Cauldron Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has resurrected writer/director Tomás Aznar’s 1980 horror tale, Beyond Terror, for release on July 6.
The worldwide Blu-ray debut will be in all of its gory glory as the result of a new 4K film restoration from the surviving 35mm camera negative.
Italian filmmakers, such as Lamberto Bava, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, found a path to America cinemas with their “Euro Horror” delights from the 1970s and 80s, but for some reason Spanish filmmaker Tomás Aznar seemed to have missed the boat with this rampage of horror … it certainly touched all of the right bases (and then some).
In an odd opening sequence, that gives little indication of what is to come, a young woman we come to know as Lola (Raquel Ramírez), picks up a “trick,” but instead of a hook-up at the local motel, she insists that they do the nasty in the nearby woods. He’s all for that, but once to the proper place, she cuts him to ribbons and steals his cash.
Our little cutthroat soon meets-up with her “boys,” a quartet of bikers led by Chema (Francisco Sánchez Grajera), with her tag-along brother, Nico (Emilio Siegrist) and two other thugs. Hey guys look what I got, cash, which they quickly spend on drugs and realize that it isn’t enough to really get them roasted.
Soon they find themselves at a local road house — to get the needed cash — where the police arrive during the middle of the group holding up the place and a gun battle ensues. When the smoke clears, the patrons — save two — the two cops and one of the bikers are all dead. It is a real blood bath … and we still haven’t got to core of the film as of yet.
Chema figures that hostages would be a good thing in case they run into more cops, so he takes the two survivors — Linda and Jorge — and away they go. All they need is a place to hide-out for a bit and that’s where Beyond Terror shifts from being a murder spree flick to a gruesome horror tale.
This little troupe of murderers, with their hostages in tow, eventually (some back story about the kidnapped couple is filled in) arrive at Dama’s home (Andreé Van de Woestyne), where she is alone with a boy and a dog. So, what do crazed killers do? Of course, they beat the old woman without mercy, kill her dog and then set the place on fire … and gleefully watch the little boy burn to death.
The stop was a mere distraction, a diversion … who doesn’t like to beat old ladies and burn little boys, Chema and Lola certainly got their kicks out of it. What they didn’t know, Dama was in league with the devil and as they rode away she cursed them … blew them a death kiss.
Without their control, they find themselves at an abandoned church and a rundown and seemingly deserted village. It is here that the dead will rise, the group of murderers will engage in questionable sexual encounters … and one by one they will die horrible deaths. Dama, the dog and boy have the last word!
Bonus features include commentary from Diabolique Magazine’s Kat Ellinger and an extensive image gallery with its own soundtrack. Beyond Terror is presented in Spanish with English subtitles.
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