Beyond the Door (1974 film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Written by | Ovidio G. Assonitis |
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| Music by | Franco Micalizzi |
| Cinematography | Roberto Piazzoli |
| Distributed by | FVI |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
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| Budget | $350,000 |
| Box office | $15 million |
Beyond the Door (Italian title: Chi sei?) is a 1974 Italian-American horror film co-directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis (credited as Oliver Hellman) and Robert Barrett. The film stars Juliet Mills and Richard Johnson, and was released in the UK in a re-edited format as Devil Within Her.
Jessica Barrett is a young mother in San Francisco. Her family and friends begin to notice odd behavior around the time she falls pregnant with her third child. As the strangeness intensifies, Jessica begins to display signs of demonic possession including spinning her head all the way around and projectile vomiting.
Dimitri, a lover from her past, shows up claiming to be able to help her, but it turns out he is in league with the entity possessing her, and is aiding the birth of her child, assumed to be the Antichrist, in exchange for the thing saving him from dying in a car crash years before. The film ends with the entity turning on Dimitri, and suggesting all events were done for its own amusement. The entity then kills Dimitri, leaves Jessica's body, and the child is stillborn. At the end of the movie a young boy is seen throwing a toy red car (a symbol of toying with Dimitri) in the bay suggesting that he is the Antichrist.
The interior shots were filmed on set in Italy at the Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome, while all exteriors were shot on location in San Francisco. Film Ventures International acquired the film for distribution in the United States for $100,000.
Detailing a woman possessed by a demon, Beyond The Door was labeled a rip-off of The Exorcist. Warner Bros. promptly filed a lawsuit, claiming copyright infringement. The lawsuit was ultimately settled in the favor of Warner Bros. with the studio receiving a cash settlement from A-Erre Cinematografica s.r.l. and a portion of the film's future revenue.
Beyond the Door earned an estimated $15 million at the U.S box office. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the movie 1 star out of 4, calling it "...scary trash...."
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