Bloodtype Online

    When it comes to the films of Joe D'Amato you are bound to hear many things.  A lot of people consider him to be the Ed Wood of Italian Cinema.  Others look at him as total hack of a director even stealing stock footage and splicing it into films of his.  Some even comment on how he was less concerned with making "art" and more worried with turning a profit.  Either way you look at him, he's a director that certainly had an idea and went for it.  From making porno films to exploitation masterpieces he is a filmmaker that is as revered today as he ever was, as he should be.  Over his career he made an astounding number of films (even  to this day he used so many monikers that it's hard to pinpoint just how many he actually made) that are deprived, nihilistic, and have to be seen to be believed.  With that being said, 1979's Beyond the Darkness is no exception.

       This film is certainly a very dark, morbid look at necrophilia, loss, and dealing with death.  The main character is Frank Wyler a man whose girlfriend Anna is in the hospital and isn't in the best condition.  She is cursed by Iris (the headmistress of the home where Frank lives) causing her to die.  Frank doesn't take the death too well and ends up digging up Anna and taking her home.  Frank being an excellent taxidermist decides that the since he just can't bear to live another  day without her, he'll give her the old taxidermy special.  Basically stuffing her and keeping her in the house with him.  With the help of Iris, Frank goes on a spree where he just kills women and brings them back to his property for some really sadistic stuff.  It should also be mentioned that there is a very strange  other/son sexual vibe from Frank and Iris in this film to boot that really adds to the creep factor in this.  Beyond is complete with people being burned alive, acid baths, dismemberments, and all the gruesome goodies that you come to expect from a Joe D'Amato film.  Explaining it here in this review couldn't even do justice to some of the stuff in this film.  D'Amato is a master at nihilism in his films and it's on display for all to witness once again in Beyond the Darkness.  It's creepy, the sets are incredible, and the gore is everything a true gorehound looks for in a horror flick.

       D'Amato's really showing his skills in this one with excellent cinematography and more style than most of his films.  This one is a horror movie in every sense of the word and it's really an underrated film even as far as D'Amato's work goes.  The score couldn't be any better as Italian masters of music Goblin were brought in to do the music for Beyond.  Although the music is repetitive, I'd personally take repetitive music by Goblin over original music from just about anyone.  They are easily the best in the business and they never seen to disappoint in their department.  It adds to the dread and peculiar nature of the film and makes it that much better.  Another technical aspect about Beyond the Darkness that I found remarkable was the great usage of lighting by D'Amato.  The film looks great and it helps because the shot composition in the film was also done exceptionally well.  Movies like this just aren't made these days so I love watching something like this and noticing the craftsmanship that's put into it.

       With that said, I must say that I highly enjoyed Beyond the Darkness and I think most of our readers would as well.  If you are a fan of Joe D'Amato and you have yet to see this one, get on it immediately. If you are looking to get into the films of D'Amato I think that this would be as good of a starting point as any.  I highly recommend this film not only for his fans or gorehounds, but I would have to say it's worth it to just about any horror fan looking for a change from the stuff that we are seeing put out these days.  Shriek Show/Media Blasters put this out in one of the awesome, wonderfully priced three packs entitled "Shriek Show presents: Psycho Killer triple feature" with Deodato's House by the Edge of the Park and Lamberto Bava's Delirium.

Rating - ***

-Ed Demko