Beyond Evil (1980)

This film does not seem like the Troma I am used to. Usually Troma films are filled with gore, nudity and all sorts of sleaze, while this one tries to have a serious story going and it also differs from most of their offerings in that it is boring. This could have been the sequel to the film "A Name for Evil" with Robert Culp as it plays a bit like that film only a bit more flashier. Still, it drags on and on with one inconsequential plot point after the other with the occasional tepid kill thrown in to remind you that you are still watching a horror film no matter how little horror is on the screen at any given time. This one also has a lot of the same plot elements of the film "Mausoleum" within it, only that film came after this one and it seemed to know it was a horror film as it had a whole heck of a lot going for it compared to this one which has one thing and one thing only going for it and that is John Saxon as the lead character.The story has an architect and his wife relocating to an island where the architect is helping to oversee the construction of some buildings. There is a buddy who is supposed to be getting an apartment ready for them, but he is instead getting them an awesome new house at an unbelievably low price. Turns out the place has a history and there is a lot of history with the characters, to much if you ask me. There is to many shady deals going down here which would be cool if it were the least bit relevant to the plot! Well the place is haunted by a woman who died in the place and practiced dark magic and so she shall try and take over the architect's wife in very slow and unspectacular fashion. There is a faith healer that warns our hero, but of course he does not believe in all that magic stuff. The filmmakers apparently did, painting faith healers as real, obviously this is before their little tricks were revealed to be nothing more than chicken livers.So you have a possession plot going on, so you probably want to know is it interesting? Well no, I said the film was boring and I meant it. The problem is they went to serious and the threw up a very weak horror film. The plot could be a possession plot on a soap opera it is so bland. It also feels very much like a television film, especially when the scene cuts out on a high musical note that sounded as if the film were about to go to commercial. So there is very little in the way of gore, nudity or general mayhem and the film is mainly people milling around and talking about stuff that is not relevant to the possession plot. This is a film that just screams gore and nudity and delivers not much in the way of either. So you hope the story is good, but it is just to crammed with stuff that just is not important.There is a good point to the film and that is John Saxon as the architect. If not for him I would have given the film a one, but he is an actor who stars in these b movie nightmares and can make them a bit more tolerable. I love the pointless scene in the hospital about the missing records where he punches a dude in the stomach. He does a good job and the lady portraying his wife has a nice chest, it is a shame they never showed it to us in all its glory as it would have been worth at least another point from me.So this film in the end is boring. Very much like another Troma film, "Zombie Island Massacre" in that it is set on an island and there is nothing that you expect within. I was expecting more, some good gore, perhaps lots of boobies. All I got were plot points that at times seemed to come from another movie entirely and a very slow moving possession film. You get deaths that are also suited for other films as they usually just had people falling or other things that just did not seem part of a horror film. Just disappointed all around with this one, I was not expecting this one to be really good, but I also was not expecting it to be boring either. Heck, it was beyond boring.

Architect Larry Andrews (the always reliable John Saxon) and his new bride Barbara (nicely played by the lovely Lynda Day George) move into a swanky palatial colonial mansion that's haunted by the lethal spirit of evil and vengeful witch Alma Martin (an effectively wicked portrayal by the ravishing Janice Lynde), who not surprisingly possesses Barbara's body so she can reenter our dimension. Director/co-writer Herb Freed manages to create a suitably spooky atmosphere and stages the sporadic supernatural murder set pieces with a reasonable amount of flair (the occasional use of slow motion is especially nifty), but alas the meandering script takes too long to get right down to business, the moderate sprinkling of gore is regrettably tepid stuff, the editing tends to be slapdash, the narrative is sometimes very muddled and incoherent, and , worst of all, the hopelessly cheap and cheesy (far from) special effects are often downright laughable in their jaw-dropping Day-Glo dimestore tackiness. The cast do their best with the blah material: Saxon and George make for appealing and attractive leads, with sturdy support from Michael Dante as smooth heel Del Giorgio, Mario Milano as suave physician Dr. Frank Albanos, and David Opatoshu as helpful faith healer Dr. Solomon. Ken Plotin's pretty cinematography offers several sumptuous shots of the gorgeously scenic sylvan locations. Pino Donaggio provides a supremely eerie and elegant score which gives this rather shoddy picture some much-needed class. A merely passable timewaster.

John Saxon ("Black Christmas"!) and Lynda Day George ("Pieces"!) form a fabulous horror couple in this cheap and bizarre, but nevertheless intriguing little 80's film, set on a remote Southern island. The story isn't exactly original, blending cliché horror premises like haunted houses, soul-possessions, spiritual tribes and witchcraft, and yet, there isn't a dull moment to detect anywhere. This is largely thanks to the enthusiast acting performances and the surefooted direction of Herbert Freed. "Beyond Evil" is quite an oddity, because the special effects are very amateurish (sometimes even downright laughable) and still the wholesome remains a spooky and unsettling horror tale. Upon their arrival at the island, newlyweds Larry and Barbara are offered a beautiful and gigantic mansion to live in. Through a very atmospheric flashback-story, however, we learn that this same mansion was once homed by the sinister Alma Martin and her unfaithful husband. He poisoned Alma but her restless spirit still dwells around the mansion. Now, 100 years later, Alma Martin sees her change to reincarnate through Barbara and she won't hesitate to destroy everyone that tries to prevent this from happening. As previously stated, the special and visual effects are terrible… They often exclusively exist of funky green laser beams projected from the eyes of Alma Martin and they're not very convincing. Still, the film does offer some genuine shocks whenever budget isn't required, like Alma's ghostly appearances out of nowhere or the creepy shots inside the crypt. Especially since it's such an inexplicably fascinating movie, "Beyond Evil" should be categorized under 'interesting failures' and not just under 'worthless horror junk'! If you can pick up the DVD for a reasonably cheap price, it's definitely worth buying.

This is really quite an awful movie, but there are a number of moments when it is so awful you can't help but laugh. See the badly animated green laser eyes! See the car which explodes before hitting the ground! Hear the man explain to his wife that the accident at work occurred when a crane "came out of nowhere!" I definitely recommend this film if you like bad movies.