Spoken Nerd Finds Inspiration in Lucio Fulci’s THE BEYOND
In December of 2019, I had the opportunity to see a performance by the legendary Italian composer, Fabio Frizzi. I arrived at the venue a bit early because I didn’t want to miss anything, as I had been anticipating this show for months. Before I went to the show I visited one of my old stomping grounds known as Cafe Coco for a bite to eat. Waiting in line in front of me was Fabio and his band trying to navigate the menu. They apologized profusely for holding me up but I wasn’t sweating it as the show couldn’t start without them. The band would later accompany the Lucio Fulci film, The Beyond with their magnificent soundtrack which would blow my mind forever. I had not yet seen the film at this point but this experience would go on to introduce one of my favorite horror films and concerts I had ever experienced.
Fast forward to August of 2020 to the celebration of my 40th birthday with a small group of friends on my porch. The socially distant gathering would include food, beer, and a viewing of The Beyond. In the months before the pandemic, I had begun hosting movie nights at my house which included a low-key pinball tournament. a potluck with some sort of theme around the movie and a beer tasting. I chose The Beyond for this night because it was our first get together in months and I wanted to show a film that was not only epic by means of story and soundtrack but would also gross my wife out. This film met all of those requirements.
A couple of months later when my friend Stuart was celebrating his 40th birthday, I decided to give him the experience of choosing a film for me to gain inspiration from for my monthly song release.
“I chose The Beyond because it is my favorite Fulci film, it’s full of a lot of interesting moments and atmosphere. It’s also at once terrifying and hilarious.”- Stuart Von Stein – Film Expert, Record Enthusiast, Songwriter, ect.
“Lose Sight” is written from the perspective of Dr. John McCabe, a logically minded aide to the protagonist, Liza. Although John McCabe doesn’t adhere to superstition or folklore he is confronted by walking corpses, the book of Eibon, and a gate to hell in the basement of a hotel owned by his new attractive friend, Liza.
Director Lucio Fulci tends to have a fascination with the destruction of the eyes in his movies as The Beyond showcases a memorable scene of a gang of spiders mutilating a man’s face. The chorus of “Lose Sight” refers to the ending where John and Liza walk through the gate into hell and are blinded by the lights as the soundtrack champions a western-like theme of glory.
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