AL 33 DI VIA OROLOGIO FA SEMPRE FREDDO
(BEYOND THE DOOR II)
A film review by Mike Watson
Copyright 1997 Mike Watson
(released in Europe as SHOCK)
DIRECTED BY: Mario Bava SCREENPLAY: Lamberto Bava & Francesco Barbieri STARRING: Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, David Colin Jr. RATING: 4 out of 5
The Grandfather of Italian Horror the late Mario Bava has credits in nearly 100 films and TV movies produced in Italy between 1939 and his death in the early 80's. More practiced as a cinematographer than a director, Bava nonetheless sat in the director's chair for BEYOND THE DOOR II, the project which turned out to be his last full-length feature film.
Alongside the appalling zombie schlock of hacks like Lucio Fulci, BEYOND THE DOOR II is simply a revelation. In his day Bava was considered by most to be no great filmmaker, yet here he fashioned one of the finest Italian horror movies of the 1970's. (Note that the film has no connection with the 1975 Exorcist-rip off BEHIND THE DOOR, but for some unexplained reason was given this related title for release in the USA and Australia.)
This story focuses on Dora, a women set upon by a malevolent spirit that channels itself through her young son Marco. The film opens with Dora, her son and second husband Bruno returning to a house by the sea that was the scene of her first husband's suicide and her subsequent trauma 7 years earlier. They hope to put the past behind them, but as small accidents start to befall Dora - usually while Bruno is away on business - she starts to suspect that Marco (played with uncanny ability by 8 year old David Colin Jr.) is somehow involved in the strange goings on.
To reveal any more of the story would be unfair. Suffice to say that this artfully paced study of a woman suffering a nervous breakdown offers an intriguing plot, loads of atmosphere and solid acting, though the dialogue is somewhat weakened by the dubbing into English. Bava coaches a surprisingly good performance from the usually wooden Daria Nicolodi, wife of famed Italian horror director Dario Argento. Her character is invested with sufficient depth to allow the audience real empathy with Dora's troubled soul. The music by Italian ensemble Libra is also effective, mixing odd-sounding 70's rock with classic Gothic piano sequences. And there is at least one moment - brilliantly engineered by Bava - that is guaranteed to lift you ten feet out of your chair.
Yet for Italian horror, the bloodletting here is surprisingly minimal. Lamberto Bava and Francesco Barbieri's script is more concerned with deeper, psychological terrors, with themes of guilt and suffering, with the notion that what we sow will shall - somewhere, somehow - eventually reap. Scholars of the genre take note: BEYOND THE DOOR II is stylish, chilling, and essential.
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