Rating: Summary: The Beyond Review: Lucio Fulci has to be one of the most overrated horror directors out there. After going through the painfully banal "Zombie" and "The Gates of Hell," i picked up "The Beyond." I thought third time would be the charm. Well, I was wrong.The plot consists of one of the 7 gateways to hell being opened beneath a hotel. Sounds interesting right? Yeah, that's what I thought. Then I saw the actual movie. Although some scenes provided good shock value, I found myself bored out of my mind by this film. "Zombie" could at least boast being a guilty pleasure, but this actually tried to be a straight up horror film. I ask some people how this film was good. They usually reply with "Well, it has good atmosphere and gore." First off, without plot, good acting, or character development, atmosphere and gore can't save anything. Secondly, what atmosphere? Oh it was there, but it was unbearably dull. I never had any sense of dread, fear, or suspense. The gore, however, is top notch. Fulci did have a talent for it, but directing was something he just wasn't good at. The ending is really downbeat as well, which is always a plus when it comes to horror. Overall, this film is highly overrated. I'd recommend it only to gorehounds and Fulci purists (I know there are lots out there). Unrated, contains extreme violence and gore.
Rating: Summary: Fulci's masterpiece? Review: The renovation of a cursed hotel opens one of the gates to hell and, one by one, characters meet gruesome ends. Then the dead walk. Can the heroes close the door before all of New Orleans (and then the world) is infected with evil sounds and lumbering zombies? Lucio Fulci strings together one horrible set piece after another in a stylish nightmare of a movie that will make you shudder and cover your eyes. The bonus material is nice as well, letting you see the 'master' and his stars behind the scenes and at conventions. Fulci was one of a kind and The Beyond is, in my humble opinion, his best horror movie.
Rating: Summary: Perfect DVD! Review: You may not like the movie but the DVD is full! If you are a horror fan, you should get this just for the Excellent treatment by Anchor Bay alone. Why can't all movies be like this? The answer is more enigmatic than "the Beyond's" ending! Ok, they could lose the Necrowhatever video but hey nobody is perfect even Anchor Bay!
Rating: Summary: If you like eyeballs and hair, this movie is for you! Review: Quite the hoaky little low budget flick. Not much thought is given to plot, characterization and storyline; and the wretched 80's synthesizer music doesn't help much. Lots of hair and eyeballs, as well as other gruesome other gagglies. This is not a movie to watch to be entertained. If you like bad horror effects, overly hairy guys who turn into zombies, and makeup that looks like dried oatmeal this movie is for you.
Rating: Summary: revisiting a classic Review: Lucio Fulci is undoubtedly the king of Italian gore films. Always bloodier and more brutal than any of his peers (and that is a very esteemed group including such geniuses as Dario Argento and Mario Bava), Fulci never disappoints. The Beyond is his masterpiece, a terrifying journey into Hell itself. Featuring one of the finest actors in Italian film history, the late great David Warbeck. For those who have seen the film, this DVD edition is excellent in that it features lots of extras including running commentary from the two stars, a rare on-set interview with Fulci, numerous trailers, stills, and lots more. A true collector's dream. For those who haven't seen the film, this is the perfect way to be introduced to it. A true gore/horror classic - if you have not seen this film I urge you to do so now. You will not be disappointed!
Rating: Summary: Vapid and Wretched! Review: I bought this movie based solely on the reviews at Amazon and am dumfounded and astonished that a "Classic" five star rating was used so liberally by so many to describe this movie! I won't go into the plot since it's been recapitulated many times in previous reviews. I couldn't wait to see this movie thinking it was a zombie feature along the lines of "Dawn of the Dead" but as I was falling asleep 15 minutes into this banal production, I knew I had been duped! There is not a single moment of building anticipation in the first three quarters of the movie(with the exception of a "zombie dog" that provides a much needed moment of shock). I like gore as much as the next horror fan, but being sanguineous for the sake of being sanguineous didn't scare me--it just made me nauseous(i.e. The never ending spider attack and the eternally long face-burned-with-acid scene come to mind). The"zombies" finally show up the last 20 minutes of the movie, about a dozen of them, and they are so listless and slow a two year old baby could have out fought and out run every one of them! I implore you to save your money and stay away from this over-hyped disaster!
Rating: Summary: Stylish yet uneven film at an affordable price. Review: ... As a lover of certian genres such as italian horror, this is merely an average film. It's way too uneven.. It's starts off with a bang with a heinous murder of a cultist.. then loses focus.. the horror scenes are too far apart, untill the end in the hospital when its a zombie attack. Then the very end makes no sense, typical italian film. On the plus side the cinematography is good, Fulci uses great shots and focus tricks. Some of the special effects aren't bad either, such as the first eye gouging or the nails through the wrists. Others such as the spider scene are a mixed bag. All in all, for the money its a good movie to have on hand to play in the background of your Halloween party, or when you have a BAD movie party. Enjoy! Note: Rating would be 3 stars except the price and transfer are so good I give it 4.
Rating: Summary: Love those spiders!! Review: It's good to see a rare film like this made it on to DVD with all the special treaments. Anchor Bay once again did a wonderful job with the Video & Sound quality as well as the extras. A true Horror/Zombie film in every sense. Buy and see it for yourself (especially those nasty spiders!).
Rating: Summary: FULCI'S MASTERPIECE Review: THE GREATEST HOROOR FILM FROM IT'S GREATEST DIRECTOR. This is the my you'd take if you were on a desert island. It has everything you want to see in a movie, Zombies from hell, Spiders biting a guy's face off, a zombie dog, a blind girl from hell, a doctor shooting zombies from hell, a hotel from hell, a louisiana setting, a book from hell, cool music and one hell of an ending!!! Watch this now and stop reading this and remember...There are seven doors into hell and when those doors are opened the dead shall walk the earth!!
Rating: Summary: Great Extras...Shame About The Feature! Review: I had been toying with buying this movie on and off for a little while and after I had read various reviews and saw that it is so highly praised I decided to buy it. Since the UK edition of this DVD has no extras what-so-ever and the US release does, and is far superior for that reason alone, I decided to buy it. I sat down and prepared to watch a good film. Oh dear. The actual story line is excellent and should have been very spooky but it's lost by acting that is so mesmerisingly awful and embarressing that you couldn't give a hoot for any of the characters. The cast act as if they've just been defrosted from a long time in the deep freeze! It's not scary at all and at times is unintentionally funny. The effects are good - apart from the spiders - and certainly make you pay attention. However the sound effects are so intrusive and over the top that they made me laugh - footsteps of people that appear to be wearing concrete boots. Blood coming from wounds as if it were a raging river and spiders making scratching and scuttling noises when they crawl over their victims body. This DVD does have some good features though. The extras are very good and enjoyable. The commentary is enjoyable and the 'lost' pre-credit footage is better for being in colour. Also having the trailers are a good bonus. Shame the movie is poor. I give the DVD as a whole three out of five stars - mostly good picture quality but some poor sound at times. The movie itself? One out of five.
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