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New to Blu – Week of 8/4/2015

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Each week here at Bloody Disgusting we like to highlight some of the new Blu-ray releases hitting shelves across the world. Please note that this isn’t every release for the week, just a few of the ones that jumped out at us.

Lots of great new Blu-ray releases this week. From the debut Blu-ray release of a Joe Dante classic to a Mad Max-Dawn of the Dead mash-up, this week offers up plenty of goodies!

 

U.S. Releases


Innerspace

Innerspace

Joe Dante’s sci-fi adventure starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan and Kevin McCarthy is finally coming to Blu-ray! Oh what glorious day! Thank you, Warner Bros! Took you a while, but you finally righted this terrible wrong. This takes us one step closer to have all of Mr. Dante’s work available on Blu-ray in the North America.

Synopsis:

Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.

 

Wyrmwood

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Shout Factory will be releasing director Kiach Roache-Turner’s debut Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. This has been described as Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead. No word of if that’s referring to the originals or the remakes of those films, but either way I’d say that’s pretty solid company to keep.

Synopsis:

Barry is a talented mechanic and family man whose life is torn apart on the eve of a zombie apocalypse. His sister, Brooke, is kidnapped by a sinister team of gas-mask wearing soldiers & experimented on by a psychotic doctor. While Brooke plans her escape Barry goes out on the road to find her & teams up with Benny, a fellow survivor – together they must arm themselves and prepare to battle their way through hordes of flesh-eating monsters in a harsh Australian bushland.
Toolbox

Toolbox Murders 2

A sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 2004 remake, Toolbox Murders 2 is hitting Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory. I have literally no idea what to expect with this film. It’s the debut from director Dean Jones, who appears to be mostly known as a special effects makeup guy, so I would think there would be pretty solid gore. It apparently stars Bruce Dern which is another plus. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Synopsis:

Hollywood, California is turned upside down by a series of strange and horrific murders creating chaos and turmoil in tinsel town. One particular victim is kidnapped, held captive and subjected to witness the torture and murder of numerous other victims. It is by her will, strength, and faith that she must survive the ordeal. Her escape seems hopeless and only worsens when outside supernatural forces become more difficult to contend with than her captor… 

 

The Dead Lands

The Dead Lands

Magnolia Pictures will be releasing The Dead Lands, an action flick out of New Zealand. The Dead Lands is directed by Toa Faser and stars James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare and Te Kohe Tuhaka.

Synopsis:

After his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery, Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honor to the souls of his loved ones. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden Dead Lands and forge an uneasy alliance with the mysterious Warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.
Survivors

The Last Survivors

Since I live in Oregon this film is of particular interest to me. Coming from IFC Films is The Last Survivors, the directorial debut of Thomas Hamcock. Lots and lots of debuts this week!

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Kendal can barely recall when the Oregon valley was still lush. It’s been a decade since the last rainfall, and society at large has dried up and blown away. When a greedy water baron lays claim to what little of the precious resource remains underground, Kendal must decide whether to run and hide or bravely fight for the few cherished people and things she has left.
The Nightmare

The Nightmare

The Nightmare is the new documentary from Rodney Ascher, the director of Room 237, and it looks pretty freaking creepy. Documentaries that are creepy are the worst because they deal with real things. I don’t care for that, I’d rather stick to make believe.

Synopsis:

A look at a frightening condition that plagues thousands; sleep paralysis. 

 

 

 

U.K. Releases

dracula

Dracula: Prince of Darkness

If you’re a steelbook fan this one of a couple Zavvi releases this week that should please you. The more Christopher Lee you can have on Blu-ray the better. If it’s in a sweet steelbook? Then that’s just an awesome plus!

Synopsis:

Dracula is resurrected, preying on four unsuspecting visitors to his castle.

 

 

sharknado

Sharknado

The other Zavvi steelbook coming this week is for ScFy’s Sharknado. Love ’em or hate ’em, the Sharknado movies definitely know how to get a reaction out of folks and Zavvi took notice!

Synopsis:

When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature’s deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace.

 

Nekro

Nekromantik

Arrow is set to release their Blu-ray/DVD combo of Nekromantik. Knowing Arrow, this transfer is going to look absolutely gorgeous and the set will be loaded with special features. The artwork is incredible.

Synopsis:

Robert Schmadtke works at a streetcleaning agency. He has a strange kind of hobby; he collects body parts and conserves them on alcohol. His girlfriend adores him, mainly because of his job, and his sexually attraction to corpses. One day Robert brings home a complete corpse. Betty gets really exited… until Robert looses his job. Without Robs job, whos gonna get new corpses…?

Pentathlon

Pentathlon

It’s my opinion that every Dolph Lundgren movie should receive a Blu-ray release so if Universal wants to give us Pentathlon on Blu, you will not hear me complain.

Synopsis:

An Olympic gold medalist escapes to freedom in the US, only to be tracked down by his sadistic ex-coach.

 

 

 

 

Australia Releases

Assault

Assault Precinct 13

This John Carpenter classic to the best of my knowledge is making it’s Australian Blu-ray debut from Umbrella Entertainment. There really isn’t any good reason not to own this movie, so if you’re in Australia, pick this one up!

Synopsis:

Police ambush and kill several gang members in Los Angeles. Gang members make a pact of blood to strike back at police, and conduct a siege on the police station which is almost abandoned and due to be closed. Staff of the closing precinct and the criminals being held there while in transit must work together to fight off the attacking gang members.

Dreaded Sundown

The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976)

The original classic will now be available in Oz thanks to Shock’s Cinema Cult label. With the recent remake it’s as a good a time as any to revisit the movie that started it all!

Synopsis:

A Texas Ranger hunts for a hooded serial killer terrorizing the residents of a small town, set in 1946 Texarkana. Based on a true story.

 

Grizzly Maze

Into the Grizzly Maze

David Hackl’s thriller starring James Marsden, Billy Bob Thornton and Thomas Jane makes it’s first physical release of any kind thanks to Starz/Anchor Bay.

Synopsis:

Two estranged brothers reunite at their childhood home in the Alaskan wild. They set out on a two-day hike and are stalked by an unrelenting grizzly bear.

 

 

Firewalker

 

Firewalker

I’ve never seen Firewalker but Chuck Norris AND Louis Gossett Jr is pretty much enough to sell me on anything. And check out that awesome cover art? I don’t care what country you’re in, you should be picking this one up!

Synopsis:

A pair of adventurers try to track down an ancient Aztec/Mayan/Egyptian/Apache hoard of gold.

Black Sunday

Black Sunday

Cinema Cult brings a Mario Bava to Australia with their release of the classic Black Sunday. The perfect movie for a dark, stormy night.

Synopsis:

A Bavarian princess, burned at the stake with her lover for being a witch, comes to life after three hundred years to enact the curse of revenge on her remaining family members.

 

 

 

Germany Release

Leprechaun

Leprechaun

The original Leprechaun is finally making it’s Blu-ray debut in Germany thanks to Studio Canal. German horror fans will finally know what all the fuss is about!

Synopsis:

An evil, sadistic Leprechaun goes on a killing rampage in search of his beloved pot of gold.

 

 

Long Good

The Long Good Friday

The Long Good Friday gets the Subkultur Entertainment treatment, which in case you didn’t know is some pretty great treatment!

Synopsis:

Entrepreneurial mob boss Harold Shand runs an underworld empire but his dreams are much bigger. He and his sophisticated wife aspire to partner with American mobsters to turn the barren docklands of London into a development for the upcoming Olympics. But their perfect plan begins to unravel when a string of deadly bombings leads Shand to the stunning realization that he is being targeted by the IRA.

Chris Coffel is originally from Phoenix, AZ and now resides in Portland, OR. He once scored 26 goals in a game of FIFA. He likes the Phoenix Suns, Paul Simon and 'The 'Burbs.' Oh and cats. He also likes cats.

Home Video

‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]

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Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the VS hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.

Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.

Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter informing him that his aunt has died, and he has inherited her estate in Mexico. He quits his job and uproots his life in New York with his wife Annie (Holda Ramírez) to relocate south of the border and move into his new crib. Now I know what you’re thinking, what person just quits their job and drags their wife to another country without having reliable monetary income? Tony does, everyone, Tony does.

And what’s the first thing they do once they arrive in Mexico and check out the estate? They hit the bedroom, naturally. We are treated to a sex scene with an erotica song that feels like a knockoff of “Sadness” by Enigma (remember them?). Sounds fun and all, but the scene takes place completely in the dark and we see absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s why the sexy-time tune was pumping, so we could know what was exactly going down.

While Tony goes on a job interview, Annie explores the estate’s grounds in a tedious chore to experience, going room by room, plodding along. But it does lead us to her discovery of our antagonist—the evil clown doll, Payasito! Of all the things in the house, she decides to bring this monstrosity down to show Tony when he gets home. What an exciting way to celebrate (sic)! Then out of nowhere, she spouts off some exposition about rumors that Tony’s aunt dabbled in the dark arts and now we know where our title Diabolical Inheritance (the English translation for Herencia Diabólica) originates. For those of you who keep score for things like that.

Before proceeding with this review, you really need to visualize what Payasito looks like to truly embrace the rest of the film’s shenanigans. While Chucky resembles a cute ginger child, Payasito resembles a small clown that is much larger in stature than Chucky. That’s because Payasito is performed by an actor (Margarito Esparaza) in clown cosplay whenever he’s on the move (like Mannequin 2), and makes some really horrible facial expressions. Chucky dresses in “Good Guys” overalls and a striped shirt, but Payasito wears a new wave Santa hat while sporting a Sgt. Pepper jacket and Peter Pan tights. As you can now tell, he is quite beautiful.

Back to our story, Payasito begins to spook Annie cerebrally until she becomes unnerved to the point of having a complete mental break down, making her easy prey to eliminate. She dies but the unborn child survives, with Tony believing that her death was caused by her mental instability. Fast forward some years later and the couple’s surviving spawn has grown into child Roy (Alan Fernando), who at this point has already bonded with Payasito to help him over the loss of his mother. Dun-dun-duuunnn!

Meanwhile wealthy Tony remains single, still grieving his late wife, until his blonde assistant Doris encourages him to move on with his life and start seeing other people. And by other people, she naturally means herself. As the old Kanye West song lyric goes, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger…”, and it seems that she might be until we learn more about her character. Doris is played by the stunning Lorena Hererra who has an extremely extensive resume in Mexico, and she carries most of the film quite well during the feature’s second half. The singer and former Playboy centerfold for their Mexico edition is by far the most recognizable face in the cast.

Doris and Tony do indeed hookup and she moves into La casa de Herencia, where she does her best to impress Roy and lessen his obsession with the doll. There is a scene where they go to a nearby park without Payasito that is filled with famous fairytale figures, such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and King Kong! What, you didn’t know King Kong is a fairytale? Me neither. But Roy continues to be obsessed with Payasito after their trip, much to Doris’ chagrin.

Her actions to separate him from Roy gets Payasito angry, setting up the film’s most memorable scene. We already know that Payasito is a devil doll like Chucky, but now we learn he also has the power to invade people’s dreams like Freddy Krueger! Does Payasito enter the dream world and concoct a creative way to kill Doris in her sleep? No, he harnesses his power to sexually assault her instead. Yes that actually happens. After she awakens, Doris grabs the doll and tosses him into a lake, only to find him waiting for her by the time she gets back to the house. So now we know he also maintains the ability to “transport” like Jason Voorhees too. This doll is the total package!

More insanity happens before we close out the film with the longest victim chase sequence ever. It makes the previously mentioned painful house search scene seem like an eyeblink. It feels like it’s the film’s entire third act, filled with so much padding that you could soundproof an entire three-story house.

So how’s the transfer? Considering it was created using a mix of VHS and film source elements from 1993, they did one heck of a job! The work they put into it is especially noticeable in the dream invasion sequence, with the pulsing multi-colored psychedelic visuals. Super trippy stuff. Even the film’s score provides a pretty chill vibe, during the times when Payasito isn’t on the prowl.

If anything you read has piqued your interest in the very least, you should give it a shot. But if not, it is best to leave this doll on the shelf.

Herencia Diabólica is now available to purchase at VinegarSyndrome.com.

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