| Beyond the Door | |
|---|---|
 Italian film poster | |
| Italian | Chi sei? |
| Directed by | |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli |
| Edited by | Angelo Curi |
| Music by | Franco Micalizzi |
Production company | A-Erre Cinematografica |
| Distributed by | Variety Distribution (Italy) |
Release date |
|
Running time |
|
| Country | Italy |
| Budget | $350,000[3] |
| Box office | $15 million[3] or $7.1 million[4] |
Beyond the Door (Italian:Chi sei?,lit. 'Who are you?', also released asThe Devil Within Her) is a 1974[3] Italiansupernatural horror film directed byOvidio G. Assonitis andRoberto D'Ettore Piazzoli, starringJuliet Mills,Gabriele Lavia, andRichard Johnson. The plot follows aSan Francisco housewife (Mills) who becomesdemonically possessed in the midst of a pregnancy.
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 ofThe Exorcist (1973). That film's distributor,Warner Bros., filed a lawsuit against the production company behindBeyond the Door, claimingcopyright infringement. A settlement was ultimately reached in 1979.
This would be the first entry into theBeyond the Door trilogy in the United States asMario Bava'sShock (1977) was re-titledBeyond the Door II and branded as a sequel, though it has no relation to the 1974 film other than the presence of actor David Colin Jr.. A second sequel,Beyond the Door III, was also released in 1989, though it too bears no relation to the previous two films.
Jessica Barrett, a young English mother living inSan Francisco, reveals to hermusic 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, herobstetrician 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, andpoltergeist phenomena. On one occasion, Jessica is awoken by disembodied wheezing, andlevitates 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 anabortion, 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 todemonic 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 astraitjacket 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 aSatanist who has arranged for her to give birth to theAntichrist, 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 astillbirth.
Some time later, a healthy Jessica accompanies Robert and their children on a boat ride in theSan 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, implying he is the actual Antichrist.
Beyond the Door was co-directed byOvidio G. Assonitis (billed under the alias 'O. Hellman') and cinematographerRoberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli (as 'Robert Barrett'). It was the directorial debut for both parties, Assonitis was previously a producer of genre films likeWho Saw Her Die? andMan from the Deep River.
The screenplay was written by Assonitis (billed under the alias 'O. Hellman'), Piazzoli, and Antonio Troiso.[1] A number of collaborating writers also assisted, includingAlex Rebar, Giorgio Marini, Aldo Crudo, and Christopher Cruise.[1]
Assonitis originally wanted to castSamantha Eggar in the lead role,[5] but his assistant Peter Shepherd recommendedJuliet Mills, whom he'd previously worked with on theBilly Wilder filmAvanti! (1972). Mills recalled in a 2005 interview:[6]
I just got a call from my agent that they were making this film in San Francisco and in Rome. I had made a previous film in Rome,Avanti! withJack Lemmon and I love working in Italy. So it really came through my agent. I read the script and I thought that this sounds like fun. I never done one of these sort of movies, so that was it. And of courseThe Exorcist had come out a year or so earlier, and I'd seen that. So I thought these kinds of films are popular, and why not? It was a fun film to make. Two great locations, San Francisco and Rome.[6]
David Colin Jr., who played Ken, was the son of the founder of theAmerican University of Rome.[7] Said Colin a 2017 interview, "It was a very fun time for me, very rollicking."[7]
Exterior filming took place on-location inSan Francisco, while interiors were shot on sets at De Paolis Studios inRome.[1] The film's special effects were designed by Wally Gentleman, who previously designed effects forStanley Kubrick's2001: A Space Odyssey.[8]
Like most Italian films of the time, the film was shotwithout live sound and all dialogue and foley were laterdubbed in. Juliet Mills and Richard Johnson recorded their own dialogue for the English version, in the Italian version they were respectively dubbed byMaria Pia Di Meo andPino Locchi.
The score was composed byFranco 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 oniTunes. The track list is as follows:
Beyond the Door first opened in Italy under the titleChi Sei?.[1]
American International Pictures initially expressed interest in distributing the film,[1] butFilm 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, 12 minutes shorter than the international cut..[2] It was shown as early as May 2, 1975 in Houston, Texas.[1]
In the United Kingdom and several other English-language territories, the film was released under the titleThe Devil Within Her, at the full 109 minutes.
Code Red acquired the rights toBeyond the Door, releasing aDVD set on 16 September 2008 that featured both the 109-minute international cut and the abridged 97-minute U.S. theatrical cut;[9] it also features interviews with Assonitis, Johnson, writer Alex Rebar, and Mills, as well as commentaries with Assonitis and Mills.[9] Code Red reissued a new transfer of the film onBlu-ray in 2017.[10]
Arrow Video released a Blu-ray edition in the United States and United Kingdom.[11] 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.[12] The second disc also includesItaly Possessed, a newly commissioned feature-length documentary on Italian exorcism films.[12] The Blu-ray set was released on 7 April 2020.[13]
Beyond the Door was a commercial success in the United States, earning $7,122,644,[14] with a total worldwide gross of $15 million.[3]
The film was panned upon release.Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the movie one star out of four, calling it "scary trash".[15]
Numerous critics compared the film negatively toThe Exorcist.[16][17][18][19] Bill DeIsle ofThe Times-Record compared the film unfavorably toThe Exorcist, panning the script and also noting the special effects as juvenile and laughable.[17] Linda Gross of theLos Angeles Times drew similar comparisons, also noting the film's score as "obtrusive", but conceded that Mills plays her role "with credibility".[18] TheSan 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."[19]
In the years since the film's theatrical release, the film has undergone a mild critical reevaluation withPeter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian awarding the film three stars and saying "there are lots of redundant and silly moments, but some disturbing and interesting stuff as well."[20] Reviewing the film forLittle White Lies, Anton Bitel remarked "Beyond the Door is too odd, too indefinable, too singular, to be dismissed as merely derivative."[21]
Detailing a woman possessed by a demon,Beyond the Door was labeled a rip-off ofThe Exorcist (1973).[1]Warner Bros. filed a lawsuit in August 1975 seeking an injunction and $2 million in damages, claiming it unfairly competed withThe Exorcist and for copyright infringement.[1][22] 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][23]
To cash in on the success ofBeyond the Door,Film Ventures International purchasedMario Bava's Italian horror filmShock and retitled itBeyond the Door II. The film was intended for a late 1977 release to capitalize on the success ofExorcist II: The Heretic, but when that film bombed at the box office, plans to releaseShock in the U.S. were shelved. The film was eventually given a limited release in 1979.[24][25] The film had no ties or connections toBeyond the Door aside from sharing one actor, David Colin, Jr., who plays a different character in each film.
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 narrative 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 asDeath Train andAmok Train. It was retitled for its U.S. release byRCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video and went straight to video. Although only retitled in the U.S., all modernBlu-ray carry the titleBeyond the Door III on the prints, including the Region 1 DVD by Shriek Show.[26]
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.[27]