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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.

Beyond the Darkness (or Buio Omega) might be low on plot and complex characters, but the gore quotient is off the charts and some of the effects will churn the stomachs of even the most hardcore horror fans. If they were passing out medals for that, it would win hands down. While the script isn't the best, there's an engrossing "car crash" quality to the film that keeps you invested.

D'Amato's adherence to all things vile and sleazy sometimes produces rubbish. In the case of BEYOND THE DARKNESS, he's delivered something great.

The theme is necrophilia and obsession. A man obsesses over his recently deceased girlfriend and beds her in his country house. Sexual intrigue with his maid livens proceedings and a sequence in which a hitchhiker has her fingernails removed is the one to write home about.

I'm not reluctant to say it: I love stuff like this when it's relentless, made without guilt, and moves at a quick clip.

The Goblin soundtrack feels just right and the special make-up effects are more than adequate.

D'Amato achieves a vile, putrid, rotten atmosphere with this gem, and you can't fault the guy for that, can you?

Joe D'Amato is regarded as a rather greedy hack by most people acquainted with horror. Now that's not too far from the truth. But before D'Amato started cranking out movies with an inverse relation between quantity and quality, he made this startling horror movie. Startling in the sense that it's actually GOOD!

Don't get me wrong. Just because it's good doesn't mean it's not exploitation. It has truly gory scenes such as a taxidermy which doesn't leave much to the imagination, nails being ripped off, some implied necrophilia and a particular scene of a "stew" being munched on with an extreme close-up which made my stomach do a somersault. Well done Joe for that! However, these gore scenes are spread out and in between them, there is some attempt to build suspense. There is some good acting particularly by the very creepy but oddly sexy Franca Stoppi(RIP) who plays the caretaker from hell, Iris. The cinematography (by Joe himself) is gorgeous in spite of all the carnage around. It doesn't seem like a cheap B-movie. The music by Goblin is as expected, superb.

That said, the movie is not perfect. It stagnates from time to time. There is absolutely no humour (except some unintentional stuff but you will be too busy gagging to notice) to lighten the relentlessly downbeat tone. Also, the lead actor can be too over-the-top sometimes.

That said, I am shocked that this is a film by Joe D'Amato. It would seem he actually had talent. It's tragic that he was so caught up in making money that he didn't fulfill it. The horror aficionado missed out on a few more quality horror movies.

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

I bought this film over two other films i was considering buying and with my limited budget its important for me to check reviews of flicks before i buy them. I cant rent most of the movies i see because i dont have a credit card(for online renting) and they dont carry the films i like at most video stores. I must say that most of the reviews of this film while correct about the effects fail to mention how dull it is. It stars with the main character's wife dying in the hospital and continues from there. I am not giving anything away thats not on the outside box. There are very few murders in this film and they are done with an extreme lack of style. I know that its not a Dario film and i should not expect that but come on. It's not a bad movie though all in all. I mean for this kind of film there are much worse out there. Rent one of Todd Sheets movies for an example of how to make a very bad horror flick. I was just hoping from a little more from the guy who gave us The Grim Reaper, which is not great but its way more than this film.

p.s. The commentary by the main actress though on the dvd is quite nice and almost worth the price of the dvd as well as the very funny commentary from one of the art directors.

Joe D'Amato's "Beyond the Darkness"/"Buio Omega" is one of the most transgressive horror movies ever made.Regarded as Joe D'Amato's best film "Buio Omega" certainly delivers some of the most disgusting gore ever put on screen(fingernails are ripped off with pliers,a body is dismembered with a butcher knife and its pieces are thrown into a bath of acid etc.)The infamous embalming sequence is truly revolting.Kieran Canter is perfect as a young taxidermist Frank Wyler and Franca Stoppi gives excellent performance as Iris.The film is certainly twisted,so if you're a fan of Italian extreme horror you can't miss this depraved masterpiece.Check it out.9 out of 10.

Murder, mayhem and mutilation…shown in all its pride and glory! Buio Omega a.k.a Buried Alive a.k.a Beyond the Darkness is a finger-licking and ultra-gory sleazefest. D'Amato's film certainly is a landmark in the Italian shlock/sick cinema as it contains some of the grossest and explicit nauseating sequences ever shot on film. The young and introvert Frank cannot live without his recently deceased girlfriend Anna, so he digs up her corpse, embalms her and keeps her around his mansion. After this, he descents further into madness and starts to kill girls randomly and his freaky housekeeper Iris assists him. Now, Frank is pretty messed up in the head but Iris is just downright insane!! She makes a hobby out of dismembering dead bodies and she breastfeeds the 22-year-old Frank! The first half hour may seem a little lame and low on bloodshed but, as soon as the gore kicks in, it doesn't stop till the end credits role and it becomes more and more repulsive by the minute! D'Amato servers a disturbingly realistic embalming-process along with some detailed torturing scenes, dissections and gruesome butchering! Of course, like it should in Italian's nastiest, there are a lot of perversely orientated undertones present such as necrophilia, cannibalism and even a variant on the ‘Oedipus'-theme!

Joe d'Amato never was world's most brilliant director. That's okay, since he never claimed to be and he always clearly mentioned his influences. He's more like a businessman with more adult films on his repertoire…The horror films he made are vicious but technically weak, all together! Nonetheless, Buio Omega is an exception! Unlike his other horror films, Buried Alive has tension, a great soundtrack, a constant morbid atmosphere and even a bit of surprisingly good acting! Cinzia Monreale, who plays the dead love-interest Anna, became more famous after starring in Fulci's masterpiece the Beyond and the creepy aunt Iris also starred in a few delightful `babes behind bars' flicks. The circle of fans that likes this kind of films is rather small…but they're very devoted. For them, Buio Omega is a must see!

Saw this fr the first in the late 80s on a vhs. Revisited it recently on a bluray. Most fellas here on IMDb considers this film to be the best work of Joe D'Amato but I don't agree. It is not a bad film but this film tends to b more on the psychology n perversion of human nature. The plot is a lil similar to Psycho. A rich orphan lives alone with his jealous caretaker who has killed his fiance thru some voodoo stuff. But our psycho is another level Norman Bates, he is an expert taxidermist who after digging his girlfriend's body, has preserved it in his bedroom. While his caretaker breastfeeds him to reduce his stress. She ain't no Caritas Romana but a deranged psychotic who butchers human bodies n gives handjobs to our Norman Bates while he keeps on watching his dead girlfriend's body. This is a D'Amato film n it cannot be complete without gore but the scene of fingernails is not for the squeamish.

The strongest features of Beyond the Darkness are the oldschool kind of gore (means the use of leftovers right out from the local butcher's shop) and the soundtrack by Goblin (those fine musicians who made that epic soundtracks to Dario Argento's Suspiria and Romero's Dawn of the Dead). Acting and production is not too bad, but, and that's a great but, the story is not very interesting or suspenseful and misses momentum. Maybe good enough for the connoisseur and/or historian of the art of gore, but that's it. Exact rate: 4 for the movie and a bonus point for the gory scenes.

This has to be the best Joe d'amato film I've seen. The gore was extremely realistic and graphic which might turn some viewers off. In fact this has got to be one of the grisliest films I've seen. They are quite meticulous with the gore sequences here that even the most jaded viewers ( like myself )will cringe. At times during the movie I thought I was watching a Jeffrey Damner film. The sequence in which the hitchhiker becomes disemboweled and her body parts become the ingredients in an acid bath has got to be one of the most gruesome killings I've ever seen. It's too bad they don't make films like this anymore. Terrific.

Buio Omega, Well what can you say. 94 minutes of perverse terror, intense shock and incredible suspense.... Well, in truth, hardened exploitation horror fans will find this movie no more shocking than many of the other Italian made entries into the genre.

The premise of Joe D'amatos 1979 movie is intruiging in the sense that it is much more complex than many of its contemporarys... Personally, I found it to be the most indepth study of necrophilliac-psychotic behaviour since Hitchcocks materpiece 'Psycho'.

Frank (as known in the English dubbed version) loses his beloved wife, her dying request is to make love to him. Shortly after the burial he digs her up and proceeds to embalm her in perhaps the most graphic and disturbing scene of the movie. Aided by his deranged house-maid, Frank proceeds to murder and dispose of any further hapless person that should cross his path and endanger his ever-lasting relationship with his deceased wife.

This is basically the thread of the linear storyline, interspersed with some amateur sleuthing from the local mortician... However, the genius of this movie comes with D'amatos teasing camerawork (always making you feel like something horrific is around the corner) and an impressive performance from lead actor Keiran Canter, always on the right side of psychosis and never going over the edge as so many actors have in the role of the psychotic during the spell of late seventies/early eighties exploitation movies (David Hess in the potentially classic Hitch-Hike being a prime example).....

For the hardened fan of exploitation cinema, this will be a walk in the park... However, for the first timer an empty stomach could be advisable!!

Look out for a great shock ending, the only real out of your seat moment in the whole movie...

Rating 7/10

"Buio Omega," directed by Joe D'Amato, is a 1979 Italian horror film that embraces the extremes of human depravity and the depths of one's obsession. With a simple plot, D'Amato crafts a transgressive tale that pushes the boundaries of taste and decency, delivering a landmark in the realm of exploitative cinema.

The film centers on Frank, a young and introverted man who finds himself unable to accept the death of his girlfriend, Anna. Driven by his obsession, Frank digs up her corpse, embalms it, and brings it back to his mansion, where he can keep her close. This morbid act sets the tone for a series of disturbing and graphic scenes that have earned the film its reputation as one of the sickest and most transgressive horror movies ever made.

The infamous embalming sequence is a true test for viewers with weak stomachs. It is gruesomely detailed, with fingers being ripped off with pliers and bodies being dismembered with butcher knives, their remains casually discarded into baths of acid. These scenes are not for the faint of heart, and they push the boundaries of what is acceptable to depict on screen.

Yet, it is this very rawness and extremity that make "Buio Omega" unique. D'Amato does not hold back, offering a trademark blend of gore and sex that sets his work apart from American productions of the time. The film could be considered a treasure for seekers of rare and extreme cinema, often found in the old racks of grimy video stores.

However, the film is not without its flaws. The character development is sadly lacking, leaving viewers with little insight into the motivations of Frank and other characters. Was Frank always a twisted individual, or did the death of Anna change him? These questions remain unanswered, and the lack of character depth may leave viewers feeling somewhat detached from the story.

The music, provided by Goblin, suits the production well. Their intense synthesizer-driven tunes enhance the uncomfortable atmosphere, creating a dark and ambient soundscape that adds to the overall unease of the viewing experience.

In conclusion, "Buio Omega" is a film that embraces its sick and twisted nature, offering a unique and extreme cinematic experience. While it may not be for the squeamish or those seeking well-developed characters, it is a landmark in Italian horror and exploitative cinema.

After his girlfriend dies, a disturbed young man can't handle it, so he steals her corpse and embalms her to keep her close by and starts killing other young woman as his smitten housekeeper cleans up after him. It's not a deep movie, but the gore effects are convincing and disturbing if that's something you're interested in.

A extremely crazy exploitation from Italy with unsettling and shocking scenes. It's a sordid and scary explotaition movie that packs inexplicable disturbing occurrences, shocks, thrills , suspense , chills , hair-rising events and extremely gory final. Stars a deranged young taxidermist (Kieran Canter) exhumes his recently deceased girlfriend (Cinzia Monreale), brings her body to his family villa and proceeds to embalm her corpse, with help from his rare housekeeper (Franca Stoppi). But his bouts of insanity are just beginning. A fate worse than death!

This scary and disagreeable movie is filled with some genuine fright, horror and doom. A sinister and ugly flick that goes on growing more and more and developing little by little until the really gory finale. Thunderously overwhrought pile of Grand Guignol horror and displaying a lot of slaughter, mayhem, sickening images, stabbing, dismemberments and anything else . It results to be one of the nastiest, sleaziest and most brutal gore flicks ever produced in Italy. Including several women suffering grim, terrible and gory comeuppances and leaving nothing to the imagination. The film is lousily played by some familiar faces who played Italian B-films at the time. The plot is well known, plain and simple: an obsessed young orphan loses his girlfriend and becomes really disturbed trying to find the right replacement with beautiful maidens. A familiar -but dull at times- script full of shocks, screams and surprises, giving a remarkable presence as the young taxidermist carrying out a killing spree. Passable special effects, with special mention for the scenes of the girl burning in the oven. This ¨Buio Omega¨turns out to be an exercise in pure depravity and middlingly made by Aristide Massaccesi, now referring to himself as Joe D'Amato, he entered the "gore" genere films with this Buio Omega (1979), which remains his most successful horror film, shot in four weeks on a low budget, which had a thrilling and stinging music soundtrack by Goblin, Dario Argento's ordinary composer.

This exploitation picture was regular but professionally directed by hack director Joe D'Amato or Aristide Massaccessi . This artisan was a prolific artisan, a cameraman/writer/producer/director who made all kinds of genres . His first directing work was in 1972's low-budget "Scansati... a Trinità arriva Eldorado" (1972), co-directed by Diego Spataro, under the pseudonym Dick Spitfire, but it was a commercial failure. As he directed hardcore , soft-core, erotic films starring Laura Gemser, such as "Emmanuel and Francois" (1975), "Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals" (1977), "Emmanuelle in América" (1977), "Emmanuelle and the White Slave Trade" (1978), "Erotic Nights of the Living dead", "L'alcova"(1985) . He made Gialli and Terror movies : "Gomia" or that he directed as "Peter Newton", "Hitcher in the dark", "Death Smiles on a Murderer", "Buio Omega", being two of his greatest hits: ¨Antrophofagus I¨ dealing with a group of American students: Tisa Farrow , Saverio Vallone , Serena Grandi , Zora Kerova, vacationing on a Greek island and with some really disturbing scenes of the pregnant woman comes up and as she's being strangled by the killer and her fetus is ripped out of her, followed by a better sequel ¨Antropophagus II¨ or "Absurd" or "Rosso sangue" (1981). This "Antrophofagus II" (1981) was less successful than the previous one, ¨Gomia¨, but it's better made than "Antrophofagus I" (1980). D'Amato was also expert on Scifi and Sword-witchery: ¨Ator¨, ¨Ator l'invincibile¨, ¨Ator 3¨, ¨2020 Texas Rangers¨,¨Bronx Endgame¨, and finally he dedicated to adult films. Rating : 5/10 . Average terror movie , it isn't apt for squeamish.

Say what you will about the acting, the music, the script, or even the plot of this potent and disturbing flick...it hits you like a ton of bricks and leaves you with a dropped jaw, hungry for more.

It's ashame that D'Amato didn't make more films like this. His repertoire includes a few cannibal flicks and lots of porn. This, along with "Anthropophagus," stands out as his most effective work. With "Beyond the Darkness," it's like he set out to make the most horrific and disgusting slasher flick he could fathom, and he pretty much hits the nail right on the head. There is something deeply disturbing about several scenes in this film. The bathtub scene, along with the housemaid eating the stew scene are among some of the most disturbing scenes I have seen in a film ever. And I've seen my share.

All this being said, "Beyond the Darkness" is a film that can be watched over and over. D'Amato somehow still keeps it fun. Unlike other extreme horror films of the era, it remains watchable. To think that he made a film like this with what was, no doubt, a tiny budget, and it came out so beautifully unflinching and nihilistic, is nothing short of genius. "Beyond the Darkness" is one of the coolest movies I've ever seen. And like a fine wine, (made from blood and guts and acid,) it just keeps getting better with age. Watch it with your mom.

A solid 9 out of 10, kids.

One of the better films dealing with necrophilia, "Blue Omega" delivers the horror goods. Kieran Caster as Frank, takes his taxidermy hobby to new levels, with the fillet and stuffing of his dead girlfriend played by Cinzia Monreale. An overly protective surrogate mother, Frances Stoppi as Iris, helps out by giving the next female victim a manicure with a set of pliers, after which she practices her meat cleaver butchering techniques on the girl. Throw in some attempted love making in the same bed with the stuffed girlfriend, and a human barbecue in the basement. The only flaw is an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Recommended of it's type. - MERK

Aristide Massaccesi a.k.a Joe D'Amato directed Buio Omega in the early 80's. Back in the day when movies weren't accused of being the cause of violence in schools and nonsense like that, filmmakers as D'Amato dared to stretch the limits of what can be seen in a screen. The gory scenes in his movies are not unintentionally funny they look like awful and painful, and D'Amato uses incredibly long shots in these murders shots. That is the main difference between his films and the American production to set an example Underrated as only an exploitation director D'Amato showed he had a trademark mixing gore and sex. He tried to take horror to the extreme without making a parody.

The plot is quite simple, out of this simple story we get a collection of bizarre strong images. The gore is hard as a punch in your nose. This rawness makes Buio Omega unique as one of the most extreme pieces D'Amato made (along Anthropophagus). As we watch the hideous acts of this taxidermist we are surprised because he is not judged using the old trick of put phrases that make him look evil. Buio Omega is almost a silent movie. The moral view is on the viewer not in the filmmaker. But the last act has a common moral resolution that could let the people feel they are living in a just right world. The place you probably will find Buio Omega is an old rack of a dirty old video store, the kind of video that is found only for those treasure-seekers of unseen rare films.

The music of Goblin is adequate for this kind of production; with their intense tunes they make the viewer feel even more uncomfortable. Synthesizers is all what this band needs to create dark ambient.

An expressionless protagonist, a seemingly villainous housekeeper, loads of corpses, a pointless story and a jerky screenplay all but sum up, this gore-fest, sorry, trash-fest. I often wonder why do people invest their finances and energy in such films? Is it for an audience who wants to see girls sliced up.. or is it for the director / producer's own voyeuristic leanings, a sort of self-aggrandizement, a secret desire for BDSM, necrophilia and other associated deviant fantasies? This film is not even a gore-fest. Its nothing, absolutely, other than a series of scenes depicting pointless gratuitous violence. Corpses dug up and revived is old hat. Here, a mentally disturbed lead character digs up his dead girl friend, rips her open and chews up her heart!! LOL. Although not a zombie film, the hero resembles a Romero zombie, because of his lack of expression and silly, but fatal antics. He prefers to be nude, while talking to his female housekeeper. He kidnaps a buxom girl and rips her nails out. What the hell for? Good God.. one of the most boring, pointless, trashy horror films I have seen in my life..

STAY AWAY, would be my advice.