Italian director Joe D'Amato is usually associated with sleaze. He has covered nearly every genre and spent the majority of his career directing XXX flicks. Although he is sometimes dismissed as not having any talent, many of his adult films have been noted for being based on historical characters and looking much more professional than many of the quickie titles that populate that world. In the late 70's and early 80's, D'Amato had a run at directing a number of horror and fantasy movies some of which are entertaining (Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals), some of which are controversial (Emanuelle in America), and some of which are just plain bad (Porno Holocaust). In the midst of all of this, D'Amato also showed some signs that he could have been a really great director if he could get past the sex and tell a good story. Beyond The Darkness is one of those times and if you can get past the excessive gore and nudity, you will see that this is one of the better films from the classic era of Eurosploitation pictures.

Kieran Canter stars as Frank Wyler, a heartbroken sociopath whose wife (Cinzia Monreale) has just passed away. Rather than let her be buried with dignity, Frank sneaks into the funeral home and injects her with a serum that will keep her corpse fresh. He then exhumes her body from the grave, brings her home, and uses his taxidermy skills to turn her into an eternal doll that resides in their old bed. Along the way, he is forced to murder a couple of women who discover his secret and then dispose of their bodies in nasty ways with the help of his creepy housekeeper named Iris (Franca Stoppi). Although this sounds quite twisted (which it is), it is a story of obsession and love as he does not want his wife to become just a mere memory. In addition to trying to keep his secret, Frank also has to deal with the fact that Iris has her own little obsession with Frank and this bizarre love triangle culminates in an explosion of jealousy when the dead wife's sister shows up at the estate.

I had no idea what to expect from this one other than the fact that I knew this had the reputation of being one of D'Amato's better films. This one has gone under my radar for years because it does not have the same reputation as some of the director's nastier work which is inexplicable to me as the gore scenes in this flick rival those of any of Fulci's classics or the cannibal pictures of the time. One scene that is especially disgusting is when Frank prepares his wife's corpse for longevity which consists of him slowly removing her internal organs and even eating her heart. It was long rumored that this scene was created by using a real corpse but like a number of the great urban legends from that era (like Cannibal Holocaust being real), this version of history was proven to be untrue. Some of the other moments of nastiness include the dismemberment of a corpse that reminded me of the the infamous "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" segment of the Guinea Pig series and a vulgar display of eating courtesy of Franca Stoppi that furthered my disgust of stew.

Aside from all of this mayhem and the fact that all corpses are stripped naked at one point or another, the movie is well acted, well shot, and the story is engaging. There are a number of moments of great suspense such as when the police come to investigate and when Frank brings an injured runner home that are well executed and prove that D'Amato had the chops when he wanted to. I just think he eventually gave into his reputation and became a hired gun rather than trying to establish himself as a good director.

Cinzia Monreale should be given some recognition for her portrayal of the corpse for nearly all of the film as I could imagine it must have been extremely difficult to stay still with her eyes wide open. Italian horror fans will undoubtedly know Monreale from her portrayal of the blind girl Emily in Fulci's The Beyond. Franca Stoppi had a brief career in some of Bruno Mattei's nunsploitation and WIP flicks. Cantner went on to star in some adult films. I also have to mention the great score by Goblin that will have fans of the band smiling from the opening seconds. Overall, this is an extreme movie that is not for the squeamish or easily offended but is also probably Joe D'Amato's finest hour as a director. (Josh Pasnak, 8/17/08)

Directed By: Joe D'Amato.
Written By: Ottavia Fabbri.

Starring: Kieran Canter, Cinzia Monreale, Franca Stoppi, Sam Modesto.

aka: Buio Omega, Blue Holocaust, Buried Alive.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: This is a decent transfer but unfortunately Shriek Show made an error in the framing so that it is missing some picture information. This will aggravate completists but seeing as I have no idea what information was missed, I did not feel as though it detracted from the movie.

Extras: First up, we get an audio interview with art director Donatella Donati. This is presented over some of the more gruesome scenes in the film and she explains what it was like working with D'Amato over the years. Next, we have an interview with actress Cinzia Monreale who is now in her 40's and looks better than she did in the film. She seems like a really cool person and discusses working on the film and some other parts of her career. Finally, we get a photo gallery, trailers, and a detailed insert.