Is Beyond the Darkness a Hidden Treasure or Dumpster Fire?
Blu-ray Distributed By: Severin Films / July 25, 2017
THE ULTIMATE EXTREME SHOCKER
FROM ITALY’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL FILMMAKER
NOW UNCUT, UNCENSORED & RESTORED IN HD
It has been denounced as “revolting” (SplatterDay.com), “stomach-churning” (Classic-Horror.com) and “shower-prompting” (Fandor), while simultaneously acclaimed as “bone-chilling” (Chas Balun), “truly classic” (The Spinning Image) and “a must-see” (Horror.com). Now experience “D’Amato’s masterpiece” (BloodyDisgusting.com) like you’ve never seen or heard it before: CinzIa Monreale (THE BEYOND) and Franca Stoppi (THE OTHER HELL) star in this psycho-sexual sickie featuring torture, cannibalism, necrophilia, unrequited love and other perversions, totally uncensored and set to a pounding score by Goblin. Severin is proud to present the “ultra-graphic sleaze-fest” (Fright.com) also known as BURIED ALIVE and BUIO OMEGA – for which director Joe D’Amato (ANTHROPOPHAGUS) was infamously accused of using real corpses – restored in HD for the first time ever and packed with exclusive new Special Features.Please note, the exclusive limited edition CD Soundtrack from Goblin is only available with the first 2500 copies of our Blu-ray release
Jamie’s Take
| Movie: |  (3.0 / 5) |
| Video: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| Audio: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Extras: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Average: |  (3.5 / 5) |
Jamie’s Reasons To Buy
- Violence/Gore: Director Joe D’Amato (Emmanuelle Around the World) has been quoted as saying he wanted to make a movie where the audience would puke. While I have seen much worse thanks to the internet, and such modern gore flicks as Saw or Hostel, Beyond the Darkness doesn’t fuck around in it’s nastiness. There are mutilations, body melting, vomiting, decapitations, cannibalism, necrophilia, and lots of thick, hairy 70’s bush that would make Chewbacca look like he has cancer.
- Music: Severin’s two-disc comes with the CD soundtrack by Goblin.
- Video: The transfer looks great and while there is some noticeable print damage, especially near the films conclusion, the overall transfer is pretty impressive. While I never saw the Media Blasters blu ray, I owned an old VHS copy (titled Buried Alive) which was so dark looking, it was hard to witness what was taking place at times during the film. So maybe I am biased but this blu ray looks fantastic.
- Extras: Rounding out the special features are interviews with Cinzia Monreale, who still looks good, and discusses the making of the film very nonchalantly. There is an older interview with Franca Stoppi, who has since passed away a few years ago, and a late 90’s interview with Joe D’Amato discussing his entire career. Fans of Goblin will enjoy a snippet of a concert they performed in 2016 where they played music from Beyond the Darkness. There is a featurette showing all the locations from when the film was made and what it looks like now. Finally, the theatrical trailer is included.
- Effectiveness: Beyond the Darkness will not win over any new viewers who are on the fence about their onscreen violence. While some gore hounds may think the film is dated and not as gruesome as it’s reputation will have you believe, it’s still a dreary, sleazy gore flick aimed at making the viewer shocked and sick.
Jamie’s Reason To Skip
- Effects: While I may be desensitized, I think it’s the rather cheap looking effects that made the film look more silly than shocking. It’s not H.G. Lewis material but don’t expect Tom Savini-type effects either.
- Audio: Beyond the Darkness features an English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono, and the Italian language version in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. I watched the English dub and noticed music and sound effects being much louder than actual dialog. That’s not to say it was hard to hear what the characters were saying, it was just the music and background noises were more prominent.
- Plot: Kieran Canter (The Devil in Mr. Holmes) stars as Frank Wyler, a young taxidermist. His wife, Anna (Cinzia Monreale), is dying in the hospital from an undisclosed illness. Unbeknownst to Frank, his housekeeper Iris (Franca Stoppi) has a voodoo doll of Anna which seems to be the cause of Anna’s illness. When Frank isn’t breast feeding from the psycho Iris’s titty, he soon starts to kill off various women he meets, or runs into for apparently no good reason. The film doesn’t really delve into Frank’s psychosis or focus on his madness (Canter isn’t much of an actor), but rather the film’s main purpose is to present the viewer with various graphic deaths until the final confrontation with Frank and Iris, who is just as insane if not more so than Frank. Whether it’s Frank picking up a hitchhiker, a jogger, or a disco dancer, these women don’t last long once they meet old Frankie.
- For those with weak stomach’s or sensitive to onscreen gore, stay the fuck away from Joe D’Amato’s Beyond the Darkness. This film is for not the faint of heart. I am pretty sure Jorge Buttgereit (Nekromantik fame) was influenced by Beyond the Darkness in both plot and onscreen gruesomeness.
[amazon_link asins=’B06XC3GY9C,B00MNQO3DY,B00MFCPVO6,B000VD9MG4′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’trashmenamaz-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6c9e825b-6811-11e8-a43b-b34db28e71cf’]
Jimbo’s Take
| Movie: |  (2.0 / 5) |
| Video: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Audio: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Extras: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Average: | (3.5 / 5) |
Jimbo’s Reasons To Buy
- Blu-ray Specs & Special Features: It’s Severin! Severin Films always does everything they can to create a complete special edition. The image looks fantastic, despite a handful of print damages and artifacts. The blu-ray offers the choice between the English dub and original Italian audio (with subtitles). Personally I prefer the Italian language track. I felt the performances played better and the actor’s lips sync more appropriately. But that’s not all! The blu-ray includes roughly 120 minutes of special features (listed below)!
- Music: Goblin is perhaps best known for their score on Dario Argento’s Suspiria. But this soundtrack is no slouch. The music for Beyond the Darkness is easily one of the high points of the movie, creating a musical cue for D’Amato’s hyper-violence and character insanity. The CD is limited to only the first 2500 copies, so act quickly.
- Excessive Violence/Gore/Nudity: Depending on your tastes, you may think this belongs in the latter category. However, it is the film’s selling point and it delivers. Unlike Jamie, I did not find the gore effects to be “silly”, though a few practical effects feel dated. Even by today’s standards, I found the violence to be impact-full and disgusting. Just as shocking is the gratuitous amounts of nudity. I know in today’s social climate we’re not supposed to celebrate such things. But it’s hard not to applaud when even Iris (Franca Stoppi) pops out a tit for Frank (Kieran Canter) to suckle.
- Directing: For what it is, it is expertly crafted. D’Amato makes the film he set forth to achieve.
- The Ending: It’s laughably stupid and absurd.
Jimbo’s Reasons To Skip
- Plot & Characters: If you’re looking for a dense plot, it ain’t here. It’s a pretty paint-by-numbers shock fest. Beyond the Darkness‘ primary purpose is shock and awe, and it will do that expertly for most viewers. But Beyond the Darkness misses a huge opportunity to also act as a character study for Frank and Iris. We’re never told or shown what is motivating their actions. And because we don’t understand, there’s little reason for us to care. I found I was getting a little bored, despite D’Amato’s efforts to gross me out. A good contrast are films like Henry: Portrait of a Series Killer, or Maniac which serve dual purposes as character studies with the excessive violence.
- Script: This probably seems obvious based on my previous comments, but there’s a lot of wasted time with a sub-plot that goes nowhere. Naturally, any serial killer movie needs a detective “hot on the trail”. Except, the detective doesn’t do anything to change the course of events. The sub-plot seems to be there simply to pad the run time. D’Amato’s direction and style make up a lot of lost ground. But from a story structure standpoint, even the most capable directors can’t overcome thin scripts.
- The Ending: The Italians seem to love endings that don’t make any goddamned sense. And because of this I’m also including it here. If the excessive gore doesn’t drive you away, the ending may piss you off.
[amazon_link asins=’B01LWK3F4M,B003V924Y2,B071CZN39C,B00J2R3W52′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’trashmenamaz-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’adcade7b-6817-11e8-99d4-0120ed9dddad’]
Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?
| Jamie: |  (3.5 / 5) |
| Jimbo: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Average: | (3.5 / 5) |
Special Features
- Joe D’Amato: The Horror Experience – Interview with director Joe D’Amato (68 mins)
- The Omega Woman – Interview with actress Franca Stoppi (16 mins)
- Sick Love – An Interview with actress Cinzia Monreale (9 mins)
- Goblin Reborn Perform Buio Omega Live 2016 (4 mins)
- Locations Revisited (20 mins)
- Theatrical Trailer (3 mins)
