punishmentpark Exploitation with a capital 'E'. The soundtrack by Goblin is certainly not their best. At times it is simply dull and not befitting of the horrors that are going on on the screen. At other times it is adequate, simply funny or even a little surreal. The acting is good enough for an exploitation flick, Kieran Canter and Franca Stoppi have just the right creepy faces, and then there's loads of pretty female skin and flesh ready for the slaughter.The premise may have some potential on a dramatic level, but the story and many of its details are ludicrous - but what did I expect? This film is all about the gore and the creepiness, and it has that in spades. Not that I can really look at this all that seriously (for such a type of film, I would for instance recommend 'Dans ma peau' by Marina de Van), but there is some strange balance between the excellent gore and the sheer, sometimes almost comical, madness that goes on here.A more than decent 8 out of 10, plus note to self: watch more by Joe D'Amato.

merklekranz One of the better films dealing with necrophilia, "Blue Omega" delivers the horror goods. Kieran Caster as Frank, takes his taxidermy hobby to new levels, with the fillet and stuffing of his dead girlfriend played by Cinzia Monreale. An overly protective surrogate mother, Frances Stoppi as Iris, helps out by giving the next female victim a manicure with a set of pliers, after which she practices her meat cleaver butchering techniques on the girl. Throw in some attempted love making in the same bed with the stuffed girlfriend, and a human barbecue in the basement. The only flaw is an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Recommended of it's type. - MERK

zuccozoid Sickening but effective drive-in fare: if you can take the acid-bath/dinner scene, good luck! Reminds me of schlock/grossout fare like DEVIL TIMES FIVE and DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT, only nastier.D'Amato was a workingman's director who didn't seem to care much about the content; an Italian William Beaudine; he was, however, far better than Jess Franco!From the IMDb bio:During the 1980s and 1990s D'Amato directed over 100 hardcore porn sex films for the Italian video market, although under his many pseudonyms he continued to direct and produce other films. One of them was Deliria (1987) directed by Michele Soavi on which, under his real name, Massaccesi served as producer. He then directed two "Ator the Invincible" films. He directed the violent, hardcore Caligola: La storia mai raccontata (1982), using the name "David Hills", a commercial exploitation (some might say "rip-off") of the successful film by Tinto Brass.His long film career came to an abrupt end when, in January 1999, he suffered an unexpected and fatal heart attack at his home in Rome. He was 62. Joe D'Amato had made his mark on Italian cinema as a talented director, scriptwriter, producer and cinematographer with scores of films and more than a dozen aliases to his credit.

Maciste_Brother BUIO OMEGA is often considered as one of the sickest films ever made. Its reputation amongst horror fans is almost legendary. So when I decided to watch this Joe D'Amato flick, I was all excited and was prepared to be grossed out. Instead of being shocked senseless, I found myself laughing or giggling non-stop. I'm aware these films rarely live up to their reputations but I wasn't scared or grossed out for a second, which sorta dismayed the gorehound in me. It WAS entertaining but entertaining for all the wrong reasons.First, the gore. The blood was pink. PINK!?!? In order for the dismemberment or gore to be believable the free flowing blood has to be red, not pink.Second, the body count is very low: aside from the end, there are only two victims. The way they are killed is not scary, gross or exciting.Third, the story, or lack thereof, is too silly and filled with real groaners. The film starts with the housekeeper, Iris, hiring an old gypsy woman who puts a curse on a doll, which represents Frank's girlfriend who's in the hospital. After prickling the doll with needles, the girlfriend's condition worsen and eventually she dies. Iris wants the girlfriend out of Frank's life and this is how she goes about it!?!? It worked, the girlfriend dies, right after asking Frank "I want to make love to you before I die." So they start making out on the hospital bed and then she croaks. ROTFLMAO!!! The script is really bad. I'm sure they wrote it as it went along. The whole film is filled with totally illogical moments that strain credulity, even for a Eurocult horror film. I really wonder how they came up with the ideas for the script and not think the audience was dumb enough not to notice. The entire scene with the hitchhiker is stupid & contrived, certainly when Frank leaves the hitchhiker sleeping in his van at his house. I mean, come on! He should have kicked her to the curb before parking the van in the garage. Fourth, the film is filled with unrealistic details which makes it impossible to take it seriously. For instance, when a body is buried, the corpse is already embalmed. So when Frank brings the girlfriend's body home after digging her out of the ground and starts doing an embalming process on it, pulling out all the internal guts and such, well, I had to laugh out loud. Also, a corpse becomes stiff as a board. The corpse of the girlfriend was pretty flexible even after being dead for days.And fifth and lastly, the actors. The cast is very small. There's Frank, Iris, the dead girlfriend, the fat hitchhiker, the three blond bimbos and the mysterious man who's identity is revealed in a stupid twist at the end. That's it! The actress who plays Iris is younger than she's made to be and this I always find this funny. And last but not least Kieran Canter, as Frank, the demented taxidermist. I have to say that he's sure is a pretty boy. And I thought Stephen Forsyth was ridiculously handsome for a killer in HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON. Kieran Canter's career apparently veered into the world of porno, which ain't too surprising.I'm actually glad I finally saw BLUE HOLOCAUST. It was funny while it lasted! But it's certainly not one of the most shocking films ever. I mean, NORBIT is more shocking and less funny than this.