Beyond Evil

April 26th, 2009

Beyond Evil

In the opening moments of Beyond Evil (1980) a native newlywed couple dance and celebrate with their family before dashing off into the jungle to do what newlyweds do best. The girl stumbles upon an old mansion. The ghostly visage of a strange woman appears in a window just as a stone column comes down upon the blushing bride, crushing her arm.

Happy American couple Larry and Barbara (John Saxon and Lynda Day George) arrive in the Philippines and are met at the airport by Barbara’s former fiancé Del Giorgio (Michael Dante). The bargain-basement quality of Beyond Evil is quickly apparent when the dialog in the scene, which was shot at a real airport, is almost incomprehensible thanks to the jets flying overhead. Del sets the couple up in the bridal suite of the islands best hotel.

The next day Del takes Larry to the job site where he’ll serve as project engineer. Smarmy Dr. Albanos (Mario Milano), who is spearheading the construction, invites everyone out for drinks that evening. They end the night by showing Larry and Barbara their new home, the weird mansion from the beginning of the movie.

Barbara is impressed and isn’t the least bit disturbed when Del tells them of Casa Fortuna’s violent history. “If there are ghosts in my house,” Barbara insists, “I wanna know who they are.”

In flashback, we learn the story of Alma Martin (Janice Lynde) and her arranged marriage to a despicable man named Esteban. Desperate to be rid of her brutish husband, Alma turned to witchcraft. “All this time, Alma was figuring out a way to free herself,” Del narrates. “She started to dabble in all sorts of crazy, weird things, like black magic, and just like that, she got good at it. Alma could do anything she willed by simply focusing her energies. Some say she made a pact with the devil himself.” Fearful of her burgeoning powers, Esteban poisoned Alma, only to discover that hell hath no fury like the spirit of a vengeful witch.

“We’re going to be so happy here,” Barbara comments, tempting fate in the most blatant way possible. That night, the green-eyed spirit of Alma Martin watches over Larry and Barbara as they sleep.

A glowing green step forces Larry to tumble to the bottom stairs where he is nearly crushed by an ugly piece of satanic art. The next night, Barbara’s dreams are haunted by images of Alma Martin. “I just feel like the real me took off somewhere and left a ‘yuck’ in its place.”

Before leaving for work, Larry meets his new neighbors Dr. Solomon (David Opatoshu) and Leia (Anna Marisse). While her husband chats with the “healer” and his daughter, Barbara is overcome by spirits and stabs herself with a kitchen knife, leaving a mark identical to one that Alma Martin had. Dr. Albanos is greatly concerned with Barbara’s emotional state and questions Larry while, at the same time, promoting his own agenda, “How do you think Barbara feels, really feels down deep? Watching Del Giorgio use you, as he’s used her, as he uses everyone.”

The next day Dr. Albanos checks in on Barbara at the house. She quickly shoots down his creepy sexual advances and sends him away. While at the Martin family crypt, Barbara is overcome by a neon green spiritual force. It’s a force so powerful that it causes Dr. Albanos’ car to fly apart, burst into flame and careen over a cliff.

Larry returns to the hospital to get the results of his wife’s tests. In an utterly superfluous scene, he has a prolonged argument with a staff nurse about the missing tests and then kicks the ass of an orderly who tries to rough him up.

Since western medicine is of no help, Larry turns to the friendly healer next door. He arrives to find the doctor performing a spiritual operation on a terminal patient. Dr. Solomon cuts the woman open and wills the tumor out of her abdomen. “I don’t even know what to say,” Larry tells him, “but that operation was the most fantastic thing I’ve ever seen.” He is now a true believer and confesses that his wife is going through “something weird”.

Dr. Solomon advises, “As long as your wife remains in that house, she’s in terrible danger.” That old chestnut is quickly followed by the equally clichéd, “Leave that place now before it’s too late.” Larry ignores the doctor’s words of wisdom. If he and Barbara left the house, there’d be no movie left.

At the construction site, Larry barely escapes death when a possessed crane drops its heavy payload on a worker standing next to him. Larry asks Del to go to Casa Fortuna and tell Barbara that he is all right. During her discussion with Del, Barbara is overcome by the neon green heebie-jeebies. She pours him another drink and then plants a big wet one on her former lover. Barbara leads him upstairs for a little afternoon delight, but Del (surprisingly) does the right thing and refuses to sleep with his best friend’s wife. Barbara/Alma doesn’t take kindly to his rejection and pushes him out the window.

Larry later finds Barbara in a trance. He stops her from shoving her hand in the fireplace and notices that her ring finger is purple and swollen. “It’s really very simple,” Doctor Solomon explains, “The spirit of Alma Martin is trying to possess your wife’s physical presence. Her body is reacting normally, trying to fight the infection. Bring Barbara here at once. I’ll try to perform a healing.”

Larry brings Barbara (and her giant finger) to the doctor and they arrive in time to witness a healing in progress. The presence of Alma Martin’s spirit wreaks havoc with the operation. Meanwhile, at Casa Fortuna, the doctor’s daughter searches for a way to neutralize the old witch. All Leia gets for her troubles is a heaping helping of supernatural green eyeball lasers.

A local finds Del’s body in the ravine below the house. After a discussion with the investigating officer (who looks like he’s lost his way while on African safari) Larry decides to take action before his wife literally vanishes. With help from Dr. Solomon, they devise a half-assed plan and set the stage for a final showdown.

Larry and the doctor blow up the Martin family crypt. This proves to be a big mistake. “You’ve destroyed my prison,” Alma tells them by speaking through Barbara, “I am free now. I have a new home. There is nothing you can do. She must die so that I may live.” Some furniture goes flying and Alma/Barbara tosses the doctor through a wall.

Larry saves the day by forcing Barbara’s wedding band back onto her finger. Alma is unable to withstand this symbol of fidelity and commitment. Her spirit separates from Barbara and she tries to attack Larry, but it’s no use. Without a physical body to possess, her power fades and she collapses to the floor, disintegrating like a vampire in daylight.

Larry and Barbara drive away, leaving the evil of Casa Fortuna and Alma Martin behind them.

Genre favorites John Saxon and Lynda Day George do the best they can with the material they’re given, but watching Beyond Evil, you get the impression that as long as none of the actors tripped or forgot a line, director Herb Freed used the first take of each scene before quickly moving on to the next set-up. Dependable Italian film composer Pino Donnaggio helps to elevate the proceedings with his lush score, but no amount of orchestration can disguise the threadbare production values of this silly supernatural tale. It doesn’t help that portions of the final act of are so haphazardly assembled that it leaves the audience wondering what just happened.

Beyond Evil is available on DVD as part of Toxie’s Triple Terror Vol. 2 box set. The film is paired with two Troma releases from 1987, Chillers and Evil Clutch. The print used for this DVD release was obviously sourced from VHS. The film looks murky, with several of the night scenes appearing way too dark. There are no special features included.

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