Olaf Ittenbach will do ring a bell with the gorehounds. His flicks are full of splatter and ultra gory but this time Olaf moves away from the horror genre. But don't be afraid. It's still Olaf.What we have is in fact an intro on a graveyard where the undertaker is questioned by a first time reporter. Short after we move into story one. It takes place nowadays in a mobster world. Things go wrong and punishments should follow and they do in ultra gore. The second story was for me the best part. The story looked more believable and the acting was much better. It takes place in the dark ages with the inquisition taking place. The story is better because the gore isn't there not just for the gore. But the torture and slaughtering is splatter and gore galore. Part 1 has clearly German actors trying to speak English and it shows. After the second part we move back to the graveyard with the final. It's one of Olaf's older flicks that had a proper release in 2012. Just go search Olaf's other splatter friend Timo Rose, he's to be seen in the second part.The story is simple and we do have blood and gore just for the sake of it so if you can't stand that don't watch it but for the gorehounds this is has a real boner effect.Gore 5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1/5

German director Olaf Ittenbach is widely known for his gory films, and "Beyond The Limits" sure is a gore-fest. Unfortunately, the excessive violence and gore, as well as a tiny bit of macabre humor, are the the only values this movie is recommendable for. Granted, there are a few shock moments, i'll give it that. The plot is absolutely ridiculous, and most of the performances are ridiculously terrible. Furthermore, it has recently become popular among low-budget horror directors to accompany their movie with recurring and extremely annoying computer-generated soundtracks, and the 'eerie' score of this movie is no exception. Still, this movie is worth your time in case you want nothing but gore. The gore is excessive, on the one hand, but in no way shocking or disturbing. In case its a brainless gore-fest you're looking for, "Beyond The Limits" is your kind of movie (allthough there are plenty of brainless gorefests that I would recommend a hundred times before this one). But in case you have any expectations regarding suspense or eeriness whatsoever, I recommend to switch this one. The film is divided into two main parts, one of which plays in present times, the other one in the 15th century. Even though I am a fan of medieval Horror, I liked the first part slightly better, since it doesn't even bother to fake a plot, and simply concentrates on being gory. Over all, "Beyond The Limits" is not a total disaster if you're just looking for gore, but if you're looking for a plot, avoid this. Not even recommendable to hardcore gorehounds.

I first bought this as a blind buy, and I'm glad I did. Ittenbach went all out on this one. For those of you not familiar with Olaf Ittenbach -he specialises in low-budget gore films that actually are semi-professional in looks (if not acting) and the effects are impressive enough to BE professional. Anyway, Beyond the Limits is basically divided into 3 sections, 2 of them are set in present day, and one back in medieval times. Two of them are accounts of a story, told to a reporter by a guy who looks after a graveyard. He begins to talk about the recent death of a local gangster, and gradually recounts the story of why he died.First episode, a gangster is having a party at a house and basically has double crossed some people or something. Things really spin out of control however when the party gets crashed by a sadistic murderer and his partner. Use your imagination for what happens next. All manner of dismemberments, explodings of heads, throat slittings, shotgun blasts to the chest at point blank and loads more with various implements - not forgetting the machete. Ittenbach didn't hold back here, this is all out carnage.The second episode takes you back to medieval times where some guy who lives in a castle has a vendetta against some religious villagers. Plus he's also after something. There's a bloody massacre in a church - men, women and children in various gruesome ways and is done with brutality and delight by the knights. This second episode centres around a knight who is hard pressed to protect his pretty wife and also to try and protect the villagers from the unyielding castle lord. Things take a sinister turn for the worse when he's discovered as a traitor and has to battle against the this madman who will stop at nothing - rape, torture and murder to get what he's looking for. (You'll see, by the way - that the 2 stories are linked). At the end of this second episode we get an extremely graphic portrayal of Ittenbach's vision of hell. At the end, the film cuts back to the present day, when the reporter discovers that the evil that drove these men is still alive today.As summaries go, that was longer than anticipated but I think the story is better than some of his other films. In terms of gore, well....we've got the whole bundle. Torture, rape and brutal massacre's are the order of the day and everything is done in a convincing and professional way. The acting could be better sometimes, but again the emphasis is not on that. To put it simply, it does the job. And that should be enough for anyone who would watch a film like this. Amongst the carnage are some fairly nice settings - the nicest being the knight and his wife in a snow-laden wood. Its nice to have these little scenes interrupting the bloodshed, gives the film a whole other angle. Make no mistake, it's primarily a gore film, but variety adds to the mix.I don't want to spoil the whole film for you, I think I've made my point. Watch it, and appreciate the professionalism and effort that have gone into it. I recommend Ittenbach's other stuff, Legion of the Dead, Garden of Love if you like things like this. Make sure you get the uncut version though!

This is some god forsaken piece of blood soaked, gory piece of cinema. Then again calling it a piece of cinema is going a bit too far. This is just a collection of (good) SFX shots of mangled bodies and people getting slashed in all manner of fashions. I love violence in movies, but this is really Beyond The Limits. I have no idea of what those mad Germans were thinking, but this is too much. A little recap of what you can see in the movie^ - heads getting cut off - women raped - legs, hands? fingers ripped off - people tortured in every possible manner and so on and so on. To be honest, if I would have red this earlier I would have loved to see the movie, but now I have to admit that I feel kind of dirty. I'll go and take a long shower and not sleep for a week. Always knew ze Germanz are into this sort of thing :-) P.S. Almost forgot, the acting is the worst I have seen in any movie in all my life!!!