Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Beyond the Darkness Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 26, 2017

Beyond the Darkness features perhaps the weirdest assortment of pull quotes I’ve ever personally seen adorning a Blu-ray cover. A small sampling includes such gems as “one of the most sickening movies ever made”, “revolting”, “stomach churning”, “shower prompting”, as well as a quote of perhaps dubious provenance by one Alfred Hitchcock mentioning how “just thinking about this movie gives me the chills”. More verbiage on the back cover of this release further alerts potential consumers to the fact that Beyond the Darkness features such exciting plot points as “torture, cannibalism, necrophilia, unrequited love and other perversions”, in what might be thought of as a kind of slap in the face for unrequited lovers everywhere. If you can get past some intentionally gruesome sights like disembowelings of various corpses, Beyond the Darkness is actually kind of campily enjoyable, featuring a completely over the top performance by Franca Stoppi as Iris, a very devoted housekeeper who makes Mrs. Danvers’ devotion to Maxim de Winter in a film actually directed by Hitchcock, 1940’s Rebecca, look like child’s play.

Iris isn’t just preternaturally interested in a young taxidermist named Frank Wyler (Kieran Canter), she’s positively obsessed with him. Iris has evidently been caring for Frank since he was a child, and Iris is also evidently none too pleased that Frank is planning on marrying pretty Anna Völkl (Cinzea Monreale), who is consigned to a hospital bed courtesy of a mystery illness which is in fact the result of Iris utilizing the talents of a voodoo practitioner, who is seen stuffing sharp needles into a voodoo doll.

Anna perishes fairly early on in the film, but in a plot conceit that’s at least a little similar to the Re-Animator franchise (and probably most specifically to Bride of Re-Animator), Frank’s taxidermy skills come in handy courtesy of a yellow-green solution he pumps into Anna’s body, which is lying in state at the local mortuary. Unbeknownst to Frank, his attempts to preserve Anna are noticed by a mortician named Mr. Kale (Sam Modesto).

Meanwhile, Iris comes to the aid of a grieving Frank by unbuttoning her blouse and letting him nurse on her, just the first of what turns out to be a series of patently bizarre psycho-sexual aspects to the plot. Needless to say, Frank gets the corpse of Anna back to his taxidermy shot, which is when things start to get really gruesome, in a sequence that may not sit too well with those who are overly squeamish. Frank’s efforts to preserve Anna are interrupted by a hapless hitchhiker Frank had picked up on the way back from the cemetery (with Anna’s corpse in the back of his van—you know, as you do), and that leads to the first of several murders, killings which only forge a tighter bond between Frank and Iris.

The body count does of course continue accruing, but one of the interesting reasons is Frank’s evidently uncontrollable sexual impulses. It’s a rather unsettling foundational plot element, given his seeming devotion to Anna and his bizarre relationship with Iris, and there are elements of Beyond the Darkness that seem to resemble a giallo infused version of The Collector. That giallo ambience is probably at least partially due to the film having been based on the 1966 thriller The Third Eye with Franco Nero, but it’s filtered here through a somewhat more gonzo sensibility that delights in shocking elements like Anna’s corpse being taxidermically preserved or some of the cannibal and torture aspects that start intruding once Frank begins bringing women back to his lair. By the time Anna's identical twin Elena shows up late in the film, Beyond the Darkness almost plays like Grand Guignol performed by a troupe wasted on some unknown hallucinogenic drug, and while it’s definitely an acquired taste (cannibal or otherwise), it’s completely unforgettable.

Beyond the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beyond the Darkness is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Unfortunately, neither the Shriek Show Blu-ray release of several years ago nor the more recent 88 Films version were reviewed here, and so I can't provide similar screenshots, and my only personal home video relationship with this film was the pretty shoddy looking Media Blasters DVD release, also from years ago. My hunch is those with some experience with this title on previous releases will be more easily pleased with the look of this transfer than those coming to the film for the first time courtesy of this Severin release. The film was shot on Super 16, and so its somewhat roughhewn and gritty texture is to be expected. While grain resolves a bit chunkily at times, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, the palette looks largely splendid, with good saturation and some especially convincing reds. While much of the film is fairly soft looking, detail levels are typically very good, at least when taking the smaller format into account, and in close-ups fine detail is similarly very good.

Beyond the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Beyond the Darkness features its English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono, and the Italian language version in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. There's considerably more low end energy in the English version, something that gives the score by Goblin more energy throughout the presentation. It's obvious that this was a multilingual affair on the shoot, and so no matter which language you choose, various performers' lip movements will come nowhere near to matching what's being spoken. Fidelity is fine on the English track, though the Italian track tends to sound a little anemic, at least when compared to the English language track.

Beyond the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Joe D'Amato: The Horror Experience (1080p; 1:08:21) is an interesting and in depth archival interview with D'Amato, who passed away in 1999. In Italian with forced English subtitles.


• The Omega Woman (1080p; 15:41) is another fun interview featurette with Franca Stoppi, the inimitable Iris of this film, who jokingly refers to her vegetarianism as making her intrinsically troubled by the film's content. In Italian with forced English subtitles.


• Goblin Reformed Perform Buio Omega Live 2016 (1080p; 4:17) is a brief music video-ish piece featuring the film's soundtrack composers.


• Locations Revisited (1080p; 20:05) has lots of pretty scenery but no narration to give context or information.


• Sick Love (1080p; 8:47) is an interview with actress Cinzia Monreale, who plays twins Anna and Elena in the film. In Italian with forced English subtitles.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:58)


• Soundtrack CD

Beyond the Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm sure there are genre fans thinking my 2.5 score for this film is absurdly low, but this is a lo-fi effort from any number of standpoints, and its sometimes questionable content will probably provoke shock if not outrage in some not prepared for some of the film's more outré elements. Stoppi is an amazing presence of Iris, to the point that Canter's Frank seems almost like an afterthought, when he really should be the primary focus. With an understanding of the source elements, the transfer here is largely commendable, and as usual Severin has assembled some nice supplements. Genre aficionados will probably find this a very appealing package, while those unschooled in the ways of Joe D'Amato may want to skip this one.