Beyond the Darkness (1979)

Grief-struck after the death of his wife, a young man attempts to keep her with him forever - by gutting her, stuffing her and replacing her eyes with glass eyes, turning her into a doll. But his bouts of insanity are just beginning.

Director:

Joe D'Amato

Writers:

Ottavio Fabbri (screenplay), Giacomo Guerrini (story)

Stars:

Kieran Canter, Cinzia Monreale, Franca Stoppi

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kieran Canter	...	Frank Wyler
Cinzia Monreale	...	Anna Völkl & Elena Völkl
Franca Stoppi	...	Iris
Sam Modesto	...	Mr. Kale
Anna Cardini	...	Jogging victim
Lucia D'Elia	...	Jan, hitch-hiker
Mario Pezzin	...	Priest
Walter Tribus	...	Handyman
Klaus Rainer	...	Doctor
Edmondo Vallini	...	Detective #1
Simonetta Allodi	...	Disco Girl

Storyline

A young rich orphan loses his fiancée to voodoo doll mischief on the part of his housekeeper who is jealous of his attentions. He digs his girlfriend up, cleans her out, stuffs her, and puts her in bed at the mansion. Following this, he tries out and disposes of a series of young maidens, trying to find the right replacement for her, and the disapproving housekeeper helps him with the disposals.

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | video nasty | torture | brutality | blood splatter | 

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Taglines:

A fate worse than death!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beyond the Darkness

Filming Locations:

Cine International, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

D.R. Comunicazioni di massa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspired the lyrics to the song "Deathmask Divine", by Michigan-based melodic death metal band The Black Dahlia Murder.

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Goofs

The intruder takes pictures of Anna after her body fell out of the closet, but the position of the body doesn't correspond with the position in the photograph: in the photograph, you can see her left hand touching her robe, while in "reality", her left arm wasn't near her robe. Her right arm is resting on her belly in the photograph, while in reality it is next to her body.

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Connections

Referenced in Horror Business (2005)

User Reviews

Sick, Twisted and Kinky

When the wealthy orphan taxidermist Frank Wyler (Kieran Canter) loses his beloved fiancée Anna Völkl (Cinzia Monreale), victim of voodoo conducted by his jealous housemaid Iris (Franca Stoppi), he robs her corpse, embalms and brings to the bed in his room. He does not overcome his feelings for her, killing every woman he has some involvement. Meanwhile Iris wants to marry Frank and helps him to dispose the bodies.

The sick, twisted and kinky "Buio Omega" has all sort of perversions and disgusting scenes, with sequences of necrophilia, mutilation, torture and embalming. However, the characters are awfully developed, and the viewer never knows, for example, whether Frank changed his behavior after the death of Anna, or he was indeed a twisted character. The weird Iris is also badly developed. The graphic and gore scenes are among the nastiest I have ever seen in a film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available