HV Hyche's Film Review: Beyond The Darkness.

Searching for the ultimate weird horror film? Well, look no further! Joe D'Amato's 1979 Italian horror film, BEYOND THE DARKNESS (also known as BUIO OMEGA), is a trip down the weird horror rabbit hole. It is an insane gore-fest about a wealthy orphan who practices taxidermy (and not just on animals!) and the borderline incestuous relationship between him and the housekeeper who raised him after his parents died. It is shocking, trashy, and in my opinion, incredibly underrated in the world of Italian horror films. It even features a soundtrack by Goblin! What more could you ask for? The film is a remake of Mino Guerrini's 1966 film, THE THIRD EYE, and the story for BEYOND THE DARKNESS actually came from Guerrini's son, Giacomo Guerrini. However, THE THIRD EYE has nothing on the weird gross-out epic that is BEYOND THE DARKNESS.

BEYOND THE DARKNESS follows wealthy taxidermist Frank Wyler's (played by Kieran Canter) very sick and twisted life after the sudden death of his fiancé, Anna Volkl (Cinzia Monreale). Moments before Anna's death, we learn that Frank's devoted yet jealous housekeeper, Iris (Franca Stoppi), practiced voodoo to kill poor Anna. Unaware of what Iris did, Frank is utterly devastated by Anna's death. Therefore, he seeks comfort in Iris. She speaks to him in a soothing, maternal manner as she unbuttons her blouse, exposing her breasts. Frank begins to suckle on her nipple as she calls him her "baby boy." Creepy? You bet. Before Anna's funeral, Frank is allowed to have privacy with the body to say his goodbyes. However, while alone, Frank injects Anna's body with a syringe full of a liquid that taxidermists use to preserve the bodies of dead animals. Frank was unaware that an employee of the funeral home witnessed the entire thing,

After the burial, Frank unearths Anna's freshly buried casket, pries it open with a crowbar, and takes her body. On the way back to his house, Frank is faced with the first of many obstacles in his descent into madness. He gets a flat tire, is offered help from a police officer who just happened to be driving by, and picks up a pushy hitchhiker named Jan (Lucia D'Ella) all while his dead fiancé lies in the back of his van. Jan falls asleep, and Frank takes Anna's corpse to the basement, which doubles as his taxidermy workshop. This is perhaps the most disgusting and gory scene in the entire film (which says a lot - believe me). Frank removes her organs, and there are close-up shots that actually show him cutting her flesh and her guts (a pig was used to achieve this effect and to make it look as realistic as possible, and they definitely succeeded). Frank then removes the last organ: Anna's heart. Before disposing of it, he takes a large bite, savoring every second of it. Yikes. Jan, the hitchhiker, wakes up in Frank's van and enters this house of horrors. She makes her way into Frank's basement workshop and immediately panics when she sees Frank working on Anna's corpse. Jan becomes the first of many victims whom Frank feels could potentially jeopardize his future with the newly "stuffed" and lifeless Anna. As with all of Frank's future victims, Iris helps him dispose of Jan's body, but not before giving him the creepiest hand job of all time.


Later, the man from the funeral home who witnessed Frank injecting Anna with the mysterious liquid shows up at Frank's house to snoop around while trying to pass as a taxidermy enthusiast and collector. His stay is a brief one, but he leaves even more convinced that Frank is behind the disappearance of Anna's body. [Note: from now on, I will remain vague, so I do not include any major spoilers] After killing yet another girl, Frank's strange and violent behavior finally catches up with him when a surprise guest shows up at his doorstep, unannounced. Shortly after the guest's arrival, she faints when she discovers Anna's corpse, which has been moved into a seated position in a rocking chair. The loyal Iris then appears to kill the mystery guest to protect Frank's secret. However, Frank stops Iris from doing the deed, and this leads to a true battle royale between both parties. It is epic - a fight to end all fights. There is eye-gouging, face-biting, and even crotch-stabbing. The last scene of the film is brief and incredibly shocking and effective without being graphic or vomit-inducing.

BEYOND THE DARKNESS was filmed in only two weeks in the summer of 1979 in Bressanone, a town in northern Italy (some interior shots were filmed in Rome). The film was directed by prolific filmmaker Joe D'Amato (also known for the Giallo film, DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER along with many, many others), who also served as his own cinematographer on this film. In the 2001 documentary, JOE D'AMATO: THE HORROR EXPERIENCE, D'Amato refers to the production as a wonderful experience and says that he believes the story of BEYOND THE DARKNESS is "very beautiful." The two lead actresses, Franca Stoppi (Iris) and Cinzia Monreale (Anna) both agreed that filming was an extremely positive experience. To quote Monreale from an interview titled SICK LOVE from the Severin release of the film, "We had fun, and we were young!" Stoppi was actually unemployed when offered the part of Iris but did not read a single word of the script before signing onto the project. It's comforting to know that both actresses had pleasant filming experiences because this film could have easily been traumatizing for anyone involved - including the audience.

It is quite rare that a film - horror or otherwise - leaves me completely speechless, but BEYOND THE DARKNESS certainly did. Though the film was heavily censored in Italy (against D'Amato's wishes) at the time of its release, I'm stunned it wasn't banned from many countries because of its graphic violence - especially against women - and that positively gruesome scene in which Frank removes Anna's organs. Don't get me wrong - I am completely against any kind of censorship, but it is downright surprising how much D'Amato and crew got away with. I love this ridiculously gory, sleaze-fest of a movie. It's exciting, bloody, and utterly nuts. Believe it or not, it also touches on the devastation of losing a loved one, the loneliness that follows, and the desire to preserve the person's memory for as long as possible (or in Frank's case, to literally preserve his fiancee as long as possible). I strongly believe this film deserves a much larger audience, despite being hard to watch at times. Fans of Italian horror or just weird films, in general, should definitely give it a chance. Thanks to label Severin, the film has been restored in HD, is totally uncut, and is available for purchase from their site. Oh, and did I mention Goblin composed the soundtrack? What are you waiting for? Pick this one up as soon as possible.