eROTik 2: The Beyond (2024) Film Review – A Moist Sphacelus of Blood, Puss, and Maggots

Posted on by Jim Cox

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eROTik 2: The Beyond is a 2024 extreme horror film directed by Felice Santulli (better known as Slade Wilson), with Marylu’ Lallo working as assistant director. The film is a sequel/reboot to Tetromaniac: eROTik (2018), written by Levent Kaya and directed by Domiziano Christpharo. Being the first feature-length title in his repertoire, Slade is better known for directing shorts for the extreme anthology films XXX Darkweb: Red Lips, 6 Songs, and Phallacies. The story is loosely based on the case of notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, aka the Milwaukee Cannibal, who murdered and dismembered seventeen victims between 1978 and 1991.

In the decaying ruins of an old house, Dahmer, a young man with an unhealthy obsession with all things necrotic, continues his attempt to create the perfect army of submissive slaves as commanded by the ancient Egyptian god Anubi, the deity of death and the underworld.

Beginning with a condensed recap of the events from the previous entry, eROTik 2: The Beyond certainly wastes no time introducing its themes of explicit sexual acts, murder, cannibalism, and necrophilia. While working as a sequel, the concise inclusion of many key moments from the prequel helps the film act more as a reboot—it is not necessary to watch the entirety of eROTik (2018) to understand the ongoing narrative featured in both.

Although the narrative is based on the Milwaukee cannibal, the film lightly treads this path, choosing to utilise light elements from this real crime case rather than recreate them exactly. Additionally, eROTik2: The Beyond introduces elements from popular media and folklore into the mix. There are links to the Cthulhu mythos and the inclusion of the Book of Eibon, a fictional grimoire that features heavily in stories by Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, and many others from the mythos circle of authors—also employed by Lucio Fulci in his cult-classic The Beyond (1981). Furthermore, references to the tale of Edward Mordake, the supposed English Nobleman who was said to have a human face on the back of his head. Though only implemented a few times, this antithesis works well at presenting our protagonist’s feelings of remorse and regret in a disassociated manner.

Full of the dancing flickers of candlelight to illuminate scenes, fantastic manipulation of shadows, and lingering, disturbingly tight close-up shots, the film’s cinematography, provided by Domiziano Chrisopharo, infuses the award-winning creator’s unmistakable flair for visuals throughout. Framing these despicable acts of debauchery to leave nothing to the imagination, the visual design can be unapologetic in its portrayal of thanatophilia–delivering inescapably claustrophobic shots of cadaver coitus. Furthermore, a similar approach is executed for this grisly shocker’s inexorable scenes of death, mutilation, and cannibalism–imparting a miscellany of gory suffering for all to discern.

Although the film only contains a small cast of characters, the roster of actors has certainly increased compared to eROTik. With brief appearances from Angela Del Regno (Necromaniac: Confessions of a Necrophile Girl), William Conner as Dahmer’s successfully lobotomised slave, and Kevin Capurro as the ancient god Anubi, Patrizia De Rosa and Felice Santulli as the protagonist’s mother, and Ercole as “The Corpse”, each member brings a distinct element to the story with great vigor.

While Adam Western portrays our main protagonist for the initial recap edited from the previous film (along with his victim played by Simone Avincola), the role of Dahmer in this sequel/reboot is, instead, played by Ahmet Kartal–who provides a palpably serene calmness in the face of the barbaric acts portrayed. Indeed, Ahmet takes a slow and deliberate approach to his portrayal of such a despicable character, seemingly bestowing a sense of normalcy to these acts of barbarity–lacking any social reasoning behind his inherently evil actions or labeling him as crazed or maniacal. Instead, the film flips the typical voyeur behaviour onto its audience, with them peering into our protagonist’s everyday life, looking for thrills.

Providing a suitable barbaric display of cannibalism, necrophilia, mutilation, and putrefaction, the special effects, provided by Kevin Capurro, are certainly a sight to behold. Actualised through practical means, the effects that furnish eROTik 2: The Beyond’s depraved subject matter undoubtedly translates into a realistically uncomfortable experience. Featuring a whole host of dismembered body parts strewn throughout, each prop is incredibly high quality–seemingly looking and reacting like the real thing. Similarly, the portrayal of skin necrosis and decomposition is surprisingly visceral. This moist sphacelus of blood, puss, and maggots is quite the sight, sure to make even the most hardened gore-hounds wince.

An unabashed exploration of a deeply disturbed mind, eROTik 2: The Beyond holds little back when visualising the explicit acts that only such a depraved individual could commit. With an extremely visceral narrative, fantastic visual design, and some impressive practical special effects, the picture is an imposing foray into feature-length titles for director Slade Wilson–certainly displaying an impressive level of skill behind the camera. With the addition of a fantastic cast and crew, the feature is both a love letter to genre cinema and a celebration of its influence and is sure to satiate fans of the extreme.

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