While familiar with the work of Lucio Fulci before now, I had no idea he was as prolific as he was.

He’d directed/written about seventy features, a catalog more extensive and varied than most people are probably aware though what surprises me most is how he takes what is familiar, and adds his own spin.

For instance, watching The Beyond what came to mind were Michael Winner’s The Sentinel, which came four years earlier, and Don Cosarelli’s Phantasm, two years earlier.

And I’m not saying that Fulci copied Winner or Coscarelli, nor do I have any idea he’s actually seen their films; despite similarities in the plot and other elements The Beyond is uniquely his, typically not feeling like an Italian knock-off.

And it’s worth mentioning that it’s Fulci’s boldness, in terms of the featured special effects work that at times comes back to bite him in that some of the gore effects of The Beyond are pretty remarkable though even when they aren’t they’re always interesting, revealing the craft beneath the work.