BEYOND DEATH'S DOOR dvd
(aka Journey Through Death's Door)
(1979)
DIRECTOR: Henning Schellerup (Black Alley Cats, Tomboy)
STARS: Tom Hillock (Hanger 18), John Aspiras, Taurean Blacque ("Hill Street Blues"), Cindy Fisher (Liar's Moon), Danny Goldman (M.A.S.H., Tunnelvision), Jo Ann Harris (Act of Vengeance), Michael McGuire (Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again), John Hansen (The Christine Jorgensen Story)
SYNOPSIS: I've always assumed this was another in a long line of phenomena based documentaries put out by the 'Sunn Classic Pictures' company. Films like Bermuda Triangle, Mysterious Monsters, The Outer Space Connection and In Search of Noah's Ark. All these films employ interviews with experts, authors and amateurs with fantastic stories to tell. Along with photographs, grainy film footage and recreations you have the expected 'Sunn Classic' recipe. However…this film is none of those things. Instead we have a dramatic story about a doctor, "Paul", working in a large hospital. It seems that every patient who comes in during his shift (gunshot, suicide attempt, poison) ends up having a life after death experience (known as LAD). He is unsure at first but an annoying nurse tells him it's really not that complicated and happens all the time. His doctor pal, "Howard", is the skeptical character of the story and by the film's end he'll learn his lesson. The various characters all have a few background scenes: a depressed drug addled wife, a jive talking pimp (Hill Street Blues' Blacque), a construction worker angry at his daughter and a young skier who causes an avalanche(!), etc. What's great is that each time the patient flatlines we see their visions. Sometimes they float over the operating room and see themselves ("Hey, I'm up here. Lookin' down on all you cats"). Other times they're in a large room with cloud-like smoke swirling while loved ones wave them onward. Best of all are the folks who get a glimpse of Hell. It appears as a large cave with moaning souls, zombies, fire and a quicksand pit. The Hell sequences remind me of Italian horror films from the 80's like Fulci's The Beyond and House By the Cemetery. By the end of the film it starts to feel very much like a 'Mark IV' production (Thief in the Night, Image of the Beast, etc.) with the expected religious sales pitch replaced by a simple "Don't worry about dying, it gets better" style message. One story takes place inside a disco club and there's a surprisingly robust car chase scene, with the pimp character running from gangsters, that looks reckless as hell. Shot in Utah.
*For more see: The Force Beyond, Outer Space Connection and The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free NTSC dvd-R
YELLOW dvd case (above image is the front cover art)
Buy "Beyond Death's Door" : $20.00
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