The Beyond (1981)

April 22, 1981 (IT) • Horror • 88m

Overview

New Yorker Liza Merril inherits an old hotel in Louisiana and invests her savings to reopen the place, unaware that the hotel houses the body of a dead painter murdered decades earlier, and that the location is about to become a gateway to Hell.

Director

Lucio Fulci

Writers

Giorgio Mariuzzo, Lucio Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti, Dardano Sacchetti

Top Billed

Catriona MacColl

Keywords

hotel experiment new orleans, louisiana hell gore surrealism morgue undead grindhouse zombie gothic horror gothic mutilation ghost blindness video nasty acid grim dire entrails

Top Billed Cast

Catriona MacColl

Liza Merril

David Warbeck

John McCabe

Cinzia Monreale

Emily

Antoine Saint-John

Schweick

Veronica Lazăr

Martha

Larry Ray

Larry

Al Cliver

Dr. Harris

Michele Mirabella

Martin Avery

Giampaolo Saccarola

Arthur

Maria Pia Marsala

Jill

Laura De Marchi

Mary-Ann

Calogero Azzaretto

Zombie at Hospital (uncredited)

Ottaviano Dell'Acqua

Zombie at Hospital (uncredited)

Roberto Dell'Acqua

Glass-Smashing Zombie (uncredited)

Lucio Fulci

Town Clerk (uncredited)

Gilberto Galimberti

Zombie (uncredited)

T. David Pash

Mob Leader (uncredited)

Tonino Pulci

Joe the Plumber (uncredited)

Dardano Sacchetti

Mob Member (uncredited)

Amedeo Salamon

Zombie at Hospital (uncredited)

Sergio Salvati

Mob Member (uncredited)

Fernando Arcangeli

Hospital Zombie in the Body Bag (uncredited)

Armando Tortorici

Hospital Zombie (uncredited)

Giovanni De Nava

Sweick mummificato

Crew

Vincenzo Tomassi

Editor

Fabrizio De Angelis

Producer

Giorgio Mariuzzo

Screenplay

Lucio Fulci

Director

Lucio Fulci

Screenplay

Dardano Sacchetti

Screenplay

Massimo Lentini

Production Design

Ugo Celani

Sound Engineer

Nazzareno Cardinali

Stunt Coordinator

Alberto Corchi

Still Photographer

Germano Natali

Special Effects

Franco Bruni

Camera Operator

Dardano Sacchetti

Story

Fabio Frizzi

Original Music Composer

Sergio Salvati

Director of Photography

Roberto Giandalia

Assistant Director

Luciana Pieri Palombi

Hairstylist

Maurizio Trani

Makeup Artist

Massimo Lentini

Costume Designer

Rita Agostini

Continuity

Fabrizio De Martino

Production Secretary

Maurizio Lucchini

Assistant Camera

Alfredo D'Angelo

Set Dresser

Bruno Moreal

Sound Mixer

Pietro Tomassi

Assistant Editor

Eros Giustini

Boom Operator

Wade Hanks

Assistant Camera

Mary Marrow

Costumer

Larry Ray

Location Scout

Agostino Marangolo

Musician

Joe Catalanotto

Gaffer

Joe Catalanotto

Key Grip

Giacomo Dell'Orso

Orchestrator

Giannetto De Rossi

Makeup Artist

Maurizio Guarini

Musician

Larry Ray

Production Manager

Enzo Diliberto

Special Sound Effects

Lamberto Del Bene

Key Grip

Franco Rinaldi

Assistant Property Master

Alfredo Fedeli

Electrician

Tullio Lullo

Unit Manager

Claudia Giammona

Assistant Set Designer

Armando Pace

Assistant Editor

Giacomo Dell'Orso

Conductor

Rodolfo Ruzza

Property Master

Giannetto De Rossi

VFX Artist

T. David Pash

Unit Manager

Paolo Gargano

Accountant

Otello Tomassini

Administration

Otello Tomassini

Accountant

Reviews

Wuchak

⭐ 5/10

May 8, 2026

**_A New York woman inherits a cursed house outside of New Orleans_**

This is southern gothic horror and the second in Lucio Fulci’s unofficial ‘gateways to hell’ trilogy, which all center around a portal to the underworld and include actress Catriona MacColl in three different roles (credited as Katherine MacColl). The first film was “City of the Living Dead” from the year prior, and the third one is “The House by the Cemetery,” which came out later the same year. They’re all self-contained.

The gateway to hell in the basement element was ripped off from “The Amityville Horror” from two years earlier and “The Beyond” doesn’t hold up by comparison. “The Amityville Horror” was a huge hit for good reason. It took the time to develop several characters, and I don’t mean just the family members. Moreover, it has a warm heart and there’s light underneath the darkness.

This one’s more surreal and uglier, naturally similar to Fulci’s previous “Zombie” and the aforementioned “City of the Living Dead.” His curious trademark of punctured eye sockets is on full display. Catriona MacColl has a face that’s easy on the eyes, but don’t expect anything more on the beauty front. In the masculine department, David Warbeck costars as the doctor or mortician. He brings to mind Roger Moore in the ’70s and was actually considered for the role of 007 before Moore took it. Even then, he signed a hush-hush contract to replace Roger at a moment’s notice if he quit or proved troublesome.

I liked the artistic rural creepiness reminiscent of “The Shuttered Room” but, again, it suffers by comparison. Twenty-four years later “The Skeleton Key” took the same milieu, minus the portal to hell, and made a better film. Don’t get me wrong, there are some highlights in this flick, which make it worthwhile to fans of southern gothic horror, not to mention devotees of Fulci, many of whom tend to gush over it.

It runs 1h 27m and shot from Oct-Dec 1980 in New Orleans and north of there, across Lake Pontchartrain in Madisonville, which is where the old boarding house is located. The causeway happens to be the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which is the longest continuous bridge over water in the world (24 miles). Studio stuff was done in Rome.

GRADE: C

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Hotel Desire

Hokum

The Shining

Psycho

Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$400,000

Revenue

$123,843

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The Beyond (1981)

Giorgio Mariuzzo, Lucio Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti, Dardano Sacchetti

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Wuchak

Recommended Movies

Hotel Desire

Hokum

The Shining

Psycho

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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