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Beyond Evil

R Released May 9, 1980 1h 34m Horror List
Reviews 18% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Newlyweds (John Saxon, Lynda Day George) move to an island mansion haunted by a scorned woman who dabbled in the occult.
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Beyond Evil

Audience Reviews

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Steve D You have seen it done better a million times. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A few things about this film should attract cult film aficionados. Firstly, it stars John Saxon and Lynda Day George. It was also released on the infamous video label VIPCO (home of Zombie Flesh Eaters and Shogun Assassin in the early 80's). It's also features some of the cheapest special effects I've ever seen which have aged incredibly badly. In other words, it's great fun and has plenty of things going for it. A couple move to a tropical island and find a mansion that is so cheap that they have to buy it. But it then becomes apparent that Barbara (George) is showing signs of being possessed by the evil spirit of the wife of the previous owner who was practising the occult before she ended up killing and being killed by her husband. This is kitsch cult cinema at it's purest- bad effects, bad acting, bad plot. BUT, very enjoyable because of it. This film has, erm, character! This movie would be perfect if you stumbled upon it on an obscure cable channel late at night. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Giving a review of this movie in 2019 is not an easy thing to do without crapping all over it but it has some good qualities such as acting and directing . The story was easy to follow but the effects, yikes,, I'm glad movie making abilities have improved . Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Beyond Evil Starring: John Saxon, Lynda Day George, Michael Dante, and Janice Lynde Director: Herb Freed When loving couple Larry and Barbara (Saxon and George) move into a house acquired for them by Larry's scheming friend Del (Dante), the restlesss, man-hating spirit of a voodoo queen who was murdered there (Lynde) is awakened. The spirit first attempts to kill all the men in Barbara's life, and then it possesses Barbara and tries to kill even Larry. Will a force beyond death--and beyond evil--consume the inhabitants of the small South Sea island, or will Larry find a way to defeat the ghost? This is a fabulous low-budget chiller that features a great collection of energetic and ethusiastic actors--there are literally no bad performances anywhere--and showcases steady, focused direction of the kind that movies with ten times the budget are often lacking. On the downside, the film features some rather laughable visible effects. In most cases, the filmmakers seemed to be aware that their budget limited what they could do--and they got by quite effectively with creative lighting, fog machines, jump-cuts, and other inexpensive movie gimmicks--but then they also decided to do some animation effects. These were passable when all they were used for were to illustrate whenever the ghost was up to something evil, but when they started showing laser beams shooting from the eyes of the possessed Barbara, the animation went from cheap-looking to rediculous. Despite the occassional special effects missteps, "Beyond Evil" is mostly a competently executed haunted house/possession flick. It sags a bit in the middle--where the voodoo queen flexes her supernatural muscle and things get a bit repetative as Larry tries to convince the increasingly strange Barbara to seek medical help--but for the most part it remains an engrossing little movie that's worth a look. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Beyond Evil

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Newlyweds (John Saxon, Lynda Day George) move to an island mansion haunted by a scorned woman who dabbled in the occult.
Director
Herb Freed
Producer
David Baughn, Herb Freed
Screenwriter
Paul Ross, Herb Freed, David Baughn
Distributor
Media Home Entertainment
Production Co
IFI/Scope III, Milano Films International
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 9, 1980, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2017
Runtime
1h 34m
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