Monday 9 April 2012

DVD review: Black Past (Video 1989)

Thommy keeps an old mirror, which he has found along with a diary in the attic but he has no idea that he thereby opens the door to hell. Because the house has a dark past and a demon is trapped  within in the mirror and soon after takes of possession Thommys girlfriend. Thommy is not exempt and is plagued by gruesome nightmares. His attempt to destroy the mirror makes everything worse and he begins the transformation into a man-eating demon. Black Past is a early splatterfest from Olaf Ittenbach, he writes, stars, directs, edits, produces and designs the make-up gore fx. It´s hard not to detect that Ittenbach must taken some inspiration from Sam Raimi classic Evil Dead. It´s very obvious that it is a cheap production,  the camerawork, editing and acting are amateurish. The soundtrack is good and helps create some dark atmosphere. The pacing is a little bit slow at the beginning but it gets better. Gorehounds will love Black Past as there is a lot of over the top gore on display. The make-up gore fx, all practical, are amazing especially considering the low budget.
This review is based upon the region 2 release from Njuta Films, it´s uncut and has swedish, danish, norwegian and finnish subtitles.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Yes, the plot might not be the most original and that dialogue, story, acting are flawed but Black Past promises gruesome gore and sadism and it certainly delievers that. Black Past is recommended viewing for gorehounds.

/JL


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