Voices from Beyond (1991)

So much average

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

If repeated eye close-ups, a soft-focus lens, and dream sequences moving in slow motion are your thing then this abysmal supernatural thriller from Lucio Fulci may be the film for you. Otherwise, skip it, as this is a Fulci far from the success of ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS or any of his other classic zombie gut-munchers. This is an old, muddled embittered Fulci, a man preoccupied with being over-the-top "arty" and supposedly stylish when instead all he can do is make the film look cheap and tacky, a director who had seriously lost his 'bite' when it came to horror films in 1990. At least he had some of the gore dripping for his next film, his swansong, NIGHTMARE CONCERT.VOICES FROM BEYOND is a film packed with cheap scares and bad dream sequences, with attempts at atmosphere by having sets enshrouded in cheap-looking dry ice whilst monotonous synthesiser music plays loudly over the images on screen and threatens to blow your mind. None of the old acting hands are around to give the film any kudos either or any of those "cool, look, it's him!" type moments. Here, the cast is a bland one, a gang who couldn't act their way out of a paper bag, and even the repeated bared breasts of blonde female lead Karina Huff fails to generate the excitement that Fulci was desperate for.The film's singular gory highlight comes at an autopsy, when a pathologist (played by a gleeful Fulci, up to his old tricks again) pulls out the guts from a corpse in graphic detail, snips them up and chucks them in a jar. Aside from the opening sequence which takes the term "death bed" literally with gallons of blood pumping from the mouth of a dying man (which promises a return to the old days which never occurs) this is a relatively bloodless and shoddy offering. The rest of the horror comes from repeated shots of a corpse decaying in its coffin, as while we watch flies appear and maggots crawl from the body's eye sockets - bizarre, seeing as the coffin is buried six feet below ground level. I guess it's those "burrowing flies" causing trouble again - or maybe it's just a film "of images".Sure, this movie does have a few cool moments - I liked the voice-over narration of the corpse, a good effect used in literature a lot but rarely in films, and Fulci harks back to the old days by throwing in a nightmare sequence involving an attack by a few mouldy-looking zombies. But what a let-down of a non-ending! Our female lead laughs in the graveyard and walks off, what the heck?! Then watch closely for a final message from the director in which Fulci pays tribute to his "real friends" - one is none other than Clive Barker! This film's a poor mess from a disillusioned mind.

Voices from Beyond (1991)** (out of 4)Made-for-TV flick ended up being the next to last film for the Italian goremaster. In the film a father suddenly dies and his young daughter arrives and starts hearing his voice. The father wants his daughter to discover the truth behind his death but it won't be easy as he made quite a few enemies in his life. One could debate the merit of Fulci's later day works but then again we could debate much of his gore period as well. If you don't mind the cheapness of his later films then you might want to check this one out as it somewhat comes off as a greatest hits from the director. The story itself is pretty stupid and it's doubtful anyone watching is really going to care who the killer actually is. I can't sit here and say that I figured out who did it but then again I really wasn't trying to figure it out. Also, as expected, the performances aren't the strongest and none of them are helped but the cheap dubbing that sounds rather silly. With that said, how many people actually come to Fulci for a story and good acting? What we come to a Fulci film for is gore and this one here offers quite a bit of it so don't let the fact that this was made-for-TV stand in your way. The gore levels are pretty high from start to finish as we get a fake looking stabbing, an autopsy scene with guts being pulled out and several other gory deaths. We also get another nice touch of visiting inside the father's grave every few days just to see what shape his body is in. It's also worth noting that there's a sequence where zombies attack one of the possible suspects so it was somewhat nice seeing the director doing one more scene inside that famous genre that he helped shape. The film also throws in a fair amount of sex and nudity so the sleaze factor is pretty high on all levels. Again, this isn't a masterpiece or one of Fulci's strongest works but it does contain enough of what we've come to expect from him.

"Voices from Beyond" is an overall solid Italian thriller, padded with typical Fulciesque gore scenes. I say padded because you'll quickly notice that, albeit very cool and delightfully gruesome, the gory bits are absolutely irrelevant to the story and they just seem to be included because the fans expect no less from Mr. Fulci. The gore occurs during several nightmare-sequences, a totally gratuitous autopsy and through repeated images of a slowly decomposing corpse. The rotting process goes incredibly fast here, by the way. Only moments after the burial, the corpse is already covered in maggots and cobwebs! Anyway, you certainly don't need these gloriously gooey moments in order to follow the story, but they sure make the movie more entertaining and easier to digest (…except if you have a weak stomach, of course). The actual story, written by Lucio Fulci himself, is quite compelling and revolves on the arrogant and despicable Mainardi family. The patriarch – Georgio – died from food poisoning, but his soul is restless and can't help thinking his dead was a carefully planned murder conspiracy. Therefore he seeks supernatural contact with the only remaining person he can trust, namely his cherubic teenage daughter Rosy. Guided by the voice of her departed father, Rosy investigates the various reasons why the entire Mainardi family wanted Georgio dead. The premise might sound a little silly; yet "Voices from Beyond" is quite involving and the tension is adequately build up. The film as a wholesome may not rank among his best efforts, but this is definitely one of Lucio Fulci's finest achievements in directing! There are several highly imaginative scenes to state his mastery, most notably the part where Georgio's body lies in state and the family members come to pay their last 'respects'. With each person standing before him, we are informed – through flashbacks - about the conflicts (read: possible motivations for killing) between him/her and the deceased. Very powerful! There are negative aspects as well, of course, like the occasionally poor dialogs and monologues, especially when Georgio's soul speaks! I suppose this is why dead people don't talk… They say stupid and cheesy things. Also, you should prepare for a dull and completely UNexciting climax. It's a really lousy ending to an overall recommended thriller. Now then, who wants a slice of eyeball-omelet?

Caution: Some plot and scenes revealed"Voices from beyond" is one of Fulci's most coherent and successful productions, especially among his last films. As usual, the subject are the horrors of death and what comes after it.The story deals with the death of Giorgi Mainardi, a man with a lot of money and enemies. After the prologue and the opening credits we witness the violent death of Mainardi, vomitting loads of blood. During his burial ceremony we are introduced to the main characters and in flash back sequences to why they had good reason to hate him. After his death, Mainardi manages to keep contact to the living: To his only trustee, his daughter Rosy, he talks in dreams, and his enemies he haunts with terrible nightmares. This concept gives Fulci the opportunity to insert many wildly surreal dream sequences (including, believe it or not, a zombie attack), and he makes good use of it. This dreamlike aspect of the movie is contrasted to the clinical analysis of Mainardi's death and decay, starting from his unpleasant demise on the death bed, ranging over the autopsy carried out by the Maestro (i.e., Fulci) himself, and ending in repeated shots of his decaying corpse.Other fine images include a still life with broken light bulbs (the device used to kill Mainardi) which summarizes the evil plot against him.We also watch the claustrophobia of Mainardi's father whose spirit is still alive but who has no means to communicate with the outside world, except his tears. He has to suffer interminable mockings through Mainardi's enemies.Maybe this character expresses Fulci's own incapacity to express himself properly in his latest movies due to extremely limited budgets and equipment. In fact, in an interview Fulci declared that he wanted to make one more movie with sufficient production values (i.e., "The Wax mask"), so that he can die in peace. As everybody knows, fate has declined this favour to him.Nevertheless, with "Voices from beyond", Fulci has demonstrated that he could create something of value even with restricted resources.