Beyond the Door (1974)

Juliet Mills plays a young pregnant woman in San Francisco who is going to have the devil's baby during her strange possession. Richard Johnson shows up to help her... but what does he really want?

Directors:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (as O. Hellman), Robert Barrett (as R. Barrett)

Writers:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (story) (as O. Hellman), Antonio Troiso (story)

Stars:

Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson, Gabriele Lavia

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Juliet Mills	...	Jessica Barrett
Gabriele Lavia	...	Robert Barrett
Richard Johnson	...	Dimitri
Nino Segurini	...	Dr. George Staton
Elizabeth Turner	...	Barbara Staton (as Elisabeth Turner)
Barbara Fiorini	...	Gail Barrett
Carla Mancini	...	(credit only)
David Colin Jr.	...	Ken Barrett
Vittorio Fanfoni	...	Mr. Francis
Gino Marturano	...	(as Luigi Marturano)

Storyline

Pregnant with her third child, the young English mother of two, Jessica Barrett, is living a happy life in San Francisco with her respectable record producer husband, Robert. Puzzled with her strange pregnancy, more and more, Jessica finds herself affected by this unnatural situation, exhibiting erratic and violent behaviour, while talking with a deep, almost demonic voice. Could she be possessed? As blood-curdling incidents threaten the family's peace, an old friend from the past arrives, claiming that he has all the answers. But, who is this new and appalling Jessica?

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Plot Keywords:

broken aquarium | supernatural pregnancy | stalking | stalker | car over a cliff | 

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Taglines:

A horrifying and blood chilling drama of possession.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amy Grant auditioned for the lead

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Goofs

At approximately 6:06 in the beginning the child's shoes are shown, then a cut away to the child. Who is obviously too short, and human to bend and contort in the manner in which the camera suggests.

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Quotes

Jessica Barrett: [in a demonic voice] Whooooo aaare youuuuu?

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Alternate Versions

The widescreen presentation under the title Devil Within Her, features almost 15 minutes of newer footage that was not shown in theaters. This includes the complete credits, a scene were Jessica meets Dimitri in the ritual grounds and a scene showing Jessica with Robert and her children shopping down San Francisco and seeing Dimitri.

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Connections

Referenced in Horror Business (2005)

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Soundtracks

Bargain with the Devil
Music Composed and Conducted by Franco Micalizzi
Written by Sid Wayne
Performed by Warren Wilson
Produced by Danny Weis (as Danny Weiss)

User Reviews

Beyond The Exorcist

I won't waste time summarizing the plot for this film since the other users have done quite a good job themselves. Basically, you've got just one more in a stream of films that cashed in on the success of William Friedkin's 1973 classic "The Exorcist". I can only recommend "Beyond the Door" to those who enjoy these types of movies. Director Ovidio G. seems to be the Italian version of William Girdler, who directed his own "exorcist" knock-off that same year with "Abby", a blaxsploitation version that was actually taken out of theaters after two weeks due to a lawsuit filed by Warner Brothers for plagiarism. If I'm correct, "Beyond the Door" was also attacked by Warner Brothers but I'm not sure what the outcome of that one was. It did manage to stay in the theaters though and actually did good at the box office. "Beyond the Door" copies "The Exorcist" in almost every way and you will either hate it or love it. This time, instead of a young girl, we have Juliet Mills (Nanny and the Professor, Passions) who levitates, vomits, spins her head around, and curses like a sailor, saying things like "lick the whore's vomit" in a demonic voice. Sound pretty familiar? "Beyond the Door" was marketed during it's theatrical release as being filmed in Possess-O-Sound, which was basically the same thing used for the Sensurround effect in the film "Earthquake"; huge speakers with the bass turned way up. To sum things up, this is not a well-made movie at all. I was especially turned off by the devil himself doing a little narration at the beginning of the film. You will, however, have a good time watching it and be entertained if you like this kind of thing. There's a few lines of dialogue from the girl playing the daughter that are a hoot and have to be heard to be believed. I'm pretty sure that whoever wrote this script was smoking some of the wacky tobbacy. I voted 7/10 for entertainment value and being one of those movies that are bad in a good/fun way. Otherwise, I give it only a 3.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

31 July 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beyond the Door

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$350,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A Erre Cinematografica, Montoro Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 99 min (US theatrical cut)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Westrex Electric System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1