Beyond the Door II [Schock] *** (1979, Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, David Colin Jr, Ivan Rassimov) – Classic Movie Review 13,322

Mario Bava’s 1979 Italian supernatural horror film Beyond the Door II [Schock] features Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, David Colin Jr and Ivan Rassimov.

Director Mario Bava’s 1979 Italian supernatural horror film Beyond the Door II [Schock] features Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, David Colin Jr, Ivan Rassimov, Paul Costello, and Nicola Salerno.

Daria Nicolodi stars as Dora Baldini, who, along with her new husband Bruno Baldini (John Steiner), moves into the home she shared with her deceased husband. They are driven over the edge when the body of their seven-year-old adopted amnesiac son Marco (David Colin Jr) plays host to a vengeful demon spirit of Dora’s former husband.

Cult director Bava’s last film before he died of a heart attack in 1980 works on a similar plot to Ovidio G Assonitis’s 1974 Italian film Beyond the Door, but imbues it with a sense of style and wit utterly lacking in the original. The script is a let-down, but Bava builds up a distinctly scary atmosphere and there are a few truly horrible moments. David Colin Jr returns from the original, but this time as the adopted son of Nicolodi and Steiner.

The film was released in Italy on 12 August 1977 by Titanus.

The film was released by Film Ventures International in the US as Beyond the Door II as an unofficial sequel to Beyond the Door [Chi Sei?] (1974) and second in the Beyond the Door trilogy. The films are unconnected in narrative or content though share the same child actor David Colin Jr (but playing different characters). Ovidio G Assonitis produced Beyond the Door and the unrelated Beyond the Door III (1989).

Mario Bava’s son Lamberto Bava worked on the screenplay with co-writer Alessandro Parenzo, based on an original script by Dardano Sacchetti and Francesco Barbieri.

The cast

The cast are Daria Nicolodi as Dora Baldini, John Steiner as Bruno Baldini, David Colin Jr as Marco, Ivan Rassimov as Dr Aldo Spidini, Paul Costello as Obnoxious Man at Party, Lamberto Bava as Mover, and Nicola Salerno as Carlo.

Beyond the Door II [Schock]  is directed by Mario Bava, runs 95 minutes, is made by Laser Film, is released by Titanus (Italy) and Film Ventures (US), is written by Lamberto Bava, Alessandro Parenzo, Francesco Barbieri, Paolo Brigenti and Dardano Sacchetti, is shot by Alberto Sapgnoli, is produced by Turi Vasili, is scored by Walter Martino, and is designed by Francesco Vanorio.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,322

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