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A very poor attempt to ripoff "The Exorcist".

HorrorMan | The Marsten House | 06/11/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"With overwhelming evidence of being heavily influenced (to put it nicely) by both "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby", "Beyond the Door" starring Juliet Mills is an exercise in futility and incompetence. Indeed, this movie is essentially pointless in motivation as well as in substance. The plot involves a housewife named Jessica, played by Juliet Mills, whom is pregnant with an abnormally fast-growing fetus and appears to be tormented by some psychological and emotional problems. The abnormal pregnancy certainly brings to mind memories of the far superior "Rosemary's Baby". However, what was probably supposed to be some kind of a mix between "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby" clearly develops into an embarrassing display of horrendous film-making. As far as the plot goes, it becomes quite obvious as the movie progresses that Jessica's problems extend beyond that of any medical condition. The only question is how can Jessica and her family be saved, but while watching this movie, does the viewer even care? This statement may seem harsh, but after watching this movie, I can assure you that this particular issue with this movie is undoubtedly legitimate.

The problems with "Beyond the Door" are fundamental and plentiful. First, "Beyond the Door" completely lacks fluidity from scene to scene. In other words, it appears to the viewer that he/she is watching a frame by frame selection of scenes that are rigidly put together and completely uneven; this is very tedious and frustrating for the viewer. The consequence of this flaw is a poor plot and theme development, and the viewer never gets a taste of the atmosphere that should be associated with such a flick. Anyone who cares anything at all about possession films cannot help but long for "The Exorcist" which was an example of perfect film-making. Unfortunately, "Beyond the Door" represents an attempt to ride the coattails of classics before it in the hope of cashing in.

Second, the acting in "Beyond the Door" is nothing short of deplorable, especially the man who plays the husband of Jessica's character, but he is just the tip of the iceberg in that the entire cast appears to be completely inept at executing this type of film. Juliet Mills appears to be adequate at times, but her character lacks spirit and is largely undynamic just like the rest of the characters in this movie. As a result, there is a lack of suspense in this movie. The viewer is supposed to sympathize with Jessica's character and the family in general, but the viewer's frustrations with the movies poor thematic and plot development cause an indifference as to the fate of the family or, rather, the viewer is so bored, he/she just cannot get into it. Clearly, this movie is unable to generate the emotive and intensity elements that it needs in order to be successful. Again, this is a direct result of the poor acting, but it also due to a general lack of direction, a very poor script and pathetic plot development associated with this cinematic disaster of a movie.

"Beyond the Door" is a perfect example of a movie that simply never gets off the ground in spite of itself. However, there are some scenes that are worthy of being mentioned, namely the possession scenes involving Jessica's character, which would have been scary but for the fact that the requisite atmospheric tension and situational horror necessary for the effectiveness of this type of horror movie is completely absent. Therefore, these scenes appear in a vacuum of an emotionless screenplay that cripples the ability of these scenes to inspire horror in the audience. Of course, anyone that knows anything about horror movies immediately recognizes that these scenes are pretty much a direct ripoff of "The Exorcist".

"Beyond the Door" is an absolute cinematic disaster that I cannot recommend to anyone who enjoys good horror movies. There is nothing scary about it whatsoever. The way the story of this movie unfolds to the viewer is fundamentally flawed. Also, I must say that from a personal standpoint, I thought Dmitri's character was pathetic and largely unnecessary, but this was one way that the creators of this flick tried to distinguish itself from "The Exorcist"; it did not work at all. I had high hopes for this film for some reason. Maybe it was the 70s feel to it or perhaps my hope for some intense possession scenes within the confines of a good story, but "Beyond the Door" is nothing short of a major disappointment for me.

As a side note, it is my understanding that Mario Bava's "Shock" is the sequel to "Beyond the Door". In this case, the sequel certainly is a lot better than the original, and the sequel is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination.

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