Beyond the Limits

I went into this expecting another low budget horror effort but have walked away pleasantly surprised.

Beyond the Limits is a German made horror anthology consisting of two stories and a wrap around which are all connected.

The first thing I noticed is how good it all looks, fans of gore will love this as its one of the most brutal movies I've seen in years. Gory, horrifically violent and merciless but with a story to justify it.

From a gangsters dinner gone wrong to Christians killing off heretics to a mysterious graveyard caretaker with a nasty secret.

I enjoyed this though the whole thing doesn't come together as well as I'd hoped. Take each story as separate and it's more entertaining that way.

Beyond the Limits isn't for the faint of heart and I'm not exaggerating when I say this is hardcore stuff, if you're up for it and like that sort of thing then you can do a lot worse than this.

The Good:

First story was fantastically sadistic

Great sfx

Horrifically violent

The Bad:

Doesn't all connect as well as it should have

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I don't remember Rick & Morty being like that in the cartoon!

About an hour in was a fantastic example of old school Christian "Love"

Having read a lot about Premutos (another Olaf Ittenbach movie, often mentioned in the 'goriest horror of all time' debate), but unable to get hold of a copy cheaply enough, I opted instead for Beyond the Limits, a movie which might not have got such great reviews, but also promised to deliver its fair share of splattery delights.

And boy, does the blood flow in this one. Ittenbach and his crew have created a gore drenched anthology-style movie with some of the most brutal scenes I have seen in a long time. In the wraparound story, a young female journalist interviews a cemetery caretaker for her newspaper; he tells her the shocking tale behind one of his recent 'customers' and then follows that up with another set in medieval times.

The first story has a dinner party (attended by a group of mobsters and their wives) interrupted by a pair of ruthless killers. The sadistic assassins, hired by a man seeking vengeance for the death of his wife, set about slaughtering the party guests. But all is not as it first seems...

The second sees a bloodthirsty inquisitor and his henchmen slaughtering innocent people in a quest to revive an ancient demon. Chock full of torture and gruesome deaths, this is definitely not for the squeamish.

Ittenbach handles the direction confidently and there are some well filmed action scenes and great use of scenery and lighting. Unfortunately, he does also succumb to the use of annoying visual trickery and unnecessary MTV style editing (a particular bugbear of mine). The quality of acting varies from reasonable to very bad, but let's face it—it's the gore that really counts, and that is of a very high standard indeed: vicious, unrelenting and downright unpleasant, but very convincing.

Beyond the Limits is not a film that should be watched by casual horror fans (it's way too disturbing for most viewers, I fear), but those who enjoy 'extreme' movie-making should be more than happy with the tour de force of revolting effects that splash across the screen.

okay the actors in the first story are clearly amatures but given motivations and content Ie - a reason to show graphic Ittenbach effects, I guess they were playing by numbers but the story and perfomances in the med-evil story are quite engaging - Darren Shalavi (I-Spy)is quite remarkable as the quite sorry Dennis who decides to use his impressive fighting abilities to defeat Brewster played with gusto by Rusell Friedenberg (Legion of the dead) and the evil lord Demming to save his love. the visual effects, graphic as they are compare on a higher level to Ittenbachs earlier work - Black past and Burning Moon and Premutos but this time using dual stories tied in by a beautiful reporter and graveyard caretaker tryiong to explain things for us, we get a more complex and anticipated story. the main problem with this film is that no matter how great Shalavi, Ittenbach and some of the rest of the cast are or not, as with the gangsters in the first story, the effects do add some craziness to the film and as with Ittenbachs last film Legion of the dead they will be cut from most releases as they ended up being here in Germany due to the increadable realism, so you get a diluted version which may not make to much sense. Heck though if you like gore and sword fights along with your torture this is the film for you, seek out the directors cut though.

Compared to Ittenbach's earlier films, definitely a step or two up in terms of camera work, production value, and overall professionalism. However, some criticism still applies: the acting is, well, somewhere between so-so and pretty abysmal. The dialogs are sometimes more than a little over the top, in general, though, it's not too bad. I don't believe, Ittenbach's films will ever win an Oscar for the best script, but on the other hand, I have had to endure much worse during my search for (halfway) decent splatter flicks. BTW: the English track is IMHO superior to the German dubbed version. Splatter effects are pretty good and--for the most part--effective, provided you catch the uncut version (106 minutes), although not quite as numerous as in Premutos. Beware of German rental version, it is cut by approx. 5 minutes. Recommended to Ittenbach and splatter fans. All others proceed at your own risk.

The rookie journalist Vivian (Kimberly Liebe) seeks Frederick (Christopher Kriesa), the caretaker of the oldest cemetery in an undefined country, asking for an interview and the old man tells the story of two "costumers" and both connected by a mysterious secret. The powerful gangster Jimmie Levinson (James Matthew-Pyecha) accuses his former partner Paul Pattuchi (Joe Cook) of stealing a load of cocaine and orders to kill his beloved girlfriend Clarice (Xenia Seeberg). Paul is found dead later in a cottage, and Jimmie and his friends and girlfriends are visited during a dinner party by Robert Downing (Daryl Jackson) first and then by the sadistic Mortimer (Simon Newby) and his partner Rick (Thomas Reitmair) seeking the truth about Paul and a suitcase with a mysterious relic. The second story takes place in the Middle Ages, where the cruel David Deming (David Creedon) and his minion Tom Brewster (Russell Friendenberg) chase the renegade priest James Flynn (Hank Stone) in the name of the Inquisition but actually trying to force him to reveal the secret of the Eternal Heart to grant immortality.

The low–budget "Beyond the Limits" is extremely gore but is not a bad movie. Most of the performances are only reasonable, the choreography of the fights with sword is terrible, but I liked the plot. There is an enormous exploitation of violence, but the special effects are very impressive and realistic. The only work of director Olaf Ittenbach that I have had the chance to see is the awful "Legion of the Dead", and "Beyond the Limits" is better and better showing a great improvement in his career. The characters Mortimer (mainly) and Brewster are among the most sadistic I have ever seen. The torture at the dinner table and in the castle chamber, the massacre in the church and the trip to Hell are extremely impressive and strong, and of course not recommended to sensitive persons. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Além dos Limites" ("Beyond the Limits")

Note: On 30 May 2013, I saw this movie again.