BEYOND EVIL (1980) Blu-ray/DVD combo
Director: Herb Freed
Vinegar Syndrome

John Saxon and Lynda Day George go BEYOND EVIL with Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray/DVD combo of this mock American/Filipino horror flick.

Architect Larry Andrews (Saxon, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) and his wife Barbara (George, PIECES) arrive on a Filipino island to work on a giant condo development with Larry's longtime partner Del Giorgio (Michael Dante, WINTERHAWK). Barbara has a low opinion of Del, not helped by his not having accommodations ready for them, but they are unaware that his dealings with local playboy/developer Dr. Albanos (Mario Milano, THE ZEBRA FORCE) are less than on-the-level. As part of his financial arrangement with Albanos, Del has scored the Martin house, a million dollar mansion that has sold for a song because it is supposed to be haunted and the locals keep far away from it. Del gives the house to Larry and Barbara, who is intrigued rather than disturbed by the house's story. Two hundred years ago, European Alma (THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS' Janice Lynde) was forced into an arranged marriage with Esteban Martin (Zitto Kazann, TRACKDOWN) who wanted access to European trade routes. Hurt by his faithlessness, Alma started experimenting and became proficient in Black Magic. Her terrified husband murdered her but she came back from the grave for revenge. The locals believe Alma still lives in the house, and Larry and Barbara start experiencing odd events pretty quickly. As Barbara's personality starts to change, Larry worries about her psychological state, but local faith healer Dr. Soloman (David Opatoshu, TORN CURTAIN) tries to convince him that the supernatural is at work on his wife.

A low budget horror film believably set in the Philippines – at a time when low budget studios like Roger Corman's New World were still shooting there and the homegrown industry was booming on exploitation – but actually shot on location in Los Angeles (the striking Martin mansion is actually the still-standing Castillo del Lago beneath the Hollywood sign which was owned by Madonna in the 1990s), BEYOND EVIL is rather ordinary in its possession elements but Saxon, George, Dante, and Opatoshu are engaging, as is the wonderful orchestral and choral scoring of CARRIE's Pino Donaggio who had previously scored director Herb Freed's superior HAUNTS. Although rated R, the content is rather tame apart from some "psychic surgery" gore during a faith healing scene with a child patient played by Verkina Flower (THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA), daughter of character actor George "Buck" Flower (THE FOG) who is credited as "production advisor" (ILSA series director Don Edmonds was the film's associate producer). The film's visual effects are by industry veteran James F. Liles (LOGAN'S RUN) but they are rather poor as well as poorly planned with the image having to freeze-frame whenever Alma's apparition shoots lasers out of her eyes and the appearances of her apparition are grainy superimpositions. Freed would go on to direct the slasher GRADUATION DAY and the Crown International comedy TOMBOY.

Released theatrically by IFI/Scope III (GOOD LUCK, MISS WYCKOFF), BEYOND EVIL was more widely seen on Media Home Entertainment's VHS with its striking cover artwork. The film's rights were eventually picked up by Troma who sublicensed the old video master to Brentwood and BCI for various boxed sets including TOXIE'S TRIPLE TERROR, VOLUME 2 with EVIL CLUTCH and CHILLERS. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from a 2K scan of archival 35mm elements, and this appears in this case not to mean a projection print but an element actually archived as the positive print elements are very clean and free from damage apart from the usual reel change marks. The credits opticals including some stock footage is grainier than the rest of the film, as are the film's optical effects, the flashbacks are lensed with excessive diffusion, and the reshot ending looks a bit sharper than the rest of the film overall. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track boasts clear dialogue, makes some whispers and chanting more audible, and nicely serves Donaggio's underrated score. Optional English SDH subtitles are available but could have used some proofing (as when Milano describes Alma's tomb as a "grizzly place").

Extras are spare but helpful. In "Origins of Evil" (14:43), director Freed recalls starting out as a Rabbi but being discomforted with officiating deaths. He decided to get into filmmaking despite the discouragement of studio executive Dore Schary. He glosses over his first film HAUNTS (hopefully indicative of a future Blu-ray with interview footage shot at the same time) and recalls how he identified more with the premise of BEYOND EVIL because of his interest in spirituality, and speaks warmly of his relationship with his first wife Anne Marisse (who plays Dr. Solomon's daughter in the film) and their collaborations, as well as collaborating with Donaggio on the scoring. In "Evil in Paradise" (13:14), producer/IFI distributor David Baughn recalls getting to know Freed through HAUNTS and deciding to start produce his own films, coming up with the concept and title of BEYOND EVIL and conceiving of trailer-ready moments while Freed and co-writer Paul Ross worked on the screenplay. He recalls scouting locations in Los Angeles to look like the Philippines, and MGM's labs ruining a reel of negative requiring a reshoot of the ending (he also expresses dissatisfaction with the film's optical effects). The theatrical trailer (2:02) is also included. The disc comes with a reversible cover while the first 2,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome comes with a special limited edition embossed slipcover by Earl Kessler Jr. (Eric Cotenas)

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