Thursday, October 13, 2022

Day 13: The Beyond (1981) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
The Beyond (1981)

It's a Fulci Classic, "The Beyond".  The story, as such, is kind of hard to describe... One of the Seven Gates of Hell is in Louisiana (gee, only one of the seven, you say? /joke!/), and the Guardian of the Gate is killed by a mob for practicing Black Magic back in the 1800's.  From there the story picks up in the 1980's and involves people trying to decide what to do with the Louisiana haunted hotel which is also one of the Gates of Hell which, if opened, will end the World.

There are zombies, people-eating tarantulas, more zombies, acid that dissolves humans at an astonishing rate, and more zombies.  Fulci was knows for his Grand Guignol style which is so over-the-top at times that one almost has to laugh.  I do appreciate that he doesn't play it safe with his story or characters, though, which adds to the sense that no one is safe in his movies.  What's that, there's no way something could happen to that child?  [Spoilers!]  Oops, she's possessed and takes a gunshot to the face.

As for the special effects, there is a certain charm to Fulci and his obvious use of dummies and odd prosthetics, and gallons and gallons of fake blood.  As such, the zombie painting is intentionally a little more grotty to reflect the crumbly mask the actor wore.  (That's right, I **MEANT** to do that!)

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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