The Hot Spot Rating

Beyond The Door (1974)
Starring: Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson, Elizabeth Turner, David Colin Jr.
Director: Oliver Hellman aka Ovidio Assonitis aka Sonia Assonitis aka R. Barrett (?!!!)
Synopsis: Diabolical Exorcist rip-off! So tragic it has to be seen to be believed
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

“An Exorcist rip-off of astonishing bad taste.” — retrospective horror criticism

“One of the most shameless cash-ins of the 1970s.” — cult cinema commentary

“Jaw-droppingly awful… yet weirdly compelling.” — modern cult reassessment

“A thoroughly disreputable piece of exploitation cinema.” — British horror review

“The film lurches from one hysterical set-piece to another with almost surreal incompetence.” — cult horror retrospective

“Headache-inducing.” — EOFFTV review

“An astonishingly tasteless mélange of possession, profanity and unintentional comedy.” — retrospective exploitation review

“One of the most entertainingly bad horror films ever released.” — cult movie commentary

“Utterly ridiculous from beginning to end.” — horror fandom review

“The sort of film that leaves you unsure whether to laugh, cringe or applaud.” — modern cult appraisal

"A thoroughly rotten movie.” New York Times, Vincent Canby

Riotous Exorcist rip-off madness as the normally mild-mannered Juliet Mills is transformed into a foul-mouthed, pea-soup-spewing, levitating demon from Hell, barking obscenities in a grotesque baritone voice that the filmmakers proudly promised would roar from cinema speakers in thunderous "Vibrasound!"

Gimmicky, exploitative, shamelessly derivative, cheap and downright dreadful, Beyond the Door is nevertheless one of those films that horror fans simply have to experience at least once. It is so spectacularly misguided that it eventually becomes enormously entertaining. Viewed in the right frame of mind, you'll probably spend as much time laughing as screaming.

I watched it again recently as punishment to atone for various sins committed over the years, and WHAT a monumental stinker it still is.

Watch the immaculate English nanny from Nanny and the Professor slowly transform into a filthy, head-spinning, pea-soup-spewing monster from Hell. It really has to be seen to be believed.

"Lick the vile whore's vomit!" snarls our beloved Juliet at one point, looking decidedly unwashed and more than a little under the weather.

Then there is that booming demonic narration droning on endlessly about "Dimitri"—a name suspiciously close to Father Karras from The Exorcist, just in case anyone in the audience hadn't already spotted where the filmmakers were getting their inspiration.

The film even opens with a solemn voice-over explaining just how terrified you ought to be by what you are about to witness. Naturally, this only makes everything even funnier.

And then comes the levitation sequence...

Honestly, even the Ramsays might have looked at it and said, "Steady on chaps...that's pushing it a bit."

It is absolutely priceless.

One almost has to admire producer-director Ovidio G. Assonitis. Originality clearly wasn't high on his list of priorities, but when it came to selling a movie the man had all the subtlety of a used-car salesman with a month's rent overdue. He even changed his own name several times—also appearing as Oliver Hellman and Robert Barrett—while the film itself kept reappearing under different titles in what seemed a determined effort to confuse unsuspecting cinema-goers.

Besides Beyond the Door, it also turned up as Chi Sei?, The Devil Within Her, Beyond Obsession, and even the wonderfully baffling Who? To make matters even more confusing, different sources seem unable to agree who actually directed the thing, suggesting that several people were desperately trying to avoid responsibility.

Most astonishingly of all, the blasted thing actually spawned two sequels.

What on earth possessed the Italians?

When the film reached Britain, Assonitis launched it with all the restraint of a runaway steamroller. Posters warned expectant mothers and those of a nervous disposition to stay well away, while London's Dominion Cinema proudly presented the film in mighty "Vibrasound", promising audiences an experience in horror unlike anything previously known.

William Castle himself would surely have smiled approvingly.

Ironically, perhaps the finest thing connected with the film is the magnificent British poster created for its release as The Devil Within Her. It is a wonderfully lurid piece of artwork, cleverly designed so that the viewer can make out both the traditional face of Satan and the image of a demonically possessed woman emerging from the Devil's mouth.

It is genuinely inspired artwork—far more inspired than the film it was advertising.

Indeed, it deserves recognition as one of the finest horror poster designs of the 1970s and would not look out of place in any serious collection of horror and exploitation artwork. A perfect poster for a perfectly dreadful movie.

And yet, against all logic, Beyond the Door simply refused to die.

Assonitis's shameless exploitation tactics actually worked.

The film opened in London while The Exorcist was still enjoying its marathon West End run. Playing the Dominion, it opened strongly and remained there for about a month before transferring to the London Pavilion, where business tailed off rather quickly. Elsewhere, however, it broke house records in Glasgow and enjoyed particularly strong business throughout the North of England, with Manchester reporting excellent box-office figures.

In the end, Assonitis laughed all the way to the bank. The film made healthy profits around the world, produced two sequels and, over the years, found a whole new audience on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray.

Today it sits quite comfortably in that glorious "So Bad It's Good" hall of fame.

Any serious collector of terrible horror movies really ought to own a copy.

And yes...that long-awaited 4K restoration would be most welcome.