You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the memories!

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Out of the handful of horror pictures that the legendary exploitation director made, this has got to be the best in terms of general nastiness. In fact, it's more than nasty, it's downright disturbing at times. The performances are quite good, and D'Amato treats his subjects and his main character with some sensitivity. As mad as he is, one can't help but feel a degree of sympathy for our tormented lead. As a prominent theme here is that of being unable to let go and move on, we can understand how he feels. Yet, of course, we still gape at the deeds that are committed.Handsome Kieran Canter stars as Frank Wyler, a young man who simply can't deal with the death of his beloved girlfriend Anna (Cinzia Monreale). It gets to the point where he steals her corpse and brings it back to his villa. He preserves her body to the best of his ability, while all this time his devilish housekeeper Iris (Franca Stoppi) helps him without batting an eye. She's *very* devoted to him, you see. Unfortunately, Franks' rage compels him to kill young women who are either in his vicinity or just get in his way.Supplemented by a very catchy score by Goblin that has its beautiful moments as well, "Buio Omega" has some very good gore. The acid bath sequence is memorable, as is the moment where an unfortunate victims' fingernails are forcibly removed with pliers. Fans of trashy Italian cinema will also love seeing Frank actually suck from Iris's breasts. Canter does a fine job in the lead, and the lovely Monreale ends up getting to play a dual role (she went on to act in Lucio Fulcis' renowned "The Beyond"). The real scene stealer of this film is Stoppi, who's deliciously unhinged. D'Amato also shot the film himself, using his real name of Aristide Massaccesi.Somber and depraved, Italian horror lovers generally consider this to be D'Amatos' best genre effort.Seven out of 10.

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

After a career of tackling subjects, such as pornography, nunsploitation, and gore-porn, filmmaker, Joe D'amato (Porno Holocaust) decided to take a different approach to a little project he was working on in the late seventies. Beyond The Darkness would be Joe D'amato's first romantic-drama (that I know of). Some might claim this to be slightly depressing, or perhaps, a bit controversial. The world is full of liars, this is unfortunate, but don't let them cloud your judgment, because Beyond The Darkness is wholesome entertainment that could easily be enjoyed by any member of the family, and that's a personal guarantee.Beyond The Darkness tells the touching story of a rich young man named Frank, and his undying love for his dying lover. Frank and Ana's love for one another probably would have stood the test of time, and everything, if not for this strange illness. I suppose it's just her time, or is it? Enter Iris, the maid. Iris is in love, and possibly obsessed with Frank. Frank only keeps her around for nourishment, but she's really in to him. Iris feels, the only way to deal with this little inconvenience called Ana is voodoo. Ana dies, Frank cannot cope with the loss. After going insane, and taking his hobby, as a taxidermist, into consideration, Frank decides he would rather have a dead Ana in his life than a no Ana. A bold decision, indeed, but this is true love we're talking about here. Frank has robbed his girlfriends grave, and this is where things really start to pick up, Frank takes Ana back to his place, and graphically tears the insides out from his beloved.After a scene right out of hell, involving a portly/pushy-hitchhiker, stoner chick, who gets her finger nails yanked out, and killed by Frank after walking in on his madness. Frank is caught by Iris, who is disturbingly understanding. Iris helps Frank put a newly-stuffed Ana in Franks Bed, and, in yet another scene right out of hell, Iris helps Frank cut the Portly, stoner chick into little pieces, graphically, and dissolve her remains in acid. After all this, Iris makes dinner. At this point, Frank must see how dedicated this woman is to pleasing him, because Iris's dream has come true, Frank has proposed marriage. The happy, new couple should be happy together, but what about the corpse in Franks bed? And What if Frank can't stop killing? Oh well, I'm sure everything will work out OK, besides, this is a romantic-drama.I haven't seen a lot of Joe D'amato's work, but this is, by far, the best I've seen. Call The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, macabre, then watch Beyond the Darkness. As we all know, Italian horror is a little on the boring side, and unfortunately, this one is no exception. Not a whole lot of boring, but the gore, and the purity of the horror overshadows it. If you have no tolerance for boring, then I don't know, go watch some Florida Gore, I guess. Beyond The Darkness flaunts a menacing, nightmare of a score by our pals from Goblin, which might actually be half the impact one would feel from viewing this stomach-turning epic. I suppose, Beyond The Darkness doesn't completely fit the mold of how a romantic-drama should play out, although, it's still a masterpiece. What Beyond the Darkness really is, above all, is vile, plus, it's the only film that I've ever seen that made me queasy, and that's saying something. Anyone who could appreciate such filth obviously has a screw loose. 10/10

BUIO OMEGA is often considered as one of the sickest films ever made. Its reputation amongst horror fans is almost legendary. So when I decided to watch this Joe D'Amato flick, I was all excited and was prepared to be grossed out. Instead of being shocked senseless, I found myself laughing or giggling non-stop. I'm aware these films rarely live up to their reputations but I wasn't scared or grossed out for a second, which sorta dismayed the gorehound in me. It WAS entertaining but entertaining for all the wrong reasons.First, the gore. The blood was pink. PINK!?!? In order for the dismemberment or gore to be believable the free flowing blood has to be red, not pink.Second, the body count is very low: aside from the end, there are only two victims. The way they are killed is not scary, gross or exciting.Third, the story, or lack thereof, is too silly and filled with real groaners. The film starts with the housekeeper, Iris, hiring an old gypsy woman who puts a curse on a doll, which represents Frank's girlfriend who's in the hospital. After prickling the doll with needles, the girlfriend's condition worsen and eventually she dies. Iris wants the girlfriend out of Frank's life and this is how she goes about it!?!? It worked, the girlfriend dies, right after asking Frank "I want to make love to you before I die." So they start making out on the hospital bed and then she croaks. ROTFLMAO!!! The script is really bad. I'm sure they wrote it as it went along. The whole film is filled with totally illogical moments that strain credulity, even for a Eurocult horror film. I really wonder how they came up with the ideas for the script and not think the audience was dumb enough not to notice. The entire scene with the hitchhiker is stupid & contrived, certainly when Frank leaves the hitchhiker sleeping in his van at his house. I mean, come on! He should have kicked her to the curb before parking the van in the garage. Fourth, the film is filled with unrealistic details which makes it impossible to take it seriously. For instance, when a body is buried, the corpse is already embalmed. So when Frank brings the girlfriend's body home after digging her out of the ground and starts doing an embalming process on it, pulling out all the internal guts and such, well, I had to laugh out loud. Also, a corpse becomes stiff as a board. The corpse of the girlfriend was pretty flexible even after being dead for days.And fifth and lastly, the actors. The cast is very small. There's Frank, Iris, the dead girlfriend, the fat hitchhiker, the three blond bimbos and the mysterious man who's identity is revealed in a stupid twist at the end. That's it! The actress who plays Iris is younger than she's made to be and this I always find this funny. And last but not least Kieran Canter, as Frank, the demented taxidermist. I have to say that he's sure is a pretty boy. And I thought Stephen Forsyth was ridiculously handsome for a killer in HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON. Kieran Canter's career apparently veered into the world of porno, which ain't too surprising.I'm actually glad I finally saw BLUE HOLOCAUST. It was funny while it lasted! But it's certainly not one of the most shocking films ever. I mean, NORBIT is more shocking and less funny than this.