…E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà (1981)

Directed by Lucio Fulci [Other horror films: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971), Non si sevizia un paperino (1972), Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero: Dracula in Brianza (1975), Sette note in nero (1977), Zombi 2 (1979), Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980), Gatto nero (1981), Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981), Lo squartatore di New York (1982), Manhattan Baby (1982), Murderock – Uccide a passo di danza (1984), Aenigma (1987), Zombi 3 (1988), Il fantasma di Sodoma (1988), Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio (1988), La casa nel tempo (1989), La dolce casa degli orrori (1989), Un gatto nel cervello (1990), Demonia (1990), Hansel e Gretel (1990), Voci dal profondo (1991), Le porte del silenzio (1992)]

Commonly known as The Beyond, Lucio Fulci’s …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà is definitely a slice of Italian horror worth seeing, if only for the goriness alone. I don’t personally find it an amazing movie, but it can be decently fun if you’re a fan of Fulci’s work.

I’ve seen The Beyond before, but it’s been a long time. I’ve only seen it the one time, and I can’t quite fathom exactly how long ago that would have been, so coming into this one again was a treat. I was slightly hesitant – when I revisited The House By the Cemetery in recent times, I wasn’t blown away – but this film has more going for it, at least in my eyes.

The story, such as it was, isn’t too bad, dealing with a hotel placed on one of the Seven Gateways of Hell. It’s the second part of Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy, sandwiched between City of the Living Dead and The House By the Cemetery. Luckily, there’s not much reason to watch them in order, as they stand alone perfectly fine, and like I said, I found this a bit better than The House By the Cemetery.

For a certainty, it’s not for the plot, which is a bit janky. I mean, let’s be honest, most people don’t come into a Fulci movie for the plot, so that’s not a big problem, and the main point – a woman inherits a hotel, and soon terrifying things start happening – gets across just fine. And since most probably come for the gore, they certainly came to the right place.

It’s hard to say what my favorite scene here was – part of me wants to say either the final scene, which was quite creepy (if not a bit nonsensical), another part when the characters leave the hotel, but in the light, we see plenty of souls through the windows – that scene was shot quite beautifully.

As far as the gore goes, though, I’m a sucker for eyes. So are tarantulas, apparently, as a paralyzed man has one of his eyes punctured and torn from his head by a tarantula. Another one takes a portion of his lip; another, his tongue. As someone with mild arachnophobia, that was a harsh scene. There was also a great shotgun blast to the head, along with someone’s head shoved through a spike, causing, you guessed it, her eye to come out. A woman got her ear and throat torn off by a dog, and a woman’s face got melted by acid. All around, a film for the whole family.

Only two performances come close to mattering, and I’m not sure that they really do, as they don’t really impact much that happens in the film. Catriona MacColl (City of the Living Dead and The House By the Cemetery) was perfectly adequate as the lead, though her character can be a bit of a dick, I feel. David Warbeck (Miami Golem, Rat Man, and The Black Cat) was more well-rounded, but his character also wasted a lot of bullets in the last twenty minutes, so I can’t love him too much.

Speaking of which, the final twenty minutes of this one does contain an all-out zombie attack. To be honest, I forgot that happened in this film, but the zombies themselves (while not looking particularly great – Burial Ground zombies were totally more awesome) were appropriately creepy, and it led to a solid finale. Also, the score in this one was fantastic – that piano theme (as sampled in Necro’s “As Deadly As Can Be”) was simply gorgeous – so I can’t be too unhappy.

And that’s really how I feel about the movie as a whole – it was an enjoyable rewatch. It’s not my favorite Fulci movie, as both Don’t Torture a Duckling and The New York Ripper exist, but it is a fun slice of supernatural and zombie horror.

7.5/10