Black Past

I jumped into Olaf Ittenbach's content with The Burning Moon and I was surprised with it. But, this one, oh boy this one is way bloodier, heavier, and intense. Scenes of brutal mutilation and insanity wrapped up in a mirror to another realm that shows us what insanity really is.

Olaf stars in this neat little gore feature and his acting is sublime for an independent horror from the late 80s. Not to mention making all of the gore effects himself and directing the movie. It truly shows what you can do if you put your mind and passion into it.

This is low budget shot on video German splatter, starring the writer/director/special effect guy, Olaf Ittenbach.

No small amount of this movie originated in The Evil Dead, but rather than look at The Black Past like a typical narrative movie, I'd suggest approaching it like a Halloween haunted house with gory set pieces and an intensely nasty depiction of hell.

Unlike most of his later movies, which push toward bigger ideas (and don't work as well), this is a simple piece that builds to intensely gory happenings. It is a bit too slow and the performances aren't there at all, but when things get surreal and vicious, the experience is a vibrant and charged gore cornucopia that will leave a lasting impression. You'll need to forgive a lot in this film, but like the very different movies of Werner Herzog and John Waters and H.G. Lewis and Harmony Korine, Black Past is an experience and a spectacle more than it is a traditional narrative film and those looking for a dungeon of gore, where "Hell = Creative Torture" may forgive Ittenbach's shortcomings as a traditional filmmaker...something that is less forgivable when he attempts to make traditional films (albeit ones crammed with gore).

((I found Premutos a bit dull after a while, and House of Blood and the Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine, sporadically engaging.))

Ittenbach's other recommendable movie, The Burning Moon, is similarly strong-- and expands upon the man's visual conception of "Hell = Creative Torture," though it is also a bit more bloated. And Brian Paulin's Fetus and Bone Sickness explore this dungeon and are better in most regards.

Among the other German homemade-splatter videos, Ittenbach's BLACK PAST is one of the best: very well done, especially if you consider all the limits of the video technology at that time. The same can be said about the special effects, entirely done by Ittenbach himself: they're quiet impressive and realistic, not like the red paint and cardboard used by Schnaas in his debut video (of the same year) VIOLENT SH*T. The cinematography and the acting are on a amateur level, but this is obvious and we can't blame it. The story is maybe a little bit slow at the beginning, but its short running time (something like 45 minutes) gives it a good rhythm and keeps it away from becoming boring.

"Black Past" is the type of film that you will never watch in case you're a normal human being with regular and healthy cultural interests. This film, as well as Olaf Ittenbach's entire repertoire for that matter, will only be seen by horror insiders and fans of underground cult cinema. This was Ittenbach's very first film. His main inspiration clearly was "The Evil Dead", but unfortunately our German friend only shares Sam Raimi's enthusiasm and not his talent. And still, Ittenbach definitely deserves a certain sort of respect, because at young and fragile age of 20, he pulled it off almost entire by himself. Olaf writes, stars, directs, edits, produces and designs the special effects. And even though it took him nearly a decade before he delivered his second film "Burning Moon", Ittenbach is now a more or less reliable cult director with a selective yet very loyal fan base. Most of his movies are crap, especially stuff like "Legion of the Dead" or "House of Blood", but he's somewhat of a cult icon.

Anyways! Ittenbach depicts the lead character Tommy, and for some peculiar reason he insists on introducing himself with an overly close- up shot of his naked butt-cheeks. He shows off his skinny booty at several moments throughout the film, by the way, and at a certain point I'm actually even sure that he wore ladies' underwear… Shortly after moving into a new home with his family, Tommy stumbles upon an antique mirror in the attic. Too bad the mirror homes a demon that, for more than a century already, torments the tenants of the house where once a little boy died from starvation. True, I've definitely seen horror movies of which the basic premise was a lot more stupid, but I haven't seen so many that were accomplished so cheap and cheesy as "Black Past"! During the first 30-40 minutes, practically nothing happens. Now I can tolerate a lot of gratuitous gore and clumsy make-up effects, but the two things I absolutely cannot stand are amateurish ugly teenage "actors" that stare straight into the camera and an overload of pointless padding footage, like compilations of classroom activities or a young couple visiting the zoo (complete with atrocious musical guidance, of course). There are even collages in which you can see the characters talk to each other, but we can't hear the conversation. I truly hate that! Remember also that it was still the 1980's, so a large share of the cast – including Olaf Ittenbach – has a mullet and wears the dumbest colorful outfits. And since the first half hour is so boring, I even paid attention and got hugely irritated by the awful sound effects and editing quality. Seriously, you can hear birds singing inside a hermetically sealed off kitchen and the sound of footsteps follow approximately five seconds after the character stands still already.

"Black Past" only becomes (temporarily) worthwhile as soon as Tommy's possessed girlfriend throws herself in front of a car and he becomes plagued with horrifying visions of bloodied faces, rotting corpses and his own disemboweled dead girlfriend coming back from the dead over and over again. The film most certainly features some very depraved scenes, like a blade shoved up a girl's crotch or a nail hit right through a penis, but the slightly squeamish people among us don't have to worry too much. The gore might be sick and twisted, but it's never at one point shocking or disturbing. Ittanbach completely goes over-the-top during the last fifteen minutes of the film with extreme gore and a nicely deranged variety of "how to butcher my entire cast of befriended volunteers" ideas! The finale sure does evoke plenty of laughter!

Fun little to end with: two totally different and not-so-resembling actors play the role of Tommy's father. Suddenly and without apparent reason, the father is 20 years young and lost his mustache!

For all ultra-gore fans, "Black Past" its a "Z" home-made flick, the screenplay is ridiculous, but who cares, what we care, is the ultra gore and sadistic scenes.

Its Olaf Ittenbach first flick, and i think thats is pretty good, for an ultra amateur movie. The special effects are superb, the acting is terrible, the footage too, but the all point of this flick is too shock with brutal graphic violence.

If you like "Black Past", i recommend: "Burning Moon" and "Premutos" (two flicks from Olaf Ittenbach), "Evil Dead"(Sam Raimi), "VS3:Infantry of Doom"(Andrea Schnnas)