''Human Experiments'' (also known as ''Beyond the Gate'') is a 1979 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed and co-produced by Gregory Goodell. It stars Linda Haynes, Geoffrey Lewis, Ellen Travolta,

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Pictures before achieving stardom through his roles in '' The Marrying Kind, P ...

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

and

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later to films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatil ...

. This film earned its notoriety for being targeted by the Director of Public Prosecutions during the video nasty furore in the early 1980s. Although it was listed on the first " video nasty" list issued by the DPP on July 4, 1983, the film was never prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act and had originally been given an uncut (now defunct) X rating by the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...

for theatrical release in 1979.

Plot

Rachel Foster (Linda Haynes) is a country singer traveling alone through the United States. She resists the advances of lecherous bar owner Mat Tibbs (Aldo Ray), and in her hurry to leave town, she accidentally wrecks her car. Looking for assistance, she finds what appears to be an abandoned house - but after stumbling inside the place, she discovers the scene of a grisly multiple homicide perpetrated by a young boy. As no one believes that the child is responsible for such a horrific act, she is railroaded into a women's correctional facility by the prurient bar owner's brother, Sheriff Tibbs (Jackie Coogan). As well as falsely charged with the murders, the innocent musician now finds herself at the mercy of prison psychiatrist Doctor Kline (Geoffrey Lewis), who has diabolical intentions. Kline has some radical techniques for "curing" criminality, and after a failed escape attempt, she undergoes his 'treatment' and completely loses her mind. After she is rehabilitated, her name is changed to Sarah Jean Walker. Afterwards, the warden gets notice that the boy woke up and confessed to killing his whole family. Klein, to keep Rachel under his thumb and to hide his radical therapy methods, tries to have Rachel kill the warden, but Rachel seems to come to and break the programming. She shoots the office up and seems to wound Klein. Sometime later, Rachel is seen once again singing in a dive bar; however, she now goes by her new name, Sarah Jean Walker.

Cast

* Linda Haynes as Rachel Foster * Geoffrey Lewis as Dr. Hans Kline * Ellen Travolta as Mover *

as Matt Tibbs *

as Sheriff Tibbs *

as Granny * Mercedes Shirley as Warden Weber *Bobby Porter as Derril Willis *Darlene Craviotto as Rita

Home video

Scorpion Releasing released the film on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in 2018, featuring an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

track with director Greg Goodell.

References

Citations

General and cited references

* Martin, John: ''The Seduction of the Gullible: Curious History of the British "Video Nasties" Phenomenon''. Nottingham: Procrustes Press, 1993, page 206. .

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, human_experiments, Human Experiments American horror films Women in prison films 1970s exploitation films 1979 films 1979 horror films 1970s prison films 1970s road movies 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language horror films Girls with guns films Video nasties English-language crime films