I’m gonna say that as a general rule, if your film, album or piece of writing gets banned, you might not be to well renowned in your own time, but subsequent generations will probably embrace your work with a stunning fervor a few years on. Such is the case with Italian horror director Lucio Fulci. Having begun his directorial career sometime during the fifties, it wasn’t until the circulation of VHS bootlegs featuring his work like The Beyond that made him a (kinda) household horror name. Of course, part of the reason that fans have been attracted to his work is ostensibly the same thing that got Fulci’s films banned in the first place. So, while he might not be perceived as an auteur – whether or not that was what he was going for is suspect anyway – Fucli has certainly attained a real fan-boy following.

On the heels of the Romero’s various successes, Fulci submitted a script to his studio that revolved around an otherworldly portal. And since there weren’t any zombie related creatures – as in his previous Zombi II – Fulci was prompted to re-write a good deal of the script in order to assuage some honchos. Apparently, the director didn’t have too many qualms with the notion, but inserted enough flesh burning and murder as to run into trouble with British censors at the time. Fulci’s work, as well as many others, became known as video nasty – a contrite way of labeling a filmic work too gory for the general public.

It’s pretty much a fair assessment seeing as The Beyond is easily one of the most blood splashed, intentionally grotesque horror films, certainly of the ‘90s, but perhaps of the last twenty years or so. Being privy to watching a young girl witness a woman’s face being melted off by acid might have been a step too far, even if it kinda fit into the loose (and I mean looooose) narrative of the film.

Focusing on the inheritance and subsequent renovation of a run down hotel in Louisiana, the film goes to show that the setting of the narrative was once the scene of a murder – the town’s people thought some dude was a warlock that unwittingly opened up some gate to a netherworld of pseudo-zombies, thus the title - The Beyond.

After that, pretty much anyone would be able to guess at the remainder of the film. With the most scant sequential reasoning, The Beyond gets into metaphysical territory as worlds/realms are juxtaposed. And as the woman that was lucky (?) enough to be granted the hotel in a will goes about attempting to not (a) have her flesh burned off by some accident and (b) to not be eaten alive, she runs through various buildings in town to avoid capture. Accompanied by a forgettable love interest, the two seem to make an escape, only to be confused after triumphantly exiting that one, last door. The space that the escapees find themselves might not be as immediately threatening as the flesh eaters, but it presents a new problem. So, there’s a good ending regardless of the rest of the film lacking in a variety of places.

There’ve been numerous – and perhaps spurious – interpretations of the finale. And if nothing else, it makes watching the other hour and fifteen minutes of the film almost seem worth it once viewers realize what just happened.