The Beyond (1981)

People who need movies to make perfect sense probably shouldn’t see horror films. They definitely shouldn’t watch films directed by Lucio Fulci, at least. And I’m certain that they should never go near his bonkers masterpiece, The Beyond. Here, Fulci is happy to shirk logic anytime as long it means he can get in another acid-melted face, punctured eyeball or rotted undead ghoul that rises out of dirty water. The setting is New Orleans, but the presentation is pure Italian. It’s one bloody cinematic muffuletta. Catriona MacColl (billed here as Katherine MacColl) takes over an old hotel that it turns out was built on a “gateway to Hell”, which means that absolutely ANYTHING can happen. A haunted house movie can suddenly turn into a zombie movie, strange characters can show up out of nowhere, old mystical books can appear and disappear, vicious dogs can turn on their owners and you don’t even want to think about going into the basement. It’s entertaining trash.