Beyond the Darkness

This has to be the best Joe d'amato film I've seen. The gore was extremely realistic and graphic which might turn some viewers off. In fact this has got to be one of the grisliest films I've seen. They are quite meticulous with the gore sequences here that even the most jaded viewers ( like myself )will cringe. At times during the movie I thought I was watching a Jeffrey Damner film. The sequence in which the hitchhiker becomes disemboweled and her body parts become the ingredients in an acid bath has got to be one of the most gruesome killings I've ever seen. It's too bad they don't make films like this anymore. Terrific.

Say what you will about the acting, the music, the script, or even the plot of this potent and disturbing flick...it hits you like a ton of bricks and leaves you with a dropped jaw, hungry for more.

It's ashame that D'Amato didn't make more films like this. His repertoire includes a few cannibal flicks and lots of porn. This, along with "Anthropophagus," stands out as his most effective work. With "Beyond the Darkness," it's like he set out to make the most horrific and disgusting slasher flick he could fathom, and he pretty much hits the nail right on the head. There is something deeply disturbing about several scenes in this film. The bathtub scene, along with the housemaid eating the stew scene are among some of the most disturbing scenes I have seen in a film ever. And I've seen my share.

All this being said, "Beyond the Darkness" is a film that can be watched over and over. D'Amato somehow still keeps it fun. Unlike other extreme horror films of the era, it remains watchable. To think that he made a film like this with what was, no doubt, a tiny budget, and it came out so beautifully unflinching and nihilistic, is nothing short of genius. "Beyond the Darkness" is one of the coolest movies I've ever seen. And like a fine wine, (made from blood and guts and acid,) it just keeps getting better with age. Watch it with your mom.

A solid 9 out of 10, kids.

Murder, mayhem and mutilation…shown in all its pride and glory! Buio Omega a.k.a Buried Alive a.k.a Beyond the Darkness is a finger-licking and ultra-gory sleazefest. D'Amato's film certainly is a landmark in the Italian shlock/sick cinema as it contains some of the grossest and explicit nauseating sequences ever shot on film. The young and introvert Frank cannot live without his recently deceased girlfriend Anna, so he digs up her corpse, embalms her and keeps her around his mansion. After this, he descents further into madness and starts to kill girls randomly and his freaky housekeeper Iris assists him. Now, Frank is pretty messed up in the head but Iris is just downright insane!! She makes a hobby out of dismembering dead bodies and she breastfeeds the 22-year-old Frank! The first half hour may seem a little lame and low on bloodshed but, as soon as the gore kicks in, it doesn't stop till the end credits role and it becomes more and more repulsive by the minute! D'Amato servers a disturbingly realistic embalming-process along with some detailed torturing scenes, dissections and gruesome butchering! Of course, like it should in Italian's nastiest, there are a lot of perversely orientated undertones present such as necrophilia, cannibalism and even a variant on the ‘Oedipus'-theme!

Joe d'Amato never was world's most brilliant director. That's okay, since he never claimed to be and he always clearly mentioned his influences. He's more like a businessman with more adult films on his repertoire…The horror films he made are vicious but technically weak, all together! Nonetheless, Buio Omega is an exception! Unlike his other horror films, Buried Alive has tension, a great soundtrack, a constant morbid atmosphere and even a bit of surprisingly good acting! Cinzia Monreale, who plays the dead love-interest Anna, became more famous after starring in Fulci's masterpiece the Beyond and the creepy aunt Iris also starred in a few delightful `babes behind bars' flicks. The circle of fans that likes this kind of films is rather small…but they're very devoted. For them, Buio Omega is a must see!

When the wealthy orphan taxidermist Frank Wyler (Kieran Canter) loses his beloved fiancée Anna Völkl (Cinzia Monreale), victim of voodoo conducted by his jealous housemaid Iris (Franca Stoppi), he robs her corpse, embalms and brings to the bed in his room. He does not overcome his feelings for her, killing every woman he has some involvement. Meanwhile Iris wants to marry Frank and helps him to dispose the bodies.

The sick, twisted and kinky "Buio Omega" has all sort of perversions and disgusting scenes, with sequences of necrophilia, mutilation, torture and embalming. However, the characters are awfully developed, and the viewer never knows, for example, whether Frank changed his behavior after the death of Anna, or he was indeed a twisted character. The weird Iris is also badly developed. The graphic and gore scenes are among the nastiest I have ever seen in a film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

D'Amato's adherence to all things vile and sleazy sometimes produces rubbish. In the case of BEYOND THE DARKNESS, he's delivered something great.

The theme is necrophilia and obsession. A man obsesses over his recently deceased girlfriend and beds her in his country house. Sexual intrigue with his maid livens proceedings and a sequence in which a hitchhiker has her fingernails removed is the one to write home about.

I'm not reluctant to say it: I love stuff like this when it's relentless, made without guilt, and moves at a quick clip.

The Goblin soundtrack feels just right and the special make-up effects are more than adequate.

D'Amato achieves a vile, putrid, rotten atmosphere with this gem, and you can't fault the guy for that, can you?