The Beyond | 1981 | Italy | Lucio Fulci

Narratively nonsensical and bathed in a surreal attitude to violence and horror, Fulci’s haunted hotel opus is frequently cited as one of his best works by fans. Liza inherits an old hotel in Louisiana, intent on making a decent living by reopening the place. During the renovations, she is soon subjected to a bleed in reality, unleashing ghosts, flesh-eating tarantulas, supernatural forces, hordes of living dead, and a vision of the void itself. Similar to Vampix’s other Fulci movie that they released (The House by the Cemetery), the version on VHS of The Beyond was the already heavily butchered BBFC ‘X’ print. To that end, it’s odd how the DPP saw fit to include this as one of the nasties at all, since most of the contentious material was gone.