Could The Beyond have been influenced by Phantasm?!? I know, that sounds a little crazy, but just think about it the next time you watch either movie.

The music often sounds very similar, in both movies. Also, both movies are surreal in a similar way... they don't really make total sense, except when considered as dreams or nightmares. Also, that place where they go at the very end of The Beyond makes me think of how the brothers and Reggie get a glimpse of that other planet, through the tuning fork doorway, in Phantasm. Also, there isn't exactly a tuning fork doorway in The Beyond, but that whole hotel, and maybe even that whole town, was supposed to be a portal to... well, to Hell, not to another planet, but... well, it's still sort of a similar type of deal.

There might be other things too... I read that Fulci and his crew made up a lot of things on the spot, as they were filming The Beyond. I just wonder if any of them had seen Phantasm, when it came out, the year before they did their filming. Maybe their memories of it were part of their creative process, maybe even unconsciously.

Anybody have any thoughts?