La casa 5

Fun little film that seems to combine The Amityville Horror and Poltergeis , tie in a little of The Exorcists and you've got the plot. If you're into a lot of gore then this one probably isn't for you but worth a watch if nothing else is around. 5/10

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.

Beyond Darkness is a b horror picture about a haunted house. It's Poltergeist meets The Exorcist.

A reverend and his unsuspecting family move into a house with mysterious supernatural symptoms. Even more mysterious was why a married Protestant minister was a part of the Catholic Church, but these are details, just a minor technicality! The creepy ambient music was doled out with a heavy hand and it worked. The special effects were on point, and the tone was camp-free.

The acting was what you would want to see in this type of story. The hag and the Catholic exorcist killed it. The minister and his wife, not so much. The writing didn't make a whole lot of sense. It could have used more development, such as the backstory about the property being built on the sight of a mass witch lynching. The opening scene more than made up for the gaps in the narrative logic. Beyond Darkness is nobody's classic, but it delivers.

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.