Buio Omega (1979)

Director:

Joe D'Amato

Writers:

Ottavio Fabbri (screenplay)
Giacomo Guerrini (story)

Release Date:

June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A fate worse than death!

Plot:

A young rich orphan loses his fiancée to voodoo doll mischief on the part of his housekeeper who is jealous of his attentions...

Plot Keywords:

Barefoot | Mercilessness | Dead Woman Being Stripped | Killing | Dead Woman Stripped

Cast

Kieran Canter	...	Frank Wyler
Cinzia Monreale	...	Anna Völkl & Elena Völkl
Franca Stoppi	...	Iris
Sam Modesto	...	Mr. Kale
Anna Cardini	...	Jogging victim
Lucia D'Elia	...	Jan, hitch-hiker
Mario Pezzin	...	Priest
Walter Tribus	...	Handyman
Klaus Rainer	...	Doctor
Edmondo Vallini	...	Detective #1
Simonetta Allodi	...	Disco Girl

Also Known As:

Beyond the Darkness
Blue Holocaust
Buried Alive (USA) (dubbed version)
In quella casa... buio omega (Italy) (reissue title)
The Final Darkness (USA)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:Refused Classification | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Italy:VM14 (re-release) (edited version) (1987) | Canada:R | France:-16 | Italy:VM18 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Bressanone, Bolzano, Trentino - Alto Adige, Italy

Company:

D.R. Comunicazioni di massa

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Joe D'Amato at Eurofest (2007) (V)

D'Amato did make one intelligent movie...

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