AP
Antonluigi Pecchia aka Pax
•A small group of soldiers, composed of women and men, tries to counter the forces of the "Elder Gods", but unfortunately, the child of the Beyond will be born, a newborn sided with the Elder Gods who could put an end to the entire world!
Thus, our soldiers will have to find the Necronomicon (the book of the dead on which Lovecraft based a legend) as soon as possible to annihilate the forces of the "Elder Gods".
Will our heroes manage to annihilate evil to save the world?
"Maelstrom – The Child of the Beyond" is the sequel to "The Beyond", the first feature film by independent director Ivan Zuccon, inspired by "The Writings on the Necronomicon" by Lovecraft; but unlike the good first chapter, for this sequel the director had a larger budget at his disposal.
"Maelstrom – The Child of the Beyond" is an example of good Italian cinema, to the point that, even if we are in a dark period for Italian horror cinema, probably Zuccon can represent a light for this dark period. In this film, we find "strong" scenes shot in such a way as to seem real and hit the stomach of the viewer, and some successful quotes from masterpieces of the genre like "Zombi" (the scene of the undead who has an axe stuck in his head), "The House" (the sequence of the rape by the malevolent forces), "Day of the Dead" (the capture of the undead).
Compared to his previous film, this "Maelstrom - The Child of the Beyond" presents improvements in the technique used by the director (it is noticeable that Zuccon now feels comfortable behind the camera), in the quality of the special effects, and in the construction of tension, to the point that often this film makes the viewer "jump out of their seat". Moreover, the screenplay seems compact and has the merit of connecting to its prequel in an interesting and original way.
Overall, "Maelstrom – The Child of the Beyond" presents itself as an excellent film, comparable even to richer and more ambitious cults like "Hellraiser". Zuccon is a director to keep an eye on!
We await the completion of the last chapter of the trilogy on "The Beyond".
The viewing is recommended to all lovers of horror cinema and especially to the admirers of Italian horror in its "golden years", you will certainly not be disappointed!