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Released by: Another World Entertainment
Released on: August, 2011
Director: Olaf Ittenbach
Cast: Olaf Ittenbach, Andrea Arbter, Andre Stryi
Year: 1989
The Movie:
Olaf Ittenbach wrote, directed and starred in this 1989 low budget camcorder movie. Here he plays a young man named Thommy who sports a frizzy mullet and wears aqua colored shirts and tan colored Dockers but before we get to him we should know that some time ago a guy killed a young girl. Got it? Okay, back to Thommy and his wardrobe problems - he finds a mirror and somehow this mirror winds up taking an evil hold over our hero and before you know it, he's a hero no more. In fact, he's downright evil and he goes around killing people in increasingly gory ways. Complicating things is the presence of his girlfriend, Petra (Andrea Arbter), who gets killed in a car accident but then rises from the dead.
Thommy, presumable under control of the evil mirror which is channeling the negative energy from the guy who killed the young girl and other deviants of the past, tries to kill her again but, in grand Evil Dead style, no dice. As the mirror's grip on Thommy intensifies, he finds himself quite literally on a one way trip to Hell.
Ittenbach's first feature isn't a particularly advanced film by any stretch but once it starts moving it delivers loads of wacky bloodshed and gore - which is basically the whole point. There's a pretty basic story here, sure, but the acting is, to be blunt, terrible and the production values pretty slipshod. This is more of an effects reel than anything else and while Ittenbach's later films would see him grow as a storyteller without moving too far from his gore auteur roots, this directorial debut shows him struggling to get there.
The film is padded, particularly in the first half where poor tortured Thommy spend a lot of time... walking around. This is probably to show us that he's deep in thought but it's not exciting to watch and as the character development goes nowhere, it's unnecessary as it doesn't wind up adding anything to the picture except minutes. On top of that there are logic gaps large enough to drive a jetliner through and moments where you kind of get the impression that Ittenbach might want to consider paying Raimi and Campbell royalties. Original this film is not.
Let's not over think this one, however.
The highlight of the film is, just as it is in Burning Moon, a trip to Hell where all manner of horrible atrocities are committed for his camera's unflinching eye to capture in as much detail as the low resolution analogue format will allow for. It's here, in this finale drenched in grue, that we see Ittenbach really pushing the envelope not just in his bargain basement atrocity exhibit but in terms of his creativity as well. If this is an effects reel, he wisely saves the best for last so that the buildup actually has a pay off worth waiting for.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Black Past looks about as good as a micro-budget camcorder gore fest probably can, given that the tape source elements obviously aren't going to offer up the kind of detail you'd get from film or digital video. The source used for the DVD was in good shape, there aren't any tape rolls or tracking lines and while the image is soft, it's certainly stable enough and perfectly watchable.
German language tracks are provided in Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 with optional subtitles provided in Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch and English. Again, the limitations of the source material are apparent here but overall the audio is fairly clear. The levels are properly balanced and there aren't really any issues to note.
Extras include a seven minute collection of early clips from some of Ittenbach's early splatter videos. He provides an intro and outro for the reel, noting that he made them when he was seventeen and that they're not very good - but they're fun, and his fans will appreciate seeing them there. There are also two TV clips included that were made for German television and which detail some of his films and some of his work and include interviews not only with him but with some of the producers he has worked with. Rounding out the extras are trailers for a couple of other Olaf Ittenbach movies and trailers for a few other AWE DVD releases. Menus and chapter selection are also provided
The Final Word:
If you're not too concerned with storytelling or character development you can have some fun with this ultra cheap gorefest from Ittenbach and company. It's goofy and dated to be sure but it delivers plenty of splattery thrills and surprisingly intense gore effects that, as base as it may seem, go a long way towards making this one far more entertaining than it has any right to be - and also it features graphic dick nailing, so there's that too.
