Beyond And Back
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Beyond and Back'' is a 1978 American
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
/"death-sploitation flick"''Beyond and Back'', AMC Movie Guide.
AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...
. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
produced and distributed by
Sunn Classic Pictures Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...
that deals with the subject of near death experiences.


Production notes

''Beyond and Back'' was produced by
Sunn Classic Pictures Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...
, a
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
-based
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
company that specialized in releasing
low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced o ...
message movies to non-urban audiences. Along with such features as '' In Search of Noah's Ark'' (1976) and ''
In Search of Historic Jesus ''In Search of Historic Jesus'' is a 1979 American documentary film based on Lee Roddy and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, the film speculates on the historical accuracy of the biblical depicti ...
'' (1979), the film was one of a series of releases from the company that attempted to present convincing scientific evidence for
Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...
. 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 ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 und ...
. The film's screenwriter, Stephen Lord, was a respected television
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
, having written scripts for such notable sci-fi/horror programs as '' The 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). Parts of the film were shot in Park City,
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, and Heber in Utah.


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 Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and document ...
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 Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
... if the film failed in any single market, negative
word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
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:


Critical and box office reception

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' film critic
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
criticized the film for its inability to answer the many questions it raised, adding: In his January 1979 ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' review,
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film one star, noting that it: The film appears on rogerebert.com, "Ebert's Most Hated" list, as well as in his 2000 book, ''I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie.'' Produced very inexpensively, the film was a major commercial success. It earned nearly $24 million in U.S. box office receipts and was one of the top 30 top-earning films in the U.S. for 1978.Beyond and Back, Box Office Information.
The Numbers. Retrieved November 29, 2013.


''Beyond Death's Door (1979)''

''Beyond Death’s Door'' (1979), was a follow-up to ''Beyond and Back''.  Directed by Henning Schellerup, it featured a framing story of three doctors working at a hospital, and their experiences with patients’ descriptions of
Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
,
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
and
out-of-body experience An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world as if from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more common ...
s.  The film featured vignettes from its predecessor, including the segments on
reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...
and Duncan MacDougall’s21 grams experiment.” The film was based on the book of the same name, written by Maurice Rawlings.


References


External links

* * * ''Beyond and Back'' (1978) on the Internet Archive * ''Beyond Death's Door'' (1979) on the Internet Archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beyond and Back 1978 films 1978 documentary films 1970s American films 1970s English-language films American documentary films Documentary films about the paranormal English-language documentary films Films about evangelicalism Films directed by James L. Conway Films shot in Utah Near-death experiences