The Beyond (1981) - Better on the second time around

I guess I must have been in a bad mood when I first watched this as I really didn't like it.  Now I've watched it again (simply because I'd forgotten I'd even watched it, I really enjoyed it - like I've done so with many (so-bad-they're-good) Italian horror films of the eighties.  It's about a hotel in Louisiana which is basically a 'hell-mouth' and, seeing as Buffy probably wasn't born when this was made, it's up to a woman who wants to refurbish it and a doctor who can only shoot a zombie in the head every three shots (I counted!).

It's a bit weird where there are some secondary characters who just wander around talking badly.  Yes, it's dubbed in many places - I noticed that severely when I first watched it and it's still as overly-dramatic now.  In typical Italian horror movie style, it's almost deliberately all over the place and the sharp edits which give the film a truly disconcerting atmosphere.  Plus there are some scenes which are almost funny while being bizarre - like when a woman seems to freak out because a beaker of water overturns in slow motion (and she then comes off worse, believe it or not).

And there's the gore - which was damn gool if you're into 'claret' and generally want to see a hundred and one different ways of inflicting pain on eyeballs.  Back in the eighties (before every ‘head-shot’ was computer generated) film-makers had to come up with new and interesting ways of doing gore on the cheap.  And, to be fair, that’s one area where The Beyond succeeded.  The gore wasn’t just gore, but also pretty inventive, providing me with more than a few moments of on-screen horror that I’ve never seen before.

I'm glad I've given this film another go as - this time - I found it really entertaining and it's an example that you clearly need to be in the right mood for the right film.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that