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“Beyond the Darkness” was originally released in 1979 under the original Italian title “Buio Omega” but was released under a number of other names including “The Final Darkness,” “Buried Alive” and “Dark Holocaust.” The film still remains highly controversial and is banned in a number of countries.

This film includes a large amount of gore and violence and anyone who is easily upset or queasy from such dark matters will want to avoid this film at all costs. However, it is due to this gore that the film has gained such a large underground following.

“Beyond the Darkness” follows taxidermist Frank Wyler as he deals with the death of his beloved fiancée Anna Völkl who dies suddenly of an illness in the hospital. It is revealed to the audience that she was actually killed via a voodoo doll that was handled by Frank’s jealous housekeeper, Iris.

Frank in his grief stricken state decides it would be a great idea to dig up Anna’s body, bring her back to the house, and preserve her to have and to hold forever. While the notion may be romantic and prove love never dies, sleeping beside a corpse is sickness.

Firmly planted in the grotesque camp, Frank decides to bring random women back to the house and while enjoying time together shows them the preserved lifeless body of Anna. Unsurprisingly the women panic and Frank disposes of them in violent bursts of anger and gore.

This occurs a few times throughout the film with Frank trying to find a replacement for Anna while at the same time dealing with advances from his housekeeper Iris.

The plot is extremely thin and seems to drive toward the repulsive and violent set pieces all with a bizarre underlying sexual tension on display.

“Beyond the Darkness” is far from a classic in any genre but it is beloved by those who enjoy gorier horror films that go far beyond what many are used to seeing in the theater. The popularity of such exploitation films stretches far and wide.

The fact that this film remains banned in a number of countries is proof it is the definition of extreme cinema and not something to be watched on a whim.

If you do enjoy darker horror films with thin plot lines and extreme gore on full display than this is a film you will enjoy. The downside is it’s not an easy or cheap film to find.

It should be noted that the soundtrack is incredible and is performed by the prog rock band Goblin made famous in other Italian horror classics such as “Deep Red” and “Suspria.”