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"The Exorcist" spawned many imitators but nary an equal in its day. "Beyond the Door" was one of those pretenders that made a slight impression in some circles, not for its quality but rather for its reckless decision to dive headfirst into the supernatural aspects. While it has some supporters, it truly stands out more as an example of the folly of leaning into the wrong aspects of something successful.
"Beyond the Door" follows the story of a female plagued by demonic possession . As a result of this, her house and family are thrown into turmoil as her symptoms worsen. She is the defacto Regan McNeil of this film but that is where similarities to "The Exorcist" cease. The film somewhat admirably (though ultimately foolishly) chooses to play a game of opposites with its story.
While "The Exorcist" first introduces us to Father Merrin, a devout priest who has faced evil in the past and been strengthened by that encounter, this movie introduces us to an acolyte of the Devil who has failed his evil master and been given one more chance to extend his life and fix things. Instead of a child being possessed we have a woman, newly pregnant, and already with a brood of her own. She, unlike Regan's mother is happily married. Most notably, this movie chooses to focus on the horrific aspects of supernatural torture rather than the dramatic stories of those affected by undeniable evil like in "The Exorcist". Even the moments when science is brought in to try to explain the affliction are tampered down in this.
It's almost as if the writers thought that all this subterfuge would obscure the obvious fact that they were cashing in on the notoriety of another movie. Naturally, their efforts are all for naught. All these overt changes serve only to emphasize why "The Exorcist" is so well regarded rather than to make this movie stand out. "The Exorcist", for all its head-spinning and pea soup vomit, was actually a story about three divergent faith paths and how they cope when being faced with undeniable forces of evil. Beyond the Door falls apart because it almost solely focuses on the goop and shock tactics.
Indeed, the character work here is atrocious. Everyone is so one-dimensional that they literally rather spend time on shots of people walking rather then attempt to further develop them into more palatable characters. Any semblance of personality is immediately dashed by horrendous dialogue and even worse dubbing (some of which grants a child of about 6 years old the voice of a teenager). An opening narration bursting with exposition, robs the story of any potential surprises it may have held (not that they would of been effective otherwise).
"The Exorcist" ended in a melancholic but heartening way. Sure, the bastion of good died but he died in his faith. Yes, the doubting priest sacrificed his life for that of a child but he did so having gone from doubter to believer. In "Beyond the Door" they play that opposite game again and it's possibly the only time the movie comes close to working. Our devil's acolyte is revealed to have been the true focus of the affliction, just the Evil One playing one last game with the fool that followed him. I'd call this a spoiler but the opening narration ruins it and all the glaring missteps in between make it worthless. Then we have one final "reveal" (again ruined by the opening) that, under better circumstances, could of been a genuinely creepy moment but here just makes you roll your eyes.
This movie was produced by Italians (who at the time were notorious for cashing in on a craze) and it shows. We have the requisite wholesale dubbing of voices and sounds, a wildly inadequate soundtrack, laughable effects work, a focus on the visceral, and, of course, an utter disregard for quality. Some films deserve a second look despite their flaws and even exploitation can have its day but "Beyond the Door" deserves to be left at the bottom of the trash heap it was plucked from. 0/10
