Beyond the Door (1974 film)

Last updated
Beyond the Door
Chi-sei-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg
Italian theatrical release poster
Italian Chi sei?
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Roberto Piazzoli
Music by Franco Micalizzi
Production
companies
A Erre Cinematografica
Montoro Productions Ltd.
Distributed by Variety Distribution
Release dates
21 November 1974 (Italy)
  • 2 May 1975 (1975-05-02)(Houston, Texas) [1]
Running time
97 minutes [2]
Countries
Budget$350,000 [3]
Box office$15 million [3] or $7.1 million [4]

Beyond the Door (Italian: Chi sei?, lit. "Who are you?") is a 1974 [3] supernatural horror film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis and Roberto Piazzoli, and starring Juliet Mills, Gabriele Lavia, and Richard Johnson. The plot follows a San Francisco housewife who becomes demonically possessed in the midst of a pregnancy. The film was a co-production between the United States and Italy. It was released in the United Kingdom in an extended cut under the title Devil Within Her.

Contents

Beyond the Door opened in the United States in May 1975, and became a major commercial success, grossing approximately $15 million. Critical reaction to the film was largely negative, with numerous critics deeming it an imitation of The Exorcist (1973). That film's distributor, Warner Bros., filed a lawsuit against the production company behind Beyond the Door, claiming copyright infringement. A settlement was ultimately reached in 1979.

This would be the first entry into the Beyond the Door trilogy in the United States as Mario Bava's Shock (1977) was re-titled Beyond the Door II and branded as a sequel, though it has no relation to the 1974 film. A second sequel, Beyond the Door III , was also released in 1989, though it too bears no relation to the previous two films.

Plot

Jessica Barrett, a young English mother living in San Francisco, reveals to her music executive husband, Robert, that she is pregnant. The couple already have two young children: a son, Ken, and daughter, Gail. Several days later, during Ken's birthday party, Robert finds Jessica violently ill and vomiting in the bathroom. After visiting Dr. George Staton, her obstetrician and personal friend, Jessica is informed that she is in fact three months pregnant, not the mere weeks she believed.

Over the course of her pregnancy, Jessica finds herself subject to violent mood swings, apparent hallucinations of voices, and poltergeist phenomena. On one occasion, Jessica is awoken by disembodied wheezing, and levitates into the air and wheezes violently all through her house. George confides in a worried Robert that Jessica's pregnancy is progressing at an unbelievably rapid rate. Fearing for her wellbeing, George arranges for Jessica to spend time with his wife, Barbara, hoping she will confide in her.

Jessica tells George she wants an abortion, but swiftly vacillates, accusing him of being a murderer when he agrees to an abortion should he find the pregnancy a hazard to her health. The Barrett household soon becomes a hotbed of supernatural activity that terrorizes both Gail and Ken when their father is away. Meanwhile, Jessica exhibits increasingly horrifying behavior akin to demonic possession, such as inhumanly twisting her head, wheezing and projectile vomiting.

Robert is contacted by a mysterious man named Dimitri who instructs him to sequester Jessica in their house and keep visitors away, assuring that the child is born. Jessica grows progressively ill, exhibiting a fever, stomach ailments, and other bizarre symptoms, and becomes bedridden. Under Dimitri's instructions, George has Jessica placed in a straitjacket to prevent her from violently lashing out. When George visits her, Jessica alternately pleads for his help before cursing at him in a deep, demonic voice. George has Jessica undergo a series of tests, including scans of her brain, but none of them show any neurological anomalies.

After Robert is subject to a torrent of violent supernatural behavior from Jessica, it is revealed that Dimitri is a lover from Jessica's past, and that he is a Satanist who has arranged for her to give birth to the Antichrist, in exchange for the demonic spirit having saved him from dying in a car accident years prior. In a violent confrontation between Jessica and Dimitri, the demonic entity turns on him, and implies that all of the events that have taken place were arranged for its own amusement. The entity murders Dimitri before departing Jessica's body, after which she immediately has a stillbirth.

Some time later, a healthy Jessica accompanies Robert and their children on a boat ride in the San Francisco Bay. Ken unwraps a gift he earlier acquired on his birthday, concealed in black wrapping paper with a gold ribbon. The gift is revealed to be a red toy car, the same model Dimitri crashed in the accident that nearly claimed his life. Ken drops the toy car over the edge of the boat railing, and his eyes glow green.

Cast

Production

The screenplay for Beyond the Door was written by Ovidio G. Assonitis (billed as O. Hellman), Antonio Troiso, and Robert Barrett. [1] A number of collaborating writers also assisted, including Alex Rebar, Giorgio Marini, Aldo Crudo, and Christopher Cruise. [1]

The interior shots were filmed on set in Italy at the Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome, while all exteriors were shot on location in San Francisco. [1]

Detailing a woman possessed by a demon, Beyond the Door was labeled a rip-off of The Exorcist (1973). [1] Warner Bros. filed a lawsuit in August 1975 seeking an injunction and $2 million in damages, claiming it unfairly competed with The Exorcist and for copyright infringement. [1] [5] The lawsuit was ultimately settled in the favor of Warner Bros. with the studio receiving a cash settlement from A-Erre Cinematografica s.r.l. and a portion of the film's future revenue. [1] [6]

Release

Beyond the Door first opened in Italy under the title Chi Sei?. [1] American International Pictures initially expressed interest in distributing the film, [1] but Film Ventures International ultimately acquired the film for distribution in the United States for $100,000. The cut released theatrically in the United States runs 97 minutes. [2] It was shown as early as May 2, 1975 in Houston, Texas. [1]

Box office

Beyond the Door was a commercial success in the United States, earning $7,122,644, [7] with a total worldwide gross of $15 million. [3]

Critical response

The film was panned upon release. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie 1 star out of 4, calling it "scary trash". [8]

Bill DeIsle of The Times-Record also compared the film unfavorably to The Exorcist, panning the script and also noting the special effects as juvenile and laughable. [9] Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times drew similar comparisons, also noting the film's score as "obtrusive", but conceded that Mills plays her role "with credibility". [10] The San Francisco Examiner 's Jeanne Miller also noted the film as being highly derivative, adding that "even with all the so-called 'action', the film is incredibly boring, especially in long philosophical rantings by Johnson about Satanic power. Director Oliver Hellman and screenwriter Richard Barrett display no trace of skill, imagination or originality. The performances are on the same level." [11]

In the years since the film's theatrical release, the film has undergone a mild critical reevaluation with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarding the film three stars and saying "there are lots of redundant and silly moments, but some disturbing and interesting stuff as well." [12] Reviewing the film for Little White Lies, Anton Bitel remarked "Beyond the Door is too odd, too indefinable, too singular, to be dismissed as merely derivative." [13]

Home media

Code Red DVD acquired the rights to Beyond the Door. The 2-disc DVD set was released on 16 September 2008 and featured both the international cut (running 109 minutes) and the abridged U.S. theatrical cut (running 97 minutes); [14] it also features interviews with Assonitis, Johnson, writer Alex Rebar, and Mills, as well as commentaries with Assonitis and Mills. [14] Code Red reissued a new transfer of the film on Blu-ray in 2017. [15]

Arrow Video released a Blu-ray edition in the United States and United Kingdom. [16] The two-disc release, limited to 3,000 units, features both the unabridged international cut, as well as an exclusive U.S. theatrical cut on two separate discs. [17] The second disc also includes Italy Possessed, a newly commissioned feature-length documentary on Italian exorcism films. [17] The Blu-ray set was released on 7 April 2020. [18]

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Franco Micalizzi. The score is unusual for a horror film and at times seems to be referencing funk and disco music that may have been popular at the time. The full soundtrack has been released on vinyl, CD, and more recently on iTunes. The track list is as follows:

  1. "Bargain With The Devil"
  2. "Jessica's Theme"
  3. "Dimitry's Theme"
  4. "Robert's Theme"
  5. "Jessica's Theme"
  6. "Family's Theme"
  7. "Bargain With The Devil" (orchestra)
  8. "Flute Sequence"
  9. "Dimitry's Theme" (slow version)
  10. "Family's Theme" (slow version)

Beyond the Door II (1977)

To cash in on the success of Beyond the Door, Film Ventures International purchased Mario Bava's Italian horror film Shock and retitled it Beyond the Door II. The film was intended for a late 1977 release to capitalize on the success of Exorcist II: The Heretic , but when that film bombed at the box office, plans to release Shock in the U.S. were shelved. The film was eventually given a limited release in 1979. [19] [20] The film had no ties or connections to Beyond the Door aside from sharing one actor, David Colin, Jr., who plays a completely different character in each film.

Beyond the Door III (1989)

Beyond the Door III was released in 1989. Scripted by Sheila Goldberg and directed by Jeff Kwitny, the film was shot in Serbia under the title "The Train". The film, again had no ties to either of the previous two. Ovidio G. Assonitis acted as producer on the film and financed it through his company Trihoof Investments. It is also known as Death Train and Amok Train. It was retitled for its U.S. release by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video and went straight to video. Although only retitled in the U.S., all modern Blu-ray carry the title Beyond the Door III on the prints, including the Region 1 DVD by Shriek Show. [21]

Embryo: Beyond the Door (2022)

In 2021, Ovidio G. Assonitis announced that an official follow-up to the original film was in development. Juliet Mills was also confirmed to reprise her role in the sequel. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Exorcist</i> 1973 film by William Friedkin

The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair, and follows the demonic possession of a young girl and the attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two Catholic priests.

<i>Zombi 2</i> 1979 film directed by Lucio Fulci

Zombi 2 is a 1979 Italian zombie film directed by Lucio Fulci, from a screenplay by Elisa Briganti and an uncredited Dardano Sacchetti, and starring Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay and Olga Karlatos. It serves as an unofficial sequel to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), which was released in Italy under the title Zombi.

<i>Amityville II: The Possession</i> 1982 film by Damiano Damiani

Amityville II: The Possession is a 1982 supernatural horror film directed by Damiano Damiani and starring James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Jack Magner, and Diane Franklin. It’s an international co-production between Mexico and the United States. The screenplay by Tommy Lee Wallace is based on the novel Murder in Amityville by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. It is the second film in the Amityville Horror film series and a loose prequel to The Amityville Horror (1979), set at 112 Ocean Avenue and featuring the fictional Montelli family, loosely based on the DeFeo family. It follows the Montelli family's decline under apparent demonic forces present in their home.

<i>Dolly Dearest</i> 1991 American film

Dolly Dearest is a 1991 American supernatural horror film starring Denise Crosby, Rip Torn, Sam Bottoms, Chris Demetral, Candace Hutson and Lupe Ontiveros. The film was initially supposed to be direct-to-video, but it did get a limited theatrical release in the Midwestern United States. Despite being critically panned, it has been sometimes credited as being the inspiration for the 2014 film Annabelle.

<i>Piranha II: The Spawning</i> 1982 horror film by James Cameron

Piranha II: The Spawning is a 1982 monster horror film directed by James Cameron in his feature directorial debut. It is the sequel to the 1978 film Piranha, and the second installment in the Piranha film series. The screenplay was written by Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, under the shared pseudonym "H.A. Milton". The film stars Tricia O'Neil, Lance Henriksen, Steve Marachuk, Ted Richert, Ricky Paull Goldin, and Leslie Graves.

<i>To the Devil a Daughter</i> 1976 film

To the Devil a Daughter, sometimes stylised as To the Devil... a Daughter, is a 1976 horror film directed by Peter Sykes and starring Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski, and Denholm Elliott. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley, it follows an American occult researcher in England who attempts to save a young girl preyed upon by a Satanic cult led by a fallen Catholic priest.

Ovidio Gabriel Assonitis is an Egyptian-born Greco-Italian entertainment executive, film producer, screenwriter, and director best known for his numerous B-horror films including Beyond the Door, Tentacles,The Visitor, and Piranha II: The Spawning.

Roberto D’Ettorre Piazzoli is an Italian film producer and cinematographer who has worked frequently with Ovidio G. Assonitis.

<i>Tentacles</i> (film) 1977 film by Ovidio G. Assonitis

Tentacles is a 1977 horror-thriller film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis and starring John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Cesare Danova, Delia Boccardo and Henry Fonda.

<i>Iron Warrior</i> 1987 Italian film

Iron Warrior is 1987 film directed by Alfonso Brescia.

<i>Shock</i> (1977 film) 1977 film by Mario Bava

Shock is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Mario Bava and starring Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, and David Colin, Jr. Its plot focuses on a woman who moves into the home she shared with her deceased former husband, where she finds herself tormented by supernatural occurrences. It was Bava's last theatrical feature before he died of a heart attack in 1980.

<i>Madhouse</i> (1981 film) 1981 Italian film by Ovidio G. Assonitis

Madhouse is a 1981 Italian slasher film directed and co-written by Ovidio G. Assonitis, and starring Trish Everly, Dennis Robertson, Allison Biggers, and Michael Macrae. The plot follows a schoolteacher in Savannah, Georgia being stalked by her psychopathic twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday. The film's original title takes its name from a poem called "There Was a Little Girl" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

<i>Beyond the Door III</i> 1989 Italian horror film directed by Jeff Kwitny

Beyond the Door III is a 1989 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Jeff Kwitny, and starring Mary Kohnert and Bo Svenson. It follows a young American coed who, while traveling on a train during a class trip in Yugoslavia, is targeted by a Satanic cult. It is the final film in the Beyond the Door trilogy, a series of unrelated films linked by a common title for marketing purposes. It was released twelve years after the second film in the trilogy, Beyond the Door II.

<i>The Exorcist</i> (franchise) Horror media franchise

The Exorcist is an American horror media franchise that originated with William Peter Blatty's 1971 horror novel of the same name and most prominently featured in a 1973 film adaptation of the novel, and many subsequent prequels and sequels. All of these installments focus on fictional accounts of people possessed by Pazuzu, the main antagonist of the series, and the efforts of religious authorities to counter this possession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satanic film</span> Subgenre of horror film which depicts the Devil and associated wicked themes

A Satanic film is a subgenre of horror film, and at times other film genres, that involves the Devil as a concept or a character. Common themes/characters in Satanic film include the Antichrist, demonic possession, exorcism, and witchcraft.

<i>The Devils Honey</i> 1986 film directed by Lucio Fulci

The Devil's Honey, aka Dangerous Obsession is a 1986 Italian erotic drama film directed by Lucio Fulci. It is one of his last major films to be released.

<i>Prey for the Devil</i> 2022 film by Daniel Stamm

Prey for the Devil is a 2022 American supernatural horror film about a nun who trains as an exorcist under the Roman Catholic Church and confronts demonic possession. The film is produced under the studio Lionsgate and is directed by Daniel Stamm. It stars Jacqueline Byers, Colin Salmon, Christian Navarro, Lisa Palfrey, Nicholas Ralph, Virginia Madsen, and Ben Cross. Lionsgate distributed Prey for the Devil in theaters in the United States and Canada on October 28, 2022. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $44.7 million worldwide.

Curse II: The Bite is a 1989 horror film directed by Frederico Prosperi, credited as Fred Goodwin. It is the second entry in the Curse tetralogy, a rebranding of unrelated films for marketing purposes.

Beyond the Door is a horror film series that consists of three originally unconnected films that were retitled to be part of a supernatural franchise for the American and English speaking markets, and one direct sequel to the 1974 original. Several loose connections between the first three films are that all three were Italian productions, Ovidio G. Assonitis produced parts I and III, child actor David Colin Jr. starred in Parts I and II.

<i>The Curse</i> (film series) Horror film franchise

The Curse pentalogy is a horror series of five originally unconnected films that were retitled to be part of a supernatural franchise for the American home video market. The series started in 1987 with The Curse. 1993's Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice is notable due to the fact the fourth film was originally made in 1988, predating the third film Curse III: Blood Sacrifice which was released in 1991. The only loose connections between the films are the first two are Italian productions produced by Ovidio G. Assonitis, otherwise the films are completely unrelated.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Beyond the Door". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 Muir 2012, p. 339.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Shipka 2011, p. 146.
  4. ↑ Donahue 1987, p. 292. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  5. ↑ "WB 'Door' Suit Under Submission". Daily Variety . October 7, 1975. p. 8.
  6. ↑ "Exorcist Infringement Case Reaches Settlement". Box Office. 12 February 1979.
  7. ↑ Donahue 1987, p. 292.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1 January 1975). "Beyond the Door". Chicago Sun-Times . Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019.
  9. ↑ DeIsle, Bill (29 August 1975). "'Beyond the Door' Done in Bad Taste". The Times-Record . Troy, New York. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Gross, Linda (22 August 1975). "'Beyond the Door' Echoes 'Exorcist'". Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, California. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Miller, Jeanne (27 June 1975). "Film of possession borrows ideas like the Devil". San Francisco Examiner . San Francisco, California. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (8 April 2020). "Beyond the Door review – peace, love and a pact with the devil". The Guardian .
  13. ↑ Bitel, Anton (30 March 2020). "Discover this bizarre B-movie riff on The Exorcist". Little White Lies .
  14. 1 2 Galbraith, Stuart (23 July 2009). "Beyond The Door (as The Devil Within Her)". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on 8 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Beyond the Door Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020.
  16. ↑ Squires, John (20 December 2019). "Arrow Video Bringing 1974's 'Beyond the Door' to Blu-ray With Restoration and New Italian Horror Documentary". Bloody Disgusting . Archived from the original on 21 December 2019.
  17. 1 2 "Beyond the Door Limited Edition Blu-ray". Arrow Films . Archived from the original on 8 April 2020.
  18. ↑ Kaufman, Jeffrey (30 March 2020). "Beyond the Door Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020.
  19. ↑ Paul 2010, p. 101.
  20. ↑ Hughes 2011, p. 278.
  21. ↑ Shriek Show DVD Case, 2008. Last accessed: October 2009.
  22. ↑ "Cult Director Ovidio G. Assonitis Returns to Filmmaking With 'Beyond the Door' Sequel (Exclusive)". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-07.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.