The Beyond (also known as E tu vivrai nel terrore – L’aldilà or Seven Doors of Death) is a 1981 Italian horror movie directed by Lucio Fulci. It is considered by some horror film fans to be one of the best movies made by the Italian director. The second film in Fulci’s unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy (along with City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery), The Beyond has gained a cult following over the decades — in part because of the film’s gore-filled murder sequences, which had been heavily censored when the film was originally released in the United States in 1983.

Background

Following the release of City of the Living Dead, Fulci decided to continue that film’s exploration of metaphysical concepts — in particular, the ways in which the realms of both the living and the dead might bleed into each other. Fulci also wanted to do a film that would pay homage to his idol, the French playwright Antonin Artaud. Artaud, a sometime member of the early 20th Century Surrealist movement, envisioned theatre being less about linear plot and more about “cruel” imagery and symbolism that could shock its audience into action.

Thus, Fulci’s original outline for The Beyond was of a non-linear haunted house story with the only solid plot element being that of a woman moving into a hotel built on one of the seven gates of hell (another such gate is depicted in City of the Living Dead). This original story focused on the dead leaving hell and entering the hotel with little outside of the ensuing carnage to link the scenes together.

However, the German distribution company that owned the release rights to Fulci’s films at the time were not interested in a haunted house story. Zombie movies were still popular at the time in Europe and Fulci’s backers wanted something similar to his previous zombie films. Fulci agreed to rewrite his film, adding zombies and completely rewriting the film’s final act to include a shoot-out between the main characters and a zombie horde at a local hospital. Despite these revisions, the final product is considered by many fans to be one of Fulci’s best films and has even been praised for its oneiric incoherence.

Trivia

• The theme of “The Beyond” was used in the song “Seven Doors Hotel” by the band Europe on their debut album, released in 1983.
• This film was #60 on Bravo‘s 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
• During the final scene in the Beyond’s abyss, the sand covered bodies lying on the ground were actually stark naked street derelicts who were coerced with, and paid in, alcohol.
• In the scene near the end, where David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl enter the elevator with the little girl, David can clearly be seen reloading his revolver by dropping the rounds into the barrel. Catriona notices and begins to smile as the elevator doors close.
• There is an alternate take of the opening sequence. Normally shown in sepia-tone, some German prints feature this sequence in color. It can be found on Anchor Bay’s DVD release.
• Several different cuts of the movie exist on video and DVD. The most heavily edited is known as “The Seven Doors of Death” and is the version first distributed in the US. The uncut version of “The Beyond” on the DVD made by Anchor Bay is 89 minutes. There are other DVD editions made in Korea and Australia that range in length from 83 minutes, 84 minutes, and 87 minutes.
• “The Beyond” served as inspiration for Candlemass’s bassist and main-songwriter Leif Edling when he wrote the song Demons Gate, which is on Candlemass’s debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus .