Beyond the Grave (Porto Dos Mortos)
A Film by Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro
Director: Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro
Actors: Rafael Tombini (Officer), Alvaro Rosacosta (Franco), Ricardo Seffner (Shooter).
Studio: Lockheart Filmes
Format: HD
Language: Portuguese (English subtitles)
Release Date: 09/07/2012 (Netflix: US & Latin America)
Run Time: 89 min.
Beyond the Grave
A Film by Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro
Review by Jeani Rector
A car door opens and a foot steps onto the grass. The man walks towards a wall containing morbid graffiti. Then the man walks into a kitchen and opens fire…on zombies.
Beyond the Grave, which is also known by its Brazilian title Porto Dos Mortos (Portal of the Dead), is set in an apocalyptic world in which the dead walk the earth. Rafael Tombini plays a police officer whose current job description is to locate and take out someone known as the Dark Rider, a possessed serial killer.
On the way, Rombini runs across a (still human) teenage couple, a young man played by Ricardo Seffner and a deaf girl played by Amanda Grimaldi. Coincidently, Rombini finds that Seffner is also seeking to destroy the Dark Rider, so the three become a team.
They all climb into an amazing muscle car, a 1975 GT V8 Ford Maverick in primo condition, which is delightfully and prominently featured. Thus follows a film of determination, action...and yes, violence.
Beyond the Grave is an Art House film from Brazil, and it contains many moody, symbolic things. The protagonists hear on the car’s radio: “All that used to be is gone—except for the music.” And that music is Latin-inspired and creates an attractive backdrop.
One of the standouts in this film (besides the car) is the young teenager, Ricardo Seffner. Seffner shines as an actor, accomplished and believable in his role. Beyond the Grave is as much a character study as it is a zombie movie, and the relationship between Seffner and Rombini works well.
I have glanced at reviews on other sites for this film, and not all are as favorable to it as I am. However, one must remember that this is not a blockbuster Hollywood big-budget movie, but instead as I previously stated, an Art House film. As an Art House film, it works on that level.
I liked Beyond the Grave for its moody, dark and expressive feel. It is almost a noir spaghetti Western with zombies. It was shot over six years and has been screened at over seventy international film festivals worldwide and has won fourteen international awards.
I would recommend this film to a specific audience: if you enjoy eclectic, dark, moody, Art House films, then Beyond the Grave is for you.
See more about the movie HERE
About the Filmmaker
Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro
Born July 28, 1979, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro is a director, writer and producer of short and feature films. He is the producer of the documentary feature series BOUNDARIES OF THOUGHT, starring Peter Greenaway, Michel Houellebecq, Pierre Levy, Camille Paglia, among other personalities. The four episodes are CROSSROAD (2008), followed by DIGITAL (2008), ARCHITECTS OF THOUGHT (2008), and CHAOS AND ORDER (2008). Davi also produced the five episodes of the on-line doc series BOUNDARIES OF THOUGHT: THINK THANK with David Lynch, Wim Wenders, Philip Glass and others. Among the highlights of this series are the awarded BACK TO ROOM 666 (2008), starring Wenders and the THE SOUL DETECTIVE, also written and directed by Davi, starred by David Lynch. His first fiction feature was BEYOND THE GRAVE (2011), which he also directed, written and produced. The fantasy themed feature film gained international acclaim, being selected for 70 film festivals around the world such as the Sitges Film Festival (Spain), East End Film Festival (UK), Chicago Latino Film Festival (USA) and Habana Film Festival (Cuba) and winner of 14 international awards. The film was made by his production company, Lockheart Filmes Ltda. In 2012, Davi released the short-feature THE PERFECT KISS.
About the Reviewer
Jeani Rector
While most people go to Disneyland while in Southern California, Jeani Rector went to the Fangoria Weekend of Horror there instead. She grew up watching the Bob Wilkins Creature Feature on television and lived in a house that had the walls covered with framed Universal Monsters posters. It is all in good fun and actually, most people who know Jeani personally are of the opinion that she is a very normal person. She just writes abnormal stories. Doesn’t everybody?
Jeani Rector is the founder and editor of The Horror Zine and has had her stories featured in magazines such as Aphelion, Midnight Street, Strange Weird and Wonderful, Macabre Cadaver, Ax Wound, Horrormasters, Morbid Outlook, Horror in Words, Black Petals, 63Channels, Death Head Grin, Hackwriters, Bewildering Stories, Ultraverse, Story Mania, Lost Souls, All Destiny, and many others. Her novel Pestilence: A Medieval Tale of Plague was released in 2012.