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Blu-Ray Review: ‘Buried’

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A few years back, I was lucky enough to catch a performance of Nevermore, a one-man stage show starring Jeffrey Combs as the depressed and poverty-stricken poet, Edgar Allen Poe. I never had the opportunity to see something like that before, but it was a beautiful, minimalistic experience, and definitely one that has stuck with me – in fact, I find myself hoping it’ll make it over to my neck of the woods, but that’s bound to never happen. There are very few films that attempt to pull off what the Gordon/Paoli/Combs collaboration did, with only Sleuth and Duncan Jones’ Moon springing to mind initially (even though both have more than one actor in them). Buried, directed by newcomer Rodrigo Cortés, is probably the closest I’ve seen that emulates a similar experience, immersing the audience in terrifying – and somewhat plausible – situation without a traditional use of breaking down the fourth wall, and boasts a performance by Ryan Reynolds that would have him nominated for an Oscar in a perfect world.
BuriedBluUsing the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan as a backdrop to the story, Buried begins in total darkness as Paul Conroy (Reynolds), an American trucking contractor, awakens in a box somewhere underneath foreign soil, without any knowledge of who put him there, and more importantly, why. Through the use of excellent sound design and little to no lighting, the audience is given an intimate view of what exactly Paul is experiencing right from the start, and up until he starts piecing together the past few days; they’re as disoriented and in the dark about everything as he is. Cortés uses the concept well, and aside from some far-fetched elements and a few action-oriented moments later on that are used to vary the story and Conroy’s emotional state, it preys upon the fear of being isolated and claustrophobically confined quite brilliantly.

As Conroy begins receiving and making phone calls, story elements begin to come together and the slow-ish pace of the story makes its progression all the more unsettling. It’s at this point the film turns the table on a rampant misconception we’ve had since 9/11: Just like ignorant people accuse every person of middle eastern decent of being a terrorist, Conroy’s kidnappers can’t differentiate between being a contractor who is helping rebuild and someone who is “waging a war on terrorism.” According to the gruff voice on the other side of the phone, it’s impossible for any American to be an innocent bystander, and they intend on pushing forward with their plans of persecution, despite any attempt to reason with them. The bureaucracy of the American government is also explored through his phone calls, as he’s passed from official to official without any real answers or solutions to his problem the entire film. It’s hard to imagine the film without that aspect of frustration, but some scenes become unintentionally comedic because of it, and it makes them feel out of sync.

Lionsgate’s MPEG-4 AVC 1080p encode is surprisingly good for a film that is shrouded in darkness for the most part. Colors are desaturated, lighting is almost non-existent, and the palate of hues is limited to a yellow flame and light, a green glow stick, and the blue screen of a cell phone. Still, detail level is high, picking up every drop of blood, grain of dirt, and bead of sweat on Reynolds, as well as the splinters of wood in the coffin. Buried `s visuals are as minimalistic as the film itself, matching the hopelessness of story and creating an emotionally draining experience. The DTS-HD 7.1 mix properly portrays the claustrophobic quarters of the film’s setting. The track isn’t especially robust, or booming, bringing attention to every shuffle and movement inside the box, and if you have surround sound, you’ll actually feel like sand is confining you through all the channels. Victor Reyes’s score is properly balanced with the dialogue, neither overpowering each other, and the contrast between Reynolds’ voice and those heard on the phone is excellent. Sadly, only one special feature is included on the Blu-Ray (not counting the trailer), and a DVD copy of the film accompanies it.

Despite how well Cortés establishes himself as a new voice in horror with Buried, taking what could have been a gimmicky adaptation of Christ Sparling’s excellent script and turning it into a palpable, tense experience, the real standout is Reynolds, who is given the daunting task of carrying the entire film by himself. Pigeonholed as a shmucky lead in dimwitted comedies early in his career, he’s been exploring different roles over the past decade, and because of Buried‘s limitations and unique approach to tackling the thriller/horror genre, it’s a career defining role for him that, much like the film itself, will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Special Features

Unearthing Buried: The Making Of Buried (17:59) – A truncated video diary of the film’s 17 day stretch, including interviews with almost everyone involved. A lot of it explores the creative process, however there are some really cool tidbits spread throughout (the terrorist is actually voiced by a woman with a voice modulator), and the thoroughness of Cortes in building different boxes to compose some unique shots is ingenious.

Film: 4.5/5

Blu-Ray: 2.5/5

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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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