La comunidad del diablo

From the Ed Wood of Italy comes, "Beyond Darkness," a movie that you can at least say is slightly better than "Troll 2." The primary difference is that there is no attempt at humor in this one, just a straight Italian horror movie done in English. Personally, I dislike Italian horror no matter how homogenized it is. But the poster looked fascinating and figured let's go for it in spite of all the warning signs.

As the movie opens, a priest is being led through a prison to meet with a female serial killer about to be electrocuted. First thing I notice is, "Hey! That priest looks really familiar-like some bad actor I've seen in a bad Italian movie before." I look him up...oh yeah, it's David Brandon, who played Caligula years ago. He has not aged well. And his participation in a Claudio Fragasso movie does not bode well. Anyway, the woman lets him know she's a witch and somehow she's allowed an ancient Satanic spell book in her cell which I'm SURE wouldn't be boxed up in a police archive somewhere considering there is evidence inside regarding the 12 children she's guilty of murdering. After the execution, cut to happy young family moving into the same house there's a picture of in the Satan book. The father is a father. I mean, he's a priest. I'm not Catholic, but when did priests start being allowed to get married? ANYWAY, weird things start happening in the house because as it turns out, it's built on top of a lot of dead people, you know, like, "Poltergeist." The male child becomes possessed and the father priest is joined by Caligula priest to exorcise him. You know, like, "The Exorcist." Not that I'm suggesting Fragasso steals from other movies. You know, like, "Troll." AAANNNYWAY... the rest is predictable and in no way original.

Production-wise, nothing special. The score is once again the same synthesizer we've heard in Fragassos before. The acting is bad and over the top. The script is derivative and meandering. The special effects are laughable. It's not a very well made film. BUT, it's still at least watchable and better than most Full Moon releases.

Explanation for this title. Evil Dead was La Casa in Italy. Then, Evil Dead II was La Casa 2. But, Ghosthouse, from Umberto Lenzi, was La Casa 3. Witchery, from Fabrizio Laurenti was La Casa 4. And this, the fifth.

Without a doubt, this low-budget haunted house thriller pales in comparison to genre classics such as Poltergeist due to horrendous acting and a pervading student film feel. However, if you enjoyed the Amityville Horror movie and book (especially the book) you might want to give Beyond Darkness a try. Many of the most terrifying aspects of the Amityville book are an integral part of this movie including hooded entities lunging at the cast out of nowhere, doorways to hell, and some unforgettable scenes of inanimate objects like an antique radio becoming possessed by the dark forces in the house. Yes it's true that the portrayal of the family is perhaps too clean cut (I know for a fact that pastors' kids can sometimes be brattier than other people's!) and that the actress playing the executed serial killer is more than a little wan. However, if you don't expect Oscar winning performances in horror films, then you will find Beyond Darkness a creepy treat to watch alone on a stormy night. And before inserting the tape, you might want to turn off the radio first.

The most glaring flaw of this film is that it features a married Catholic priest. Not a former priest, but a priest-priest. I know you're asking yourself, how is that possible? It's not.

Beyond Darkness (not to be confused with the much more famous Beyond the Darkness) was directed by an Italian but set in the United States. Apparently this poor soul was under the impression that there were married priests in America because he saw Protestant preachers on TV? Just baffling.

Otherwise this is a very bland, middling rip off of Poltergeist. Nothing special, was probably a Friday night movie on a major network channel in 1990.

This movie is a little bit stupid. But that is one of its best qualities. Acting ain't great. Special effects even worse (OK, they're better than SOME of the actors).

I couldn't get over David Brandon (Caligula in http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082133/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_152) playing a priest. He may be a drunk, but still a man of the cloth. I still can't make it through Caligula 2: The Untold Story in one sitting. It is not only kind of mean-spirited, but actually gross.

I got this on X-Rated (German video label, not MPAA) DVD in a fat box (große hartbox) and the box/case is actually a whole lot better than the film. Way better, as a matter of fact. It's called "Ghost House 6" on the box. Pretty sure it's called "Beyond Darkness" in the credits.