Beyond and Back
Encyclopedia
Beyond And Back is a 1978 documentary
and "death-sploitation flick" released by Sunn Classic Pictures
that deals with the subject of near death experiences.
Based in part on a book by evangelist Ralph Wilkerson, the idea for Beyond And Back was suggested to Sunn Pictures by a freelance writer who submitted a treatment for the film after reading about the film studio in Writer's Digest. The film's screenwriter, Stephen Lord, was a respected television screenwriter, having written scripts for such notable sci-fi/horror programs as "Outer Limits" and "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." Directing chores went to James L. Conway, who had helmed Sunn's speculative fiction vehicle The Lincoln Conspiracy the previous year. The movie was filmed by cinematographer Henning Schellerup, a veteran of late '60s and early '70s porn films such as Come One, Come All (1970) and Heterosexualis (1973).
film critic Janet Maslin
criticized the film for its inability to answer the many questions it raised, adding, "Do you know real malarkey when you hear it? What would you consider a fair price for the Brooklyn Bridge?" In his January 1979 Chicago Sun-Times
review, Roger Ebert
gave the film one star, noting that it "gives turkeys a bad name. It exists on about the same cinematic level as an Army training film or one of those junior high chemistry movies in which the experiments never quite worked." The film also appears on rogerebert.com "Ebert's Most Hated" list, as well as in his 2000 book, I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie.
The film earned nearly $24,000,000 in U.S. box office receipts and was one of the top 20 top-earning films in the U.S. for 1978.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and "death-sploitation flick" released by Sunn Classic Pictures
Sunn Classic Pictures
Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Schick Sunn Classic Pictures is an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and documentaries, and was bought by Taft Broadcasting in 1980.-History:...
that deals with the subject of near death experiences.
Production notes
Beyond And Back was produced by Sunn Classic Pictures, a Utah-based independent film company that specialized in releasing low-budget message movies to non-urban audiences. Along with such features as In Search of Historic Jesus (1979) and In Search of Noah's Ark (1976), the film was one of a series of releases from the company that attempted to present convincing scientific evidence for Christian theology.Based in part on a book by evangelist Ralph Wilkerson, the idea for Beyond And Back was suggested to Sunn Pictures by a freelance writer who submitted a treatment for the film after reading about the film studio in Writer's Digest. The film's screenwriter, Stephen Lord, was a respected television screenwriter, having written scripts for such notable sci-fi/horror programs as "Outer Limits" and "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." Directing chores went to James L. Conway, who had helmed Sunn's speculative fiction vehicle The Lincoln Conspiracy the previous year. The movie was filmed by cinematographer Henning Schellerup, a veteran of late '60s and early '70s porn films such as Come One, Come All (1970) and Heterosexualis (1973).
Promotion
Since Beyond And Back never received a traditional wide release, it was able to largely avoid scrutiny from the national media . Sunn Classic Pictures mostly screened its films in smaller towns and non-urban areas. It was also popular at drive-in movie theaters. This approach "avoided the audiences and the critical media in Los Angeles and New York... if the film failed in any single market, negative word of mouth did not spread to the next locale".Born-again Christian background and content
Filmed entirely on location in Utah, Beyond And Back was produced by Charles E. Sellier Jr. At the time of the film's release, Sellier noted that he "believe(s) God wants me to do the films I do, otherwise He wouldn't have made me a success".Critical and box office reception
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
criticized the film for its inability to answer the many questions it raised, adding, "Do you know real malarkey when you hear it? What would you consider a fair price for the Brooklyn Bridge?" In his January 1979 Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
review, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film one star, noting that it "gives turkeys a bad name. It exists on about the same cinematic level as an Army training film or one of those junior high chemistry movies in which the experiments never quite worked." The film also appears on rogerebert.com "Ebert's Most Hated" list, as well as in his 2000 book, I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie.
The film earned nearly $24,000,000 in U.S. box office receipts and was one of the top 20 top-earning films in the U.S. for 1978.
External links
- Beyond And Back (1978), Full length documentary at FreeDocumentary.tv