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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil’

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In what feels like an overcrowded sub-genre, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evilstands tall as a horror-comedy with dramatic irony that works and strong chemistry between its three principal actors. A play on clichés and conventions, Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson’s script focuses on a pair of bumbling rednecks (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) who rescue a co-ed (Katrina Bowden) after she bumps her head and her cannon-fodder friends that suspect the strangers are murderous kidnappers. The disposable jocks are, of course, dead wrong. Their rundown shack might look shady, their rough exterior might be off-putting, and they might not exactly know how to act around those who aren’t “southerners,” but Tucker and Dale are kind, gentle souls who wanted to do nothing more than stop a beautiful woman from unconsciously drowning.

The slapstick comedy of errors works, even during the more predictable bits, but Labine and Tudyk really sell it as the two best friends, who feel as though they’ve had their relationship for years and years. And, on top of that, they feel like real characters, even if some of the situations are unbelievable, including the newfound fuzzy feelings between Dale and Allison – or, Stockholm Syndrome, as one of her mistaken friends theorizes.

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil characterizes in a horror situation where stock characters normally dominate. The material doesn’t feel forced, the jokes rings true and, most importantly, it has the best death-by-wood chipper scene since Fargo.

A/V

Magnet’s 1080p presentation of Tucker & Dale looks really great. Blood red really pops, along with the greens and browns of the forest setting, but skin tones seem to be a little orange in a few scenes. Detail is absolutely mind-blowing; you can see every leaf, drop of blood, and bit of facial stubble. It’s a great transfer, made slightly more impressive by the fact that it was a low budget production. The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio track really captures the open space of the forest, giving proper echo to yells, chainsaw revving, and general mayhem. Dialogue is crisp and clear, and the music maintains a good balance with it.

Special Features

Commentary – Co-writer and director Eli Craig is joined by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine on the track, where they discuss the production and a few set stories. The guys goof off the entire time, but they do get down to technical aspects, including their experience shooting with the RED camera and practical effects.

Making Of Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (12:13) – Standard collection of interviews cut together with behind-the-scenes footage and clips. It’s a love fest, but everyone seems pretty sincere in their adoration for each other and the flick.

Tucker & Dale ARE Evil: The College Kids’ Point Of View (16:47) – A shortened version of the film seen exclusively through the kids’ point of view. It turns Tucker & Dale into a straight horror movie, which doesn’t work nearly as well , but it’s an interesting experiment and one of the more unique bonus features I’ve seen.

Outtakes (07:51) – I usually dismiss these since they really reach for laughs, but a few bits here are worth a chuckle – surprisingly, there’s very few gore gags.

Storyboards (97:05) – Storyboard featurettes usually don’t do anything for me unless they show big differences between what ended up on screen and what was originally conceptualized (not the case here), but if you’re into them, Tucker & Dale‘s collection shows the entire film.

HD NET: A Look At Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (04:32) – Uses a lot of the same footage as the Making Of supplemental on the disc. Don’t feel bad about skipping it.

Blu-ray: 4/5
Film: 3.5/5

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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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