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I was extremely astonished to find out that this virtually unknown italian Giallo is actually the original version of the famous BUIO OMEGA. No book on italian horror movies has written anything about this movie and it certainly holds a lot of surprises for those interested in the history of italian exploitation cinema. First, it was made in 1966, black and white, 1:1,66 widescreen. Second as gore goes it's on par with Bava's Sei Donne, so it`s pretty brutal and has an uneasy sadistic subtone. Third Franco Nero (here credited as FRANK Nero) plays the lead role, the necrophil count who has lost his wife. Fourth, theres animal snuff in there. Fifth, a quite explicit rape scene. Anyone who knows Buio Omega will be very familiar with the plot. It's virtually the same. So it is a hidden gem? Yes, absolutely. Is it a classic? Hm ... the acting ranges from wooden to ridiculous and the whole movie looks and sounds and moves more like a teleplay. So it's not really a technically good one (unlike Sei Donne). But anyway, if you have the chance to see this film, get it. Out on DVD currently in Germany with a nice, crisp print (das dritte Auge), but language only in german...

The Story:

A woman is running naked through the streets, her back skinned. She is run over by a bus and only by accident the torture she went through is detected. Investigation leads into snuff porno and tattoo-trades, with junkies selling their skin for fix. The center of the story is the 13th tattoo by a famed japanese artist, with all the wearers of the other 12 being killed or missed.

The Execution:

If you thought Se7en with it´s rainsoaked and dirty pictures of New York has the most depressing setting ever, think twice. The streets of Berlin are not only filmed exclusively with rain, but mostly at night which makes me wonder who anyone can watch this film on the small screen esp. as VHS-cassette... We have a lot of similarities here between Se7en and Tattoo, which are - with the exception of the parcel scene - so cleverly made that it´s not too obvious. Performances are strong throughout, with Redel being very, very good as maturing rookie. American Audiences will not like the slow pace, the sometimes meditative mood, of this movie.

The Verdict:

I gave it 8. It was good to see such a movie on the big screen. It´s a strong, clever thriller with a good script, locations and actors. I´m waiting for the sequel.

It´s all my fault. They all told me I should avoid seeing this movie because I´m a huge fan of the old TV-series. They were right. While production values are good and the actors themselves (including "don´t look now") Julie Christie aren´t that bad, the whole film displays a cheekiness and self-conciousness that clearly is without any justification. A comparison between the Karloff "Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns 2000" comes to my mind. In fact Belphegore 2000 owes much more to the new Mummy films than to the old series. But then, scripting is terrible, speed there is none and sometimes the film is full of unintentional jokes (The first scene in the tomb looks plain stupid), with cats clearly being thrown when they´re supposed to jump (landing with their backfeet first). Belphegore moves around like a statue on wheels neither impressive nor scary and the psychological drama that unfolded in the old tv series when the heroine had to learn that she´s a villain is completely neglected. This movie is so WASTED (wasted money, wasted actors, wasted blueprint) that it hurts. It´s a below-par Mummy-rip off that´s only good for some laughs but has nothing at all to do with the Greco classic (She has a small role in this movie too - on the graveyard).