Here’s what you get if you dare to watch all three films in the Beyond the Door series: A boy so obsessed with pea soup that he drinks it cold out of the can with a straw, young girl who’s constantly reading the novelization of the movie Love Story, a train that’s possessed by the devil and loves to decapitate its victims, a boyfriend who doesn’t seem that upset after watching his girlfriend rip her own head in half…and very, very few scenes involving doors or anything beyond them.
That probably makes the Beyond the Door movies sound insane. And that’s OK! Because they are.
Two out of the three movies boast plots that barely make sense. And, in the grand tradition of 1970’s and 1980’s Italian horror movie series, none of the three movies are related. The distributors behind the series simply slapped the “Beyond the Door” name on three existing horror movies, much like what happened with the longer-running Zombi series.
Are any of the Beyond the Door movies good in the traditional sense? Yes! The second one, more commonly known as Shock. It was the last movie directed by Mario Bava, the legendary Italian horror director. It stands out in the trilogy because it’s not only stylish and creepy, but also competently made and acted.
But I must confess: I love all three of these movies, even though I know that I can’t recommend two of them as “good” films. The Beyond the Door trilogy is goofy and nonsensical enough to be charming. And if you’re inclined to forgive Italian horror movies for their plot holes, terrible dubbing, and sometimes overbearing soundtracks…? You might become a fan of these movies, too.
But how did this trilogy come to be? For that you must credit (or blame) Ovidio G. Assonitis.
Who is Ovidio Assonitis?
Ovidio Assonitis is a director, writer and producer known for such movies as Piranha II: The Spawning, Tentacles (about a killer octopus) and Madhouse.
I haven’t seen Tentacles or Piranha II – something I must correct – but I have seen 1981’s Madhouse, which was written and directed by Assonitis. I liked this movie — about a woman being stalked by her crazed twin sister — quite a bit. It was creepy, had a nice homage/rip-off to Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s famous dinner scene, boasted a dastardly villain and even featured that rarest of movie dogs – a bloodthirsty pooch that you were happy to see die.
It’s safe to say, then, that Ovidio Assonitis thrived in the world of low-budget horror, churning out movies that rarely earned good reviews but rarely lost money, either. Earlier in his career, though, he swung for the fences once, trying to purchase the rights to William Peter Blatty’s book The Exorcist. We know that never happened, with director William Friedkin and Linda Blair teaming up to make one of the most famous and influential horror movies of all time.
Undeterred by this failure, Ovidio Assonitis did what he always did: He made a movie, deciding to create his own film about a demonic possession to compete with the big horror hit that was The Exorcist. And he put in even more head-spinning, bile-spitting, and guttural demonic voices than Friedkin jammed into his movie.
That movie became 1974’s Beyond the Door, which marked Ovidio Assonitis’ directorial debut, though he directed it under his pseudonym Oliver Hellman.
What’s most surprising about the Beyond the Door tale is that it became such a big hit. Figures vary, but it’s widely reported online that the movie earned $15 million worldwide, a pretty good sum for a knock-off horror movie in the 1970s with a budget of around $350,000.
Of course, there were some hiccups. Warner Bros, which released The Exorcist in late 1973, sued Film Ventures International, the distributor of Beyond the Door, for copying The Exorcist‘s marketing campaign and swiping plot points and scenes from its better-known predecessor. It made for an interesting trial, with Warner Brothers pointing to the massive amounts of green-pea-colored bile, head-spinning, gravelly voices and levitation in Beyond the Door as proof that the filmmakers were ripping off The Exorcist.
The lawsuit ended with a settlement in 1979 in which Warner Brothers did receive an undisclosed payment. Beyond the Door, though, was never forcibly pulled from theaters.
After watching Beyond the Door? I’d say that the producers of Rosemary’s Baby might have had more reason to sue. Yes, Beyond the Door is a bit of a rip-off of The Exorcist. But I’d say it steals more from Rosemary’s Baby.
And if I’m being honest? While I recognize that The Exorcist is a much better movie, I’d rather rewatch Beyond the Door. The Exorcist was a landmark horror movie that changed the genre. It made a lot of theatergoers sick, too, which is a trick William Castle would have loved to have pulled off. But Beyond the Door? Despite its many flaws — and there are many — it is much more fun. I don’t remember seeing any characters in The Exorcist playing flutes with their noses, after all.
Editor’s Note: This post contains affiliate links. Our content is 100% reader-funded and if you watch a movie we’ve recommended using our links, you’ll be helping to support HorrorFam.com at no additional cost to you!
It begins: Beyond the Door (1974)
Beyond the Door AKA Chi Sei? AKA The Devil Within Her tells you right away that it’s going to be weird. The opening scene is a dark room filled with dozens of lit candles. This scene is narrated by the devil himself, who brags about how he’s adapted to the modern world by going underground, still toying with humans but doing so in a more secretive fashion. As he says during his narration, “Don’t forget that the stranger in the seat next to you could be me.”
It’s a puzzling scene but gives a hint about how strange the film that follows will be. Beyond the Door focuses on a deal made between the devil and a Satanic cult member named Dimitri. Dimitri is about to die in a car accident when the devil promises to spare his life if Dimitri can ensure that San Francisco housewife – and Dimitri’s former lover – Jessica (played by actress Juliet Mills) will give birth to the antichrist.
Dimitri, then, spends much of the rest of the film lurking in the background spying on Jessica’s family and doing everything he can to make sure that Jessica does not abort her unplanned pregnancy.
As the pregnancy progresses, it becomes clear that something is wrong, and we’re not just talking about morning sickness. First, in what is a genuinely creepy detail, the fetus is growing at an alarming rate. Though Jessica is only three weeks pregnant, her doctor tells her that the fetus looks more like it is three months old. And if that’s not unsettling enough, Jessica also begins talking in deep, guttural voices. She spits green bile. Her head turns too far. She levitates. And in one particularly icky scene, she kisses her young son, who seems to be about six years old, far too passionately.
Beyond the Door sounds like a straightforward The Exorcist x Rosemary’s Baby knockoff, but that basic description of the plot doesn’t even hint at the strangeness thrown onto the screen.
There’s an early scene in Beyond the Door showing Jessica shopping at the grocery store. Nothing strange happens. It doesn’t advance the story. It’s just scenes of her checking out produce and dropping fruits and vegetables into her shopping cart. Why is this scene included when the movie’s already plenty long enough, with the version I saw clocking in at 109 minutes? Who knows!
There’s another early scene in which Robert, Jessica’s record producer husband, is working with a band, listening to them play a new song. The song sounds pretty good to me, but Robert is unimpressed. How unimpressed? He says that the band sounds like a “jerkoff session in the bathroom.” Maybe Robert’s not qualified to be working in the music industry, because the recording session I heard didn’t sound at all like how he describes it. (A side note: I misremembered Robert telling the musicians that they sounded like a “jerkoff session in the barn.” I found the correct quote when re-watching Beyond the Door for this article, but I do think that “jerkoff session in the barn” is funnier for some reason.)
In another Beyond the Door scene, Jessica sees a rotten banana on the ground. She nonchalantly picks it up and begins eating it. Granted, Jessica is already pregnant with the antichrist at this point, but it’s still a jarringly odd scene in a movie filled with them.
The best scenes, though, go to Gail and Ken, the young children of Jessica and Robert. I’m not sure of their exact ages – the movie never says – but I’d estimate that Gail is supposed to be about 11 and Ken about six. The voice actors dubbing these kids’ voices, who are obviously adults trying to sound like children, swear like truck drivers.
One of my favorites Beyond the Door scenes is when Gail and Ken are riding in the back of the family car, Jessica and Robert in the front seat. Gail says to her younger brother, “Hey, remember that crazy nickname you gave him? What was it?” (Referring to their dad.) Ken answers simply, “Asshole.” I admit that I laughed out loud at that unexpected bit of levity.
In another scene, Robert knocks on Gail’s door. Gail hears this and says to herself, “Christ, what now?” with the exasperation of someone whose been bothered far too often by her dad.
And in another scene in which Ken is hungry, his sister returns to his room with what I swear is a full, jiggly Jello mold. When Ken sees this, he licks his lips in the weirdest way possible. It’s hard to describe. You’ll just have to watch the scene.
You can’t talk about Beyond the Door without mentioning the pea soup and the nose flutes, though.
Pea soup is forever associated with The Exorcist, of course. But I’ll never be able to think of the green stuff now without also thinking of Beyond the Door. As mentioned earlier, Ken LOVES the stuff, bringing a can of the soup wherever he goes. He likes it so much that he drinks it cold, slurping it out of the can with a straw. That might be the most disgusting thing in this movie.
But Ken doesn’t just eat pea soup. He likes it so much, he has a large poster of Campbell’s pea soup above his bed. And in one scene in which Ken is getting ready to sleep, we can see a can resting on his nightstand.
Then there’s the nose flute. Robert is walking home from work in one scene when he is accosted by some street musicians. One of them is playing a flute with his nose. As Robert tries to flee, the flutist runs after him, continually nose-playing as he does so. It’s yet another scene that doesn’t connect to anything else and doesn’t move the plot along. It’s never said that the nose-flutist is a minion of Satan, either. It’s just some random thing that happens to Robert. And, really, who among us hasn’t been accosted at one point by someone playing some instrument with his or her nose?
The scene, though, does add to the surreal feel of Beyond the Door. I don’t know if Robert thought the nose-flute tune sounded like a jerk-off session. He was too flustered to give a review.
There’s one more scene that fans of this movie like to point to: Ken and Gail have just suffered a telekinetic attack from their mother, one in which dolls come to life and Jessica threatens them with her deep, gravelly demon voice. When Robert gets home, they beg him not to leave them alone with their mother again. Robert seems sympathetic to their plight.
The very next scene? Robert is walking down the street alone. Again, this one made me laugh out loud. Is it a weird editing mistake? Maybe, because the son and daughter are sent away for their safety shortly thereafter. Maybe the Robert walking alone scene should have been placed later in the movie. Regardless, it’s another charming scene in a movie full of them.
There’s one big problem with Beyond the Door, though: Outside of its bonkers scenes, it tends to be a bit boring. There’s a lot of philosophical talk involving Dimitri and the devil that gets tiresome quickly. Characters often repeat information we’ve heard several scenes earlier. Plus, the story can be difficult to follow if you aren’t laser-focused — which, admittedly, can be a tricky feat to accomplish with a movie like this.
If you like oddball horror rip-offs that are unintentionally funny, Beyond the Door is a fun watch. The movie gets a bonus, too, for its ending battle: The director throws every possession-movie cliché you can think of at the screen for its climax. And it works. Of all the rip-offs of The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby? This might be the most memorable.
Be aware though, there are two versions of Beyond the Door. The international version of the movie, known as The Devil Within Her, runs 109 minutes. The U.S. version, which was released as Beyond the Door, is only 97 minutes. I’ve only seen the longer version, so maybe the 97-minute version eliminates some of those duller scenes.
Where to watch Beyond the Door (1974):
It continues: Beyond the Door II, Better known as Shock (1977)
Of the three Beyond the Door movies, part 2 is the one that doesn’t quite fit in. That’s because it’s actually a good movie.
Beyond the Door II was directed by Italian horror legend Mario Bava, the talent behind such classic horrors as Black Sunday, Hatchet for the Honeymoon, A Bay of Blood, and Lisa and the Devil. This was Bava’s last film, one he co-directed with his son, Lamberto Bava.
The movie, originally titled Shock, has nothing to do with Beyond the Door. Film Ventures International slapped the Beyond the Door II name on it to capitalize on the surprise success of that first movie.
This Beyond the Door entry couldn’t be more different from its predecessor. For one, it’s stylishly directed, no surprise given the talents of the senior and junior Bavas. The acting is also far better than what you’ll find in Beyond the Door or Beyond the Door III. And the movie is scary – something the other films in this series never manage.
Beyond the Door II also tells a coherent story, a haunted house tale in which Dora (played by veteran horror actress Daria Nicolodi) her son, and her new husband move into a home in which she previously lived with her first husband… who mysteriously committed suicide while being away at sea. Before long, the home’s piano starts playing by itself, objects float in the air, unseen fists pound at the walls, and – worst of all – Dora’s son, Marco, begins acting strangely.
A word about Marco: He provides the sole link to Beyond the Door. Marco is played by young actor David Colin Jr. who played Ken in the first Beyond the Door. This young character is not related to that other one but, notably, Marco is a strange guy, too. Maybe Colin Jr. could only play weird kids. (No pea soup fetish in this one, though.)
How weird is Marco? He steals several pairs of his mom’s underwear and slices them up. He hides a razor blade between the keys of the family piano so that his mom can cut her finger while she’s playing. And he’s aways pushing and talking to the empty swing in the backyard, almost as if there’s someone sitting on it that no one else can see.
While Marco’s weirdness is unnerving, the star of this movie is undoubtedly Daria Nicolodi. She goes through the wringer in Shock, being punished both emotionally and physically. There’s a standout scene with Nicolodi and a rake. I know that doesn’t sound overly interesting. But, without spoiling the scene, Nicolodi makes you feel her anguish and terror when that rake shows up. (Of course, what happens in this scene is Marco’s fault, that little @#$%.)
Because this is a movie directed by Mario Bava, you know there’s some mystery at its center. How is it? Not bad. The plots of many Italian horror movies of the 1970s make little sense. In Shock, though, you might be able to guess what’s going on if you’re paying attention. The reveal, unlike in so many other Italian horror movies of this era, doesn’t come out of nowhere.
Shock boasts a solid ending, too. It’s easily the most unsettling ending of all three Beyond the Door films. And, of course, that sneaky little Marco is at the center of it.
My recommendation for Beyond the Door II AKA Shock, is simple: If you can only watch one Beyond the Door movie, make it this one.
Where to watch Beyond the Door II AKA Shock (1977):
But if you can watch all three, of course, that’s much more fun. Which brings us to …
It ends: Beyond the Door III (1989)
I’m not sure why producer Ovidio Assonitis decided to slap the “Beyond the Door” title on this one. It came out in 1989, 12 years after Beyond the Door II. I can’t believe anyone visiting their home video store back then was eagerly searching for the next Beyond the Door film. Besides, I much prefer the movie’s original title of Amok Train. It’s more accurate! While doors didn’t play much of a role in the first two Beyond the Door films, they play no role at all in this one.
As the (original) title suggests, much of the movie takes place on a passenger train that’s running amok. The reason? The devil has taken it over. And the devil – being a bit of a jerk – is having a great time running his train over victims’ heads, tearing bodies apart as they dangle between train cars, and even rerouting tracks so that his train can pursue two characters through a swampy lake.
I hope that description makes Beyond the Door III sound goofy. Because it is. In a horror film franchise known for strange movies, this one might be the oddest.
The plot of Beyond the Door III focuses on a group of college students who travel to then-Yugoslavia (a country that ceased to exist in 1992) to witness an ancient ritual. Once there, the students are met by a mysterious professor with a terrible accent played by veteran actor Bo Svenson. Svenson’s a welcome presence here in his limited screentime. But his ability to mimic an Eastern European accent? It’s not great.
One of the students, Beverly, happens to be a virgin. She also has a huge tattoo on her abdomen in the shape of an ancient Slavic symbol for virginity, a tattoo we get to see during a gratuitous shower scene. Beverly being a virgin is important: A group of Satanic cult members in Yugoslavia want to make her Satan’s bride. And Satan, snob that he is, ONLY wants to marry a virgin.
The train comes into play after the students escape from a village full of people eager to kill them. Once they get on the train, the devil follows, taking control of the vehicle by using it to viciously kill its conductor, driver, and fireman, leaving the students and the train’s other passengers alone.
A note about the deaths in this film: They are extremely gory. And the practical effects, while not always realistic, are impressive. I was especially taken by the guy whose body is ripped in half while he’s stuck outside the train between two cars. Not only is the scene graphic and bloody, it’s also incredibly mean-spirited. After the body is ripped in two and falls to the ground, one of the train’s rear cars runs over its neck, severing the head from the already dead body. Satan! What a jokester!
I will admit that I’ve not seen many horror movies set on trains. I did see Terror Train in theaters in 1980, expecting to see Halloween on tracks. I didn’t quite get that and mostly felt that Terror Train was boring. I couldn’t figure out why magician David Copperfield was getting so much screen time.
I did like Horror Express, a classic horror movie released in 1972 starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas as passengers aboard a Trans-Siberian train that’s carrying the frozen remains of a primitive human. It’s impossible not to like a movie with a cast like that. It’s undeniably a better movie than either Terror Train or Beyond the Door III.
I will say, though, that neither of those other train horror films are as entertainingly strange as Beyond the Door III.
Consider the scene in which the train pursues an escaping couple through swampy water. It does this by magically lifting its track off the ground and swinging it into the swamp, which allows the train to steam through the water and, of course, squash its victims.
What’s remarkable about this scene is that the camera is obviously filming a toy train chugging through a forest of miniature toy trees, and that no one bothered to do anything to hide this. There are no tricks to make the train look real. It’s clearly a toy.
And the moving track is clearly part of a model train set, too. The rocks and boulders it’s pushing aside look like aquarium gravel. And when the track is supposed to splash down into the swamp? It looks more like it’s being set into a puddle of dirty water.
It’s a scene that’s so poorly and cheaply done, you can’t help but love the chutzpah of the filmmakers thinking that maybe no one would notice.
Then there are the Beyond the Door III scenes of Yugoslavian railway officials trying to halt the runaway train. The characters in these scenes are speaking in the Serbo-Croatia language. In the version I saw on Shudder, these scenes were presented without subtitles, so if you’re not familiar with that language, you have no idea what these characters are saying. Maybe that’s not overly important. I imagine much of the dialogue consists of “How do we stop this train?” and “I have no idea.”
I’ve read that there’s a version of this movie that does include subtitles for these scenes. But that version is also heavily edited, cutting out most of the gore. That, unfortunately, would leave you with a very boring movie, so I recommend not worrying about all that mystery dialogue from train engineers and government officials.
I don’t want to spoil the ending of Beyond the Door III AKA Amok Train, but the resolution to Beverly’s plight is both obvious and gross. There’s a character — who spends much of his screentime playing a flute in what might be a reference to the original Beyond the Door — whose only goal is to make sure that the devil no longer wants to marry Beverly. I’ll leave it at that. I will add, though, that this character maybe should have accomplished his “task” far earlier in the movie. You know… before all those people were horribly decapitated.
Where to watch Beyond the Door III (1989):
My final grades for the Beyond the Door trilogy
What are my final grades for the Beyond the Door movies?
- Beyond the Door: C for quality, B+ for entertainment value
- Beyond the Door II: A for quality, B+ for entertainment value
- Beyond the Door III: C- for quality, A for entertainment value (It’s just THAT dumb!)
These movies aren’t for everyone. If you can’t stand plot holes, bad acting, terrible dubbing, and nonsensical storytelling, you should avoid the first and last Beyond the Door movies. But if you can find the fun in movies that are at least trying to stand out from the crowd…? I’d watch all three.
***This guest article was written by Dan Rafter! Find out more about him in his Author Bio below.***
Movie stills and posters for this review were purchased from CineMaterial and MovieStillsDB. The stock photo of peas was from Pixabay.
Hey there. I’m David Colin Jr, who played the Ken and Marco in the first two movies. I do a vanity search every so often to see what new mean things people have to say about the movies or my performances and found your article. Excellent story! And thanks for not spoiling the endings. You’ve convinced me to watch no. 3. I agree about Rosemary’s Baby, too. It doesn’t get enough credit as “source material.”
For the trivia, in Beyond the Door I, we’re celebrating my 4th birthday. We celebrated my actual 4th birthday on set since production ran long. It’s my real sister Lissa who kisses me in the scene with the birthday cake!
Oh my gosh! CELEBRITY COMMENT ALERT!!! ♥ Dan Rafter is going to be SO excited when he gets the notification that you commented on his article, David. Thank you so much for taking the time to do so. And for sharing so many fun facts! I’ve only seen the first Beyond the Door – it’s a hoot! – and you were definitely a highlight. When I was editing Dan’s post and gathering the images, my husband was very amused that your happy face with your sippy can of pea soup kept making me grin.
Hi, David: Thanks for your comment, and I’m glad you liked the story. I really did enjoy those Beyond the Door movies. I think your line about calling your movie dad “asshole” was terrific. I can’t remember the last time a line of dialogue was such as pleasant shock! (And I hope you didn’t really have to drink cold pea soup in all those scenes.)
Thanks again, and hope you have a nice weekend planned for yourself.
Dan
Hi, Dennis: This is Dan, the author of the story. Glad you liked it. I’d recommend checking out the sequels. The second one, directed by Mario Bava, is a good movie. THe third one is not, but is so ridiculous that it’s fun. I’ve also seen Comin’ at Ya, and, yes, it was horrible!
In Brazil, Italian films dubbed into English were very popular. I remember going to see “Alien 2” (Alien 2 – Sulla Terra) thinking I was actually going to see a sequel to Ridley Scott’s film. The mistake almost cost me a girlfriend. In the mid-1980s, there was a 3D renaissance, and two Italian films arrived here, both starring Tony Anthony (was his name Anthony Anthony, then?) “Comin’ at YA” and “El tesoro de las cuatro coronas,” each worse than the other. I’ve only seen “Beyond the Door” on VHS, and of the spaghetti horror productions, it’s one of the best, with a mood that keeps you interested. I was completely unaware of the sequels; perhaps they received different titles when they were released here. I really enjoyed the article.