VOICES FROM BEYOND (1991)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free (4K UHD), A (Blu-ray)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p 4K Ultra HD (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Karina Huff, Pascal Persiano, Lorenzo Flaherty
Voices from Beyond (1991) is the penultimate film finale for master Italian shock-maker Lucio Fulci (The Beyond), a late-era return to form for Fulci who made this supernatural revenger following the lesser Aenigma or Demonia. The film is a bit of an Agatha Christie supernaturally charged murder-mystery, it opens with the bloody death of the wealthy Giorgio Mainardi (Duilio Del Prete, The Nun and the Devil) in a hospital surrounded by his family, including his wife, as he throws up blood he utters the word "Why?" before expiring. The next day his college-aged daughter Rosie (Karina Huff, The Black Cat) arrives at the Mainardi estate to mourn her father and look for answers, which are in short supply, as Giorgio's stepmom Hilda (Frances Nacman) initially refuses to allow an autopsy. Eventually an autopsy is performed, and the intestines seemed to show some kind of internal lacerations, but the samples were accidentally destroyed before they could be properly tested, with the pathologist being Fulci in a Hitchcockian cameo. Other family members at the estate for the reading of the will include Giorgio's invalid father (Paolo Paoloni, The House of Clocks), Hilda's son Mario (Pascal Persiano, The Sweet House of Horrors), and Giorgio's third wife, Lucy (Bettina Giovannini, Night Ripper), and the more Rosie looks into who might have wanted her father dead, the more it seems its could have been any of them.
Interestingly Rosie is visited by the ghost of her father in her dreams, who tells her to find his killer, and there's an interesting bit where he tells her that he will keep visiting her in her dreams so long as his corpse resembles the way she remembered him, meaning as his corpse decomposes in the ground, he will eventually lose the ability to communicate with her, adding a ticking clock element to it, with these cool glimpses his cobwebbed and bug infested corpse bathed in eerie blue light. Another highlight is a dream sequence in which Mario is walking down a stained-glass lit hallway lined with crypts, with the undead breaking through to grasp at him! The flick is not super gory by the usual Fulci standards, but it's atmospheric, creepy and the bits of gore we do get like the autopsy intestine pull and the rotting glimpses at Giorgio's corpse are really well-done. The murder-mystery / reading-of-the-will melodrama of it all can get a bit much, but I really enjoyed the atmospheric dream sequences and bits of violence, including the stabbing of child, oh, and let's not forget the scene of a plate of sunnyside-up eggs turning into a disgusting nightmare plate of egg whites and human eyeballs!
Audio/Video: Voices from beyond (1991) makes it's worldwide 4k Ultra HD premier from Severin Film sin 2160p UHD with HDR10, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negative. The 4K resolution offers defined film grain with wonderful texture and fine detail, the last time I watched this was the Code Red Blu-ray, which I remember thinking was fine at the time, but compared to this new 4K release, it just does not compare, time to gift that to someone else's beginner collection my friend! The fine detail sin close-ups of faces, and the rotting corpse in the grace covered in cobwebs looks amazing, and the HDR10 color-grade offers crisper white and deeper blacks, improved contrast, and the oft used blue gel lighting pops rather nicely, and skin tones look warm and natural. As with many of Fulci film of this era we get lots of diffuse lighting that has a cheesecloth over the lens look to it, which doesn't always translate well, but this looks far superior to the previous Code Red Blu-ray. Audio comes by way of post-dubbed English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The tracks are clean and well balanced, some slight hiss is audible in spots but is never intrusive, dialogue is nicely prioritized, as are the eerie supernatural sound effects, and the score by Stelvio Cipriani (Convoy Busters) sounds wonderful, plenty of synth based creepiness with the sounds of children and some nice percussive elements throughout.
Aside for the significant A/V upgrade Severin knock it of the park with new extras as well, we get the 14-min About Death – Audio Interview With Lucio Fulci an interview recorded by Michele Ramagnoli recorded with Lucio Fulci in November 1990, the audio quality is a little shaky, but it's a terrific listen. Fulci discusses the exploration of the afterlife in his films, the film's idea that the dead can communicate through dreams, and his dislike of ritual visits to the cemetery. He also gets into the special effects and locations seen in the film, working for Albert Band's Empire Pictures, and his discussions with David Cronenberg, and his next project Door Into Silence.
Next is the 16-min Beyond The Living – Interview With Actor Pascal Persiano who describes Fulci as sincere and spontaneous, disagreeing that Fulci's reputation as being mean to actors was exaggerated in his experience. How he first started working with Fulci on Sweet House of Horrors, how the makeup effects on that film gave him 3rd degree burns on his face, working with Ilary Blasi as a young girl and meeting again years later on another film. Then he gets into being cast in Voices from Beyond, noting the the cast including Karina Huff and Lorenzo Flaherty, his character, and the gorgeous shooting location at a villa in Castel Gandolfo. Also mentioned are shooting the hallway sequence, Alessandro Grosse's lensing, the atmosphere on set, and how he regrets not working the with Fulci earlier when he had more resources and better distribution.
The 12-min A House For The Dead – Interview With Set Designer Antonello Geleng talks of working with Lucio Fulci on three film, these being City of the Living Dead, Sweet House of Horrors, and Voices from beyond. He notes that it was he who found the house in Castel Gandolfo, which belonged Luchino Visconti (The Damned), and that he made the the portrait seen in the film. He mentions that Fulci was a bit of a good hearted grouch, the decline of horror in Italy, and how declining budgets lead to less atmosphere in films. He finished up with talking about working on pre-production for the Wax Mask with Fulci who was supposed to direct before his death, with the film being finished but Sergio Stivaletti. Like A Father – Interview With Prop Master Vincenzo Luzzi runs about 13-min, Luzzi speaks of his first meeting Fulci who tested his skill at the time, how Fulci was frail and clearly in pain, which might have contributed to his meanness on set, and his memories of his work on the Lucio Fulci presents... series of films, and how he had small roles on Sweet House of Horrors and Cat in the Brain. He also notes that Fulci was a skilled film technician, how intelligent he was, and that he was very private, and that Fulci had a knack for giving people nicknames, which were sometimes demeaning, his humor, and remembering how Fulci's death affected him. The last of the new extras is the 22-min
Lucio's Last Wave – Interview With Stephen Thrower, Author Of Beyond Terror: The Films Of Lucio Fulci, offering a typically deep dive into the production, noting the four week shoot schedule, the Lucio Fulci presents line-up, how this compares to tother of his films of this era, how Voices from beyond looks pretty stylish when compared to others he made during this later era, and that this production is technically well-made, a story synopsis, and more. We also get a 2-min Trailer, plus a 12 track, 43-min Stelvio Cipriani Soundtrack CD.
The 3-disc set arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. Inside a flipper tray houses the three discs featuring key artwork, plus there's an insert card with credits and a track list for the CD. This comes housed in a Limited Edition Slipcover with unique artwork and spot-gloss title treatments on the cover and both spines.
Special Features:
Disc 1: Ultra HD: Feature + Trailer
- Trailer (2:03)
Disc 2: Blu-ray: Features and Extras
- About Death – Audio Interview With Lucio Fulci (14:04)
- Beyond The Living – Interview With Actor Pascal Persiano (15:42)
- A House For The Dead – Interview With Set Designer Antonello Geleng (11:30)
- Like A Father – Interview With Prop Master Vincenzo Luzzi (13:50)
- Lucio's Last Wave – Interview With Stephen Thrower, Author Of Beyond Terror: The Films Of Lucio Fulci (22: 04)
- Trailer (2:03)
Disc 3: Stelvio Cipriani CD Soundtrack (12 Tracks, 43 min)
Voices from Beyond (1991) is never going to be mistaken for top-tier Lucio Fulci, but it is a decently atmospheric return to form for the director during this late period of his career, chock full of creepy atmosphere, bizarre dream sequences, an interesting supernatural murder-mystery premise, and some solid gory moments - making this a late-era Fulci gem worth checking out. Severin have put together the definitive 4K UHD platter for the film with some terrific new extras and the soundtrack CD, if you're a Fulci-fanatic this is a must-own, easily the best it's ever looked or sounded on home video, recommended.
Screenshots from the Severin films Blu-ray:
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