SunnyHello Nice effects though.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

WeYreAoung But I didn't get one. Instead, I get a debut film from gore master, Ittenbach, back when he was a teen. Yes, you heard folks, Ittenbach was at his teen years when this was made, and boy did he have a sick, twisted mind; and he does prove that by making the most god- awful of debuts, BLACK PAST, which wants to be the new EVIL DEAD (the movie that stars Bruce Campbell, that stunk too), because he drags scenes too long, like when Thommy (why is there even an H I will never know) kills his girlfriend, who was suddenly possessed by the devil of the mirror he stupidly took from a wooden box, that keeps coming back and we just wonder where we've seen this already. Now let's get to reviewing to this "video". The acting is terrible. Ittenbach might not have heard of a take, because these people cannot act. The story isn't even good, like really? A mirror with a dark past which is possessed by the devil by what? We never know because this movie lacks logic. There is tons of gore (like if you want to call it that) thrown over this movie you might want to be screwed over by it, but sadly I'm not one. The main character, Thommy is a whiny idiot. How's it going over there being a drama queen, you bad actor? What? You're not as good as Tom Savini?

S_Craig_Zahler This is low budget shot on video German splatter, starring the writer/director/special effect guy, Olaf Ittenbach.No small amount of this movie originated in The Evil Dead, but rather than look at The Black Past like a typical narrative movie, I'd suggest approaching it like a Halloween haunted house with gory set pieces and an intensely nasty depiction of hell.Unlike most of his later movies, which push toward bigger ideas (and don't work as well), this is a simple piece that builds to intensely gory happenings. It is a bit too slow and the performances aren't there at all, but when things get surreal and vicious, the experience is a vibrant and charged gore cornucopia that will leave a lasting impression. You'll need to forgive a lot in this film, but like the very different movies of Werner Herzog and John Waters and H.G. Lewis and Harmony Korine, Black Past is an experience and a spectacle more than it is a traditional narrative film and those looking for a dungeon of gore, where "Hell = Creative Torture" may forgive Ittenbach's shortcomings as a traditional filmmaker...something that is less forgivable when he attempts to make traditional films (albeit ones crammed with gore).((I found Premutos a bit dull after a while, and House of Blood and the Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine, sporadically engaging.))Ittenbach's other recommendable movie, The Burning Moon, is similarly strong-- and expands upon the man's visual conception of "Hell = Creative Torture," though it is also a bit more bloated. And Brian Paulin's Fetus and Bone Sickness explore this dungeon and are better in most regards.

trashgang The eighties was the time of the slashers and the goreflicks. Germany became know due to Buttgereit and Ittenbach. Buttgereit made some weird ones , Ittenbach the gory ones. This is his first one and appearing himself as the main character. The home made one starts of extreme slow and nothing happens, although the first minute was promising, a child killed by an axe. But when his girlfriend becomes possessed the movie really starts. Olaf had some weird dreams were his girlfriend reappears from the dead, again and again, just like Raimi's Evil Dead. That's where the movie becoming a real gore classic, amounts of blood is flowing, bodies are mutilated, a real mess. So that's why Olaf became a cultdirector, he made a lot of other classics like Burning Moon and House of Blood and of course the real gory one Premutos. A keeper

mayflower Brilliant debut by german gore favorit Ittenbach. It's a VERY well produced no budget splatter movie with all the Ittenbach characteristics, such as dumb german humor and of course over-the-top gore sequenses! It's just as good as Premutos and better than The Burning Moon and even better than the low budget Legion of the Dead, which was a real letdown. Be sure to get the Olaf Ittenbach Collection on DVD, with a new and restored version of this fantastic flick, together with Burning Moon, Premutos, the old version of Black Past as well as a bonus disc with trailers of his new flick Beyond the Limits (Looks really cool), behind the camera and so on.