Prepare yourself.
Directed by Mario Bava
Reviewed by Deep Red
Aka Shock aka The Demon is Nuts
Stars Daria Nicolodi as Dora Baldini, John Steiner as Bruno Baldini and David Colin Jr. as Marco.
Dora, her pilot husband and Marco, her young son from her first marriage, move into the house Dora used to live in with her first husband who committed suicide. Marco begins acting strangely and Dora begins experiencing strange things….
Not much of a synopsis I agree but I’m not giving anything away.
This was Mario Bava’s last film and was only renamed Beyond the Door II because both films star child actor David Colin Jr., it is in fact a far better film than Beyond the Door [1974] in my opinion. I’ve only seen this and A Bay of Blood [1971] by Mario Bava to my shame but I do intend to watch more. Daria Nicolodi is as utterly captivating as ever and the atmosphere Bava manages to create here is simply superb; it’s been a fair while since I’ve been this absorbed in a film. There’s some brilliant imagery that’s so subtle that it pisses on most films and it really needs a Blu-ray release although the picture and audio were pretty good, no major issues.
OK, in the cold harsh light of day some of the effects are limited by the capabilities of the time but they’re handled beautifully so they don’t diminish the film’s strengths and it has lots of strengths.
So, I don’t really see this as Beyond the Door II anymore but as Shock directed by Mario Bava. You certainly don’t have to have seen Beyond the Door to enjoy this but trust me you have to see this; maybe check out Beyond the Door though, it is worth a watch in my opinion, just not in the same league as this.
Blown away.
