The Beyond

I didn’t like The Beyond the first time I saw it. It felt like a zombie movie bolted onto a haunted house film.

And yet, days after seeing it, I was still thinking about it. There were parts I just couldn’t get out of my head. Not the part where tarantulas’ eat a man’s eyes, or the scene where a jar of acid melts someone’s face, or even the scene where a nail drives through the back of a skull and pops out an unfortunate soul’s eye. No, I couldn’t shake the ending. It’s like nothing I’d seen before or since.

A few days later, I watched the film again. Knowing what I was in for, I saw the film in a new light. I sank into the visceral visuals and atmospheric sounds. The plot, which I chalked up to a hodgepodge of disjointed scenes, made terrible sense. This was a film meant to provoke intense disquiet. The gore, the disjointed plot, the sounds, all of it, it’s all there to set us on edge.

But it’s the ending that makes it all pay off. Now, for those wary of spoilers, I shall endeavor to give you an idea of whether this is the kind of film you will enjoy.

It is gory. The practical effects are relentless and almost palpable. Though I would argue that they serve a purpose, there are some who simply won’t be able to sit through the film.

If you can make it through the gore, the ending can be off-putting. Yes, I know, I said it’s what makes the movie work, but it’s nihilistic overtones can bring out a knee-jerk reaction.

And yet, despite these obstacles, if you’re a horror movie fan, The Beyond is required viewing. If you’ve never seen it, go watch the Grindhouse Releasing print, then come back. I’ll be waiting.

Now, let’s talk about that ending. It ties the whole film together. In the ending we see our protagonists lost in a kind of netherrealm. A dark, endless abyss. That’s the film’s final horror. Everything was a foregone conclusion. They never had a chance.

What we took for bad editing or nonsensical plotting was just one dimension bleeding over into another. Who’s to say rules of time and space are the same there?

The film leads us to believe this is hell, a source of ancient evil. And yet, in the end, it’s just a dusty abyss. Our heroes are not killed, not murdered, not mauled. They’re delivered into the horrific realization that there’s nothing out there. No firey hell, no angelic heaven. Just an endless void that renders them blind.

Ain’t that just a kick in the balls? I think we’ve all seen a horror film or two where the final girl survives only to meet her fate in the final frame—one last jump scare to rile the audience. But how many have the heroes survive, only to find out that all existence is meaningless? To all the other horror films out there, I say: top that.