Beyond the Black Rainbow

9/24/20111h 50m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Beyond Science. Beyond Sanity. Beyond Control. ~

Overview:

Deep within the mysterious Arboria Institute, a disturbed and beautiful girl is held captive by a doctor in search of inner peace. Her mind controlled by a sinister technology. Silently, she waits for her next session with deranged therapist Dr. Barry Nyle. If she hopes to escape, she must journey through the darkest reaches of The Institute, but Nyle wonʼt easily part with his most gifted and dangerous creation.

Director:

Panos Cosmatos

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$1,100,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

sadism
homicide
commune
delusion
exploitation
surrealism
mad doctor
brutality
captive
transcendence
drugged
aftercreditsstinger
canuxploitation
fiend
retro horror
psychotronic film
art film
avant garde

Cast

Michael J Rogers

~ as ~

Barry Nyle

Eva Bourne

~ as ~

Elena

Scott Hylands

~ as ~

Mercurio Arboria

Marilyn Norry

~ as ~

Rosemary Nyle

Rondel Reynoldson

~ as ~

Margo

Ryley Zinger

~ as ~

Sentionaut

Gerry South

~ as ~

Skinny Hesher

Chris Gauthier

~ as ~

Fat Hesher

Geoffrey Conder

~ as ~

Mutant

Ronald Reagan

~ as ~

Self (archive footage)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

griggs79
Written 3 month(s) ago
2
Beyond the Black Rainbow postures as a reverent tribute to 1970s cult sci-fi, but quickly reveals itself as an exercise in imitation rather than inspiration. Instead of channelling the essence of THX 1138, Dark Star, Silent Running, or Solaris, it appears to lift entire stylistic elements wholesale, without understanding what made those films resonate. Though drenched in an icy 1980s aesthetic—with CRT fuzz, sterile corridors, and a heavy synth score—the film offers little more than visual mimicry. An early sequence cuts from Ronald Reagan archival footage to a suit carrier marked “Noriega,” a clumsy nod to the CIA-backed Panamanian dictator famously driven out by the sonic assault of Van Halen. Had this film’s soundtrack been used instead, he’d have surrendered within a day—not out of defeat, but sheer boredom.

Every scene fades to black before the next begins, as if grasping for meaning that never materialises. Characters barely exist, speaking in cryptic, stilted lines that suggest depth but carry none. The dialogue is not just bad—it’s empty. There is no plot to follow, no emotional core, and no real point beyond the surface-level visuals. What’s left is an art installation masquerading as cinema: flat, meaningless, pretentious.