the Antichrist and some guy who made a deal with the devil in order to extend his life, or something. I even went home and read the Wikipedia entry trying to make sense of the final five minutes or so, and while I get the gist, there were still some things I don't comprehend at all, such as the old fortune teller lady who lives on a boat.

Also, I watched another 8-9 movies in between seeing it and writing my review. I think the brain can only retain specific information about 2-3 movies before it makes room for the next one, so maybe it would make total sense if I thought about it for a bit while it was still fresh in my brain, but alas. Luckily I've already HMADed all but one of the other films from the all nighter, so for my thoughts on Creature From The Black Lagoon (which showed in 3D! Very cool, even if I went a bit cross eyed), Brain Damage (the secret movie, which went over quite well), Pit And The Pendulum (which I slept through), and Inseminoid (a crowd pleaser, but the place was only about half full by then, with lots of sleepers), just check out those reviews. The only other one was Hell Night, which I had seen in high school but couldn't remember much about it. They also had several trailer reels, tied to the theme of the movie that played after (so for this, we got a lot of Exorcist/Rosemary's Baby wannabes), a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and a very weird interview with Bela Lugosi which ends when he out of nowhere tells the reporter "I'm coming." and then makes a weird face until she runs away. I haven't the slightest clue if it was a skit of some sort, or a legit interview that went astray, and I don't want to know. It was glorious as is.

All in all, I think they did a great job of carrying on Phil's tradition, and the sell out crowd means that it will probably continue. And I'll be there, with my little cooler of cold coffee drinks, trail mix and a Papa John's pizza, plus a bottle of eye drops for my contacts, dried from all of the occasional dozing (I didn't remain awake for the entirety of any movie, but for this I was only out for a brief period in the early part of the film and thus didn't miss much).

What say you?

7 comments:

  1. Honestly BC this was a great movie to start the night off with because it was intentionally and unintentionally funny. The kids were honestly the best part of the film and hilarious. I still loved the line where the girls runs up to her dad and says "never leave us here with mommy alone again" then it cuts to him walking down the street obviously leaving the kids home alone again with the mom. This got the biggest crowd reaction and was hilarious. I didn't stay for Brain Damage onward due to owning Brain Damage and Fernanda being tired. But it was a great time and nice seeing you. Sorry about your favorite chair.

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  2. Beyond the Door has awesome music by Franco Micalizzi and has some memorable scenes. The scene where the childrens dolls and toys come to life is well done and the concept of being suspended in time is profound. Richard Johnson as Dimitri is suspended in time for the last 10 years and a conversation between the family doctor and a woman living in a boathouse is interesting as the woman talks about unexplained phenomena and the supernatural. The movie is filled with atmosphere and there is alot of music in it which adds to its effectiveness. The Devil and demons are real and theres danger in dabbling with Satanic rituals is the message of the movie. The sequence at the beginning when the Devil in a voiceover speaks in the dark and when a naked woman Juliet Mills and Richard Johnson are present and the opening titles showing Edward Montoro and Film Ventures appears on the screen to scary music is awesome. In another cut the title of the movie is called The Devil Inside Her and shows Juliet Mills driving her kids while her husband Gabriele Lavia is shown at his recording studio with a bunch of musicians singing a jazz song. This movie illustrates that there are invisible evil forces in the world and that people are largely helpless and vulnerable. Helplessness and vulnerabality are two themes in this movie. God is weak or absent and the Devil and his minions are ruling the world. Theres alot to fear and theres alot to worry about. At the end the little boys eyes start to glow on the ferry and now he is next vessel for the Devil to afflict the horror starting anew. Beyond the Door shows that the Devil and evil rules the world and not a lovimg God. Thats scary.

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  3. The remake to the 1974 Beyond the Door has been made. Its not known when it will be released. The remake was made in Chicago and Thailand. The original was made in San Francisco and Rome.

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  4. The remake to the original Beyond the Door has been made and will be shown in November 2014 according to a youtube trailer. The director is David S. Goyer. Another source shows a picture of the remake and says the director is Dario Cioni. This remake is significantly different from the original. In this remake, a hideous demonic monster(shown in the trailer) attacks and impregnates a woman who gives birth to a seemingly normal girl. The girl eventually becomes demon possessed and attacks and kills people. The girl is shown walking like a spider or crab and terrorizing people at a hospital. This remake is more like The Last Exorcism than it is to the original Beyond the Door. In the original 1974 Beyond the Door, its the adult woman or mother who is demon possessed, the demon isnt shown, and the demonic baby dies at birth or is stillborn. Its too early to tell what this remake is like as I have only seen a short trailer of it. Theres no question its another scary movie. The music in the original 1974 movie by Franco Micalizzi is awesome and unmatched.

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  5. The remake to Beyond the Door hasnt been released for some reason. Its not availabe on DVD and youtube only shows a minute long trailer where a repulsive demonic monster crawls inside a house, a girl spys on a woman in the kitchen, and a girl does a spiderwalk and terrorizes a bunch of people in an office. The movie is dated 2014 and the director is David S. Goyer. When will this remake come out on DVD? When will youtube show the entire movie? When will Cablevision on Demand show this movie? Has this 2014 remake been shown in theaters anywhere? See the youtube one minute long trailer for this 2014 remake. Theres not much else thats known about this remake.

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  6. In 2009 director Michael Frost made a short horror movie titled Antivirgen 1: Chi Sei? It combines two movies together, Beyond the Door and another 1970s horror movie about demonic possession. This short obscure horror film has scary music and a graphic depiction of a baby being born. It has very strange visual effects.
    The 2014 remake has still not been shown anywhere. Only a minute long trailer on YouTube exists. Why won't YouTube show the entire movie? This 2014 Beyond the Door remake seems interesting but not as good as the original 1974 movie with Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson, Gabriele Lavia, and David Colin Jr.Franco Micalizzi composed much of the music. The themes of vulnerability and helplessness are prominent in this movie as Jessica and her family and Dimitri all fall prey to the Devil.

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  7. The remake to Beyond the Door was discontinued and canceled, but now,director Ovidio Assonitis is going to make a belated sequel to the original 1974 movie, and Juliet Mills as Jessica Barrett will be returning for this new movie! Its called Beyond the Door:Embryo, and production will begin in 2022.
    Beyond the Door 2, made in 1977, and Beyond the Door 3, made in 1989, aren't really sequels and have nothing to do with the original 1974 movie except to share the name of the first movie.
    Actor Richard Johnson as Dimitri passed away in 2015, but Gabriele Lavia, who played Robert Barrett, and the two kids, Ken and Gail Barrett, played by David Colin Jr. and Barbara Fiorini, all from the 1974 movie, are all still living.
    The plot of this sequel is that the returning Juliet Mills as Jessica Barrett from the 1974 movie has a daughter who is pregnant and just like her mother before her, will be demonically possessed.
    What city will this new movie and sequel take place in? Will Franco Micalizzi from the 1974 movie return and do the music? Only time will tell.

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