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[Review] ‘American Fable’ Is a Captivating Character Study
Gone are the archaic days of assuming “direct-to-video” is synonymous with “poor quality”. Interesting, unique, and stylized indie debuts are becoming increasingly common, and writer/director Anne Hamilton’s feature debut American Fable is no exception.
American Fable is an ambitious film which tells the story of a lonely young girl named Gitty. Gitty’s family lives on a farm somewhere in rural America in the 80’s, and the 11-year-old spends summer days exploring the massive plot of land with the neighboring children. Unbeknownst to Gitty, her town is crippling under the weight of the 1980s farm crisis, during which there were many foreclosures. The problem is so bad in her area that 3 of her neighbors have committed suicide in the past few months. Sheltered from the reality of her family’s dire situation, Gitty discovers a man named Jonathan (Richard Schiff), whom she believes grants wishes, living in a silo on her farm. As the summer days stretch on, it becomes clear that the man in the silo is not magical but is, in fact, a land developer- one of the very people ruining Gitty’s farm town. In addition, it seems that Gitty’s father, Abe (Kip Pardue), has agreed to take this man hostage for a mysterious friend in exchange for a payout. Gitty, either not realizing the man is being held against his will or choosing to ignore this fact, visits him daily and the two form an unlikely bond.
This is a lovely film which smartly puts much of its faith behind young actress Peyton Kennedy, in the role of Gitty. She is impressively convincing as her character arcs from meek and trustful child to a more knowing, virtuous, and brave girl on the verge of her preteen years. Kennedy will break the hearts of viewers when they begin to see the world shattering the rose-colored glasses on Gitty’s face. Most notably, especially when considering a coming-of-age film, Kennedy manages to make Gitty seem endearing, rather than annoying or frustrating, in her naivety.
For instance, in a scene where a neighbor expresses concern that she’s heard voices out by the silo on Gitty’s family’s farm, Gitty proclaims that she, too, has heard talking out by the silo because “There’s man who lives there and he grants wishes.” This is towards the middle of the film, which is why it’s almost jarring to hear, because we assume that she must realize by this point that the man is neither powerful nor living there of his own free will. However, Kennedy delivers the lines with such conviction that we are reminded that Gitty is still merely a child who is learning the ways of the world around her. In fact, while her brother, Martin (Gavin Macintosh), expresses frustration at this announcement, our immediate instinct is to protect Gitty from his vitriol rather than to question her.
Additionally, the story is well-developed and tight, telegraphing later character arcs and interactions very strategically throughout. Particularly with Gitty, we can see how all of the exchanges she has with the other characters inform her later decisions and actions. It’s easy to see why she differs from her family as she is continually cast aside by them. We see this with Martin, who constantly instills fear in Gitty and calls her stupid and friendless; her mother, Sarah (Marci Miller), who points out that Gitty is not special and doesn’t seem to support her daughter’s big dreams to travel the world; her father, who loves Gitty and cherishes her but never really stands up for her when Martin is taunting her far more than is average for an older brother. Because of all this, Gitty is left vulnerable and is more likely to befriend anyone who gives her positive attention, as Jonathan does. While the rest of her family refers to him as a monster, Gitty insists Jonathan is her friend, even though she knows he is part of why farm life is so stressful for her family and neighbors.
It needs to be stated clearly that those who see that American Fable is released by IFC Midnight and assume it is going to be a Pan’s Labyrinth-style horror film (the trailer features a fantastical, horned woman on horseback) may be disappointed upon watching the film. American Fable is more a dramatic character study than the thriller it’s marketed to be, horror-adjacent only in that someone is being held captive (and that her brother is clearly a psychopath). If comparing to horror films, American Fable is like a gore-free and distinctly yellow-tinted The Eyes of My Mother. However, it is probably most like Crimson Peak, both in style and that it will likely cause a divide between people who reject its place in the horror and thriller genres.
American Fable is a beautiful, well-made feature which unfortunately seemed to fly under the radar this year. Although not groundbreaking, viewers who accept that it won’t shock or scare them will be pleasantly surprised with this film. This is a truly commendable debut and it will be wonderful seeing what director Anne Hamilton does next.
American Fable is now available on Netflix.
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‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]
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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