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"

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.

Gee, where to begin? This movie is very bizarre and unique; it's not the plot that makes it unique, however, because the plot is quite simple. On one side of equation, there is a misterious... well, item, and on another side, there are people who get tortured and killed right and left in different and quite imaginative ways, because somebody wants this item very, very much.

So, like I said, the plot is simple, but the execution is quite sophisticated. The movie consists of 2 barely connected parts and takes us through modern and Medievil times, and then there is someone who combines the whole story and tells it to (you guessed it) a beautiful, female reporter.

So, how bizarre is it? Here is my take on this very unusual movie:

1. "Beyond the Limits" is one of the most violent, gory films I've ever seen in my entire life (and I've seen quite a few!)!

2. It's also THE MOST CREATIVE and professionally done gorefest I've ever seen.

3. Notwithstanding the previous comment, acting and dialogs in the first vignette are atrocious and over-the-top - totally B-movie material. At this point you will get confused, since you've been told this is not a B-movie (stay assured, it isn't, just wait for the second part). Besides, murders and tortures are so well done, you will forgive the filmmakers for this acting fiasco, guaranteed.

4. Since they didn't have enough money to hire professional actors for entire duration of the movie (just guessing here:), the second vignette is where the director makes it up to you in this department. I think it's flawless. Acting is terrific, and fight scenes will take your breath away.

5. The outline plot is subtle, and the end scene, albeit very strong, doesn't make too much of a sense, which, I must say, is perfect for this movie. The ending, somehow, reminded me of the ending of "Ronin" (with Robert De Niro).

6. The film had to have a fairly good budget, if only for all those special effects having been made so well, but obviously, not enough money went into marketing, which can explain why no one on this side of Atlantic ever heard of this movie, which is sad, sad, sad...

Final Thoughts.

The only reason, I don't call this movie a horror masterpiece is because of the laughable acting in the 1st part. Overall, I'll say, if you like the genre and have a strong stomach, find and see this movie -you'll be glad you did! 7 out of 10.

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.