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[Blu-ray Review] ‘The Stendhal Syndrome’ is a Devastating Character Study

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Losing Wes Craven and now George Romero was a tough blow. They were both two of my favorite directors during my “discovery” years. Argento has always been the third piece of my genre inspiration puzzle. In the past couple of days, I’ve found myself switching between Romero’s films and the works of The Maestro, hoping to unlock something perhaps I’ve missed. I want these films to be celebrated and cherish Argento’s work as long as we have him around. It’s an odd coping mechanism in the wake of Romero’s passing, but it’s doing the trick. I’ve been leaning towards Argento’s later films, the ones not held in such high regard. Sleepless, for instance, is a terribly underrated late entry Giallo that features gut punching set pieces and beautiful camera work.

As if a gift from the gods, the new Blue Underground release of Dario Argento’s The Stendhal Syndrome arrived early, ahead of its July 25th street date, and I’ve already plundered its bounty (hmm, word choice?). The three disc set is pretty much the definitive release of a film that has had a rough journey on the road to find its audience. Prior to production, the story went from starring Bridget Fonda and being set in the US to becoming a star vehicle for the director’s daughter, Asia Argento, and taking place in Rome. Once completed, it was picked up by the Weinsteins for North American distribution. Not so shockingly, the film was left to collect dust amongst the shelves of Miramax (alongside many other foreign genre fares).

That’s where Troma stepped in, snapping up the rights. While this finally meant fans had a chance to see the film, the DVD was notoriously awful. The transfer appeared to be ripped from a grimy VHS and the letterboxing was actually crooked. It wasn’t pretty. Thankfully, Blue Underground came along and released a better version in 2007. There were still minor issues that left some fans unsatisfied. Now ten years later, BU has rectified all concerns. This disc is a beauty and does supreme justice to one of Argento’s most visually sumptuous works this side of Suspiria.

For those unfamiliar with the film, it follows a young detective on the trail of a sadistic serial rapist and murderer. The detective, played by a 19-year-old Asian Argento, not only falls victim to the very man she is tracking but to a rare sickness known as Stendhal Syndrome. It’s a disorder that can befall a person after they become emotionally overwhelmed by a work of art. Dizziness, strange behavior, fever are all par for the course. This incident in Detective Anna Manni’s life sets her on a dangerous path, and Argento crafts a twisted tale of psychosexual madness.

The biggest complaint against Stendhal is that it doesn’t aim for suspense, at least not until the final act. The film is, at times, repulsive and uncomfortable but it never draws you to the edge of your seat like so many Hitchcockian tropes it emulates. The film works – and works exceedingly well, however, as a psychological character study. The cinematography is hypnotizing and Asia’s performance is astounding.

She truly shows Anna’s journey from meek wanderer to tough macho man and back to docile damsel. It’s an outstanding turn. As Asia moves through the film, her character changes physically. Starting in plain-Jane white blouses to more masculine flannel and blazers, she finally lands on a blonde-noir goddess. Asia’s performance morphs with each look: switching up her body language and the cadence of her voice (Italian language track at least). Argento realizes the talent within his daughter and isn’t afraid to push her through some incredibly horrid scenes. As rough as the film gets, it’s all in favor of telling an important story. Thematically the film touches on the cycle of abuse, gender identity, and the expectations of femininity. It all builds to a somber climax. The final shot of the film is genuinely heartbreaking and actually brought me to shed a few tears. I can’t help but wonder the reputation this film might have had Miramax actually released it with the “art house” treatment as intended. As it stands, The Stendhal Syndrome is an almost forgotten blip on the legacy of Dario Argento.

I’m no expert when it comes to restorations (2k, 4k, or otherwise), but I do know this is the first time the film has been presented in its intended aspect ratio (1:85:1) and that the images are striking. At first, I was a little worried that the colors seemed almost muted. Everything was a dreary palette of brown. It became clear as I was watching this must have been by design. For after Anna succumbs to the titular Stendhal Syndrome, the colors in the film began to pop. The visuals become more vibrant as the narrative pushes forward. There is quite a bit of CGI within the film. This being the first Italian production to ever utilize CGI, it certainly shows. Thankfully, the bold, unrealistic effects work in the story’s favor as they’re typically used to bring paintings to life. The amateur nature of the CG is easily forgiven when the desired effect is so surreal. Film grain was one of the major concerns from the previous release, I can attest the amount of grain on display here is heavy, but it feels natural and is never distracting. It’s a beautiful restoration that allows the cinematography to truly shine.

In terms of special features, this is a three disc set. Everything from the 2007 release has been ported over onto its own disc. One disc is a DVD version of the film. The third blu is the feature plus brand new interviews with co-writer Franco Ferrini, makeup effects artist Franco Casagni, and best of all – a chat with Asia Argento. She discusses the difficulty of the shoot and claims this to be her favorite of the films she’s made with her father. There’s even a brand new commentary from Giallo scholar Troy Howarth. Overall, for fans of Argento, this set should be a no brainer. If you already own the previous Blue Underground release, I can understand the hesitance to double dip. However, the film has simply never looked better. If you’re still stuck with the Troma DVD…well, you owe it to yourself to upgrade. The set is limited to 3,000 copies, so you better hurry!

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‘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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