Beyond The Door

Comment: A family is torn apart when the mother becomes demonically possessed. To make matters worse, she has become impregnated with Satan's child, and her ex-husband has made a deal with the devil to ensure that the child is born in order to extend his own life. BEYOND THE DOOR does include many of the standard conventions and cliches of the possession films that engulfed the international film market in the wake of THE EXORCIST's success, however it also introduces many original elements that are creepy in their own right. Although there are a few key scenes that are worth watching for, overall the film falls short on many levels. The pacing is extremely uneven, making the majority of the film being a slow bore sprinkled with the expected head-spinning, levitation, and projectile vomit. Though the make-up is entirely reflective of Regan MacNeil's, Juliette Mills portrayal of the lead combined with the over-the-top dubbing becomes goofy and comical rather than achieving any level of terror. The reason for Jessica's disposition is never fully explained either, she just wakes up pregnant and possessed one morning and the audience is expected to simply accept it. The one strength that Assonitis does bring to the film is superior cinematography that at least makes each shot visually interesting. I would place this entry far above Jess Franco's EXORCISM, a rank higher than Paul Naschy's possession effort of the same title, but below the tasteless and explicit THE ANTICHRIST or Mario Bava's SCHOCK.

-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies

Comment: this movie is not bad because its a so-called exorcist/rosemary's baby rip-off....rip-off's can be just as good as the originals.....in fact, calling this film an "exorcist ripoff" is pretty insulting to "the exorcist"....the first reason this film is so awful is because everything, and i mean EVERYTHING in this film is dubbed. italian, british, american actors, doesn't matter..every voice and sound in this film is dubbed. essentially we are watching a silent movie with everything added later....im not certain there was even audio equipment at the filming...every voice, every running tap water, every footstep is dubbed. nothing sounds even remotely normal. the two stupid children have ridiculous looks on their faces as they scream "son of a bitch" and "go stuff yourself..".....after the jessica character smashes a fish tank, she gets on the phone to her husband to expalin that she "wanted to break it!" and repeats that line over and over...and over....and we hear constantly that "the child must be born".....'the CHILD must be born!"...the child MUST be born"....the child must be BORN!"........the voice over of the alledged devil character that introduces the whole movie sounds as scary as sebastian cabot in narrating winnie the pooh....the few scenes that generate any horror or creepiness are way too few and far between..and the music sounds exactly like what you hear in 70's era porn....so do not let this movie off the hook by saying its an Exorcist rp-off..its far too lazy to do that....did i mention that the child must be born?"

ANIMAL CRUELTY ALERT.....When Jessica breaks the fish tank, we see the fish, in slow motion, struggle and fall from the tank, gasping to breathe....one shot shows a close up of a gold fish dying...

Comment: I ordered the product and it came promptly which is very nice, but the dvd case was also crushed into a zillion pieces. The dvd itself was in good shape, played fine, and was exactly what I wanted, so this review isn't a bad one. I just wish that some care had been put forth to keep the product from being crushed during shipping. Just a plastic envelope with no padding.

Comment: Horrible movie. This movie shouldn't even be in the same catagory as an epic masterpiece as The Exorcist. Trash.

Comment: You'll hear that line about a hundred times before this movie is over. Beyond the Door is a third rate Italian The Exorcist (The Version You've Never Seen) ripoff that also manages to borrow a bit from Rosemary's Baby as well. As you can probably infer, the results are disastrous. However, Beyond the Door is a prime example of a movie that's so bad, it ends up being amusing in it's own right.

The trouble begins when a young wife finds herself pregnant with a fetus that, to the astonishment of numerous doctors, seems to be growing at an incredible rate. We as the audience, however, know that the child is obviously of Satanic origins as we follow a man who must ensure the birth of the child in order to be granted an extension of his own life. Demonic possession, green goop spitting, and 360 degree head turns straight out of The Exorcist ensue. Needless to say with none of the flair in which it was delivered in The Exorcist.

Perhaps the most memorable thing about Beyond the Door is not so much that it's scary or disturbing, it's that it's just plain weird. From the often out of place sounding music score, to the children that cuss and call their parents by their first names, to the scene where a room full of dolls become possessed, or the ending itself, this is one strange movie.

However for anyone that goes as far as to call Beyond the Door a classic, I suspect they are speaking strictly from nostalgia. Albeit a fun time, Beyond the Door has no atmosphere, no style, and no real substance when all is said and done. Also despite all of its entertaining content, there are plenty of scenes of meaningless dialogue and equally pointless montages of characters walking around the city that weigh the movie down.

Overall this is must see material for fans of horror, low budget, and hopelessly inept movies. Beyond the Door is not one you'll forget.