Beyond the Seventh Door

Director - Bozidar D. Benedikt (The Graveyard Story, Brooklyn Nights)
Starring - Lazar Rockwood (Friday the 13th: The Series, Witchblade), Bonnie Beck (Don't Turn Out the Light, Deadly Nightmares), and Gary Freedman
Release Date - 1987
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "In order to reach it one needs seven lives.  To find out whats behind it one has to die"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     With the Puppet Master series behind me I decided it was time to knock out the rest of the review stack.  My wife is healthy and my daughter is now a week old so its back to the grind of movie reviewing.  I just wrapped up last weeks Tromatic Thursday with Wizards of the Demon Sword and decided to find something nice and 80s.  Looking through my review stack I found the Intervision Film Corps release of the 1987 film Beyond the Seventh Door.  I really like the artwork for the release and decided to toss that one in.   Thank you Intervision for sending this one my way to check out.
     The film follows a petty thief who wonders into his ex.  He expresses his love for her while she explains to him that she no longer feels the same.  He promises her to change his ways after one last score.  They decide to break into a locked room belonging to her boss but what they don't know is that her boss is a sadistic rich man who has built a sadistic labyrinth in his basement.  Those trapped in his maze of riddles have a certain amount of time to figure them out or die.  Can they make it out alive or will their greed get the best of them?
     The artwork for this release had me sold on the movie.  I didn't know what to expect but the artwork made me think of Fulci's The Beyond aka Seven Doors of Death.  Instead, we get a Canadian predecessor to the Saw series.  When news broke about the release of this film I heard several horror fans praise the film for its acting.  Now after watching it I have to say that it was clearly a joke.  The cast is laughable.  They over exaggerate most of their scenes and undersell the others.  There is no consistency in the film but as bad as they are I absolutely loved it.  It made the film tolerable.  The story for this one may have looked good on paper but it is a rather ambitious story for a relatively small budget.  The film struggles to feel genuine and at times you will want to turn it off.  The story is fantastic but did not translate well on screen.  Finally, those of you expecting blood will not find it here.  The film tries to sell the movie on atmosphere and tension instead of blood and gore...and it fails to do so.  Overall, Beyond the Seventh Door is nowhere near the film I was expecting but it deserves to be seen just to enjoy the acting.  Check it out with some friends and a few drinks.