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Van Damme’s ‘Lionheart’ and More Kick Their Way to Home Video in this Week’s New to Blu (Week of 6/12/18)

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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.

Welcome to another fun and exciting week of Blu-ray releases! It’s a good one too. Don’t believe me? Keep reading and I’ll show you!


Chris’ 5-Star, Sure to Entertain, Pick of the Week!

Lionheart (MVD Rewind Collection, Region Free)

Jean-Claude Van Damme is the greatest. If you disagree don’t talk to me. In the late 80’s Van Damme’s career starting to take off beginning with Bloodsport in 1988. Over the course of the next decade he churned out some of the greatest action classics of all time but it was Bloodsport that was the starting point for his relationship with writer/director Sheldon Lettich. Lettich wrote the screenplay for Bloodsport and two years later would make his directorial debut with Lionheart, a film Van Damme co-wrote. Lionheart is now available on Blu-ray courtesy of the MVD Rewind Collection and that is great news for everyone!


I Haven’t Seen It Yet, But It Sounds Cool

Abominable (MVD Rewind Collection, Region Free)

For my unseen recommendation this week I decided to stick with the MVD Rewind Collection — a label you all should get very familiar with — and their release of Abominable. Released in 2006, Abominable is a pretty newish film, but I hadn’t even heard of it until this Blu-ray was announced. How I missed this one I don’t know because it looks awesome. It’s a Bigfoot film, but one where Bigfoot hunts humans? I think. I’m not sure yet, but he features performances from Lance Henriksen and Dee Wallace, so I’m in!


And now everything else…

US Releases

Tomb Raider (Warner Bros, Region A)

Synopsis:
Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now 21, and working as a London bike courier, Lara is driven to solve the puzzle of her father’s mysterious death. Leaving behind everything she knows, she searches for her father’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan.

The Strangers: Prey at Night (Universal, Region A)

Synopsis:
A vacation turns macabre when three masked strangers return to menace a family visiting a trailer park in this sequel to the disquieting horror shocker.

Puppet Master 6: Curse of the Puppet Master (Full Moon, Region A)

Synopsis:
A scientist attempts to master the art of transferring people’s souls into puppets.

Ninja III: The Domination (Scream Factory, Region A)

Synopsis:
The body of a sexy aerobics instructor is invaded by the evil spirit of a dying ninja. At first, changes in her behavior is limited to having strange interactions with an arcade game, doing sexy things with V8 juice, and being attracted to an unusually hairy police officer. But soon enough, she’s systematically killing, ninja-style, the officers responsible for the ninja’s death, and can only be stopped by another ninja!

Spetters (Kino Lorber, Region A)

Synopsis:
Rien, Eef and Hans are three young working-class guys stuck in an industrial town on the outskirts of Rotterdam. They couldn’t be more different except for one thing: their shared passion for motorcycle racing, which each sees as his ticket to a better life. But a deeper passion will soon rule each of their lives, when a sexy, ambitious blonde comes between them and provokes unforeseen events that will rock their worlds.

Body of Evidence (Shout Factory, Region A)

Synopsis:
A millionaire is found dead of heart failure handcuffed to the bed with a home video tape of him and his lover. When cocaine is found in his system, and his will leaves $8 million to his lover, they arrest her on suspicion of murder.

Jack the Giant Killer (Kino Lorber, Region A)

Synopsis:
A farm boy turned knight must protect a princess from the schemes of an evil wizard.

Mimic (Well Go USA, Region A)

Synopsis:
The Jangsan Tiger, who mimics human voices to lure them close, encounters a family affected by the creature.

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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