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[OMFG] Can’t Miss ‘Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection’ Coming To Blu-ray!

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Fifteen of the most acclaimed films by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock come together on Blu-ray for the first time ever when Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection is released on October 30, 2012 for a limited time only. Digitally restored from high-quality film elements and presented in perfect high-definition picture and sound, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection brings the Master of Suspense’s best work to home audiences as it’s never been seen before. This ultimate collector’s set features 13 films previously unavailable on Blu-ray, a collectible 50-page book featuring storyboards, costume sketches, correspondence, photographs, and much more. Plus a treasure trove of over 15 hours of documentaries, filmmaker commentaries, interviews, screen tests, trailers and a new documentary “The Birds, Hitchcock’s Monster Movie,” enough to satisfy even the most ardent Hitchcock fan.

Spanning three-and-a-half decades of the director’s prolific career, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection includes the classic thrillers Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, North By Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie , Saboteur , Shadow of a Doubt , Rope, The Trouble with Harry, Torn Curtain , Topaz , Frenzy and Family Plot . The films feature performances from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Tippi Hedren, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak and Sean Connery.

One of the most influential and revered cinematic innovators of all time, Alfred Hitchcock had a profound and lasting impact on modern moviemaking. Renowned for his signature wit, thrilling plots, pioneering camerawork and original editing style, Hitchcock’s masterful ability to wring every drop of suspense out of each scene is still studied and emulated by filmmakers around the world. He was nominated for five Best Director Academy Awards, and four of his films (all of which are included in this collection) appear on AFI’s prestigious “100 Years…100 Movies” list.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection is the ideal gift for film lovers, Hitchcock fans—or anyone who wants to discover for themselves what makes him the undisputed Master of Suspense.

Synopses and Bonus Features

Saboteur (1942)
This riveting wartime thriller stars Robert Cummings as a factory worker who is falsely accused of sabotage and sets off on a desperate, action-packed cross-country chase to clear his name.
Bonus Features:
Saboteur : A Closer Look
Storyboards: The Statue of Liberty Sequence
Alfred Hitchcock’s Sketches
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
This thriller about a young woman (Teresa Wright) who comes to suspect that the uncle (Joseph Cotton) she idolizes may in fact be a murderer was considered Alfred Hitchcock’s personal favorite.
Bonus Features:
Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock’s Favorite Film
Production Drawings by Art Director Robert Boyle
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Rope (1948)
Two friends strangle a classmate and then hold a party for their victim’s family and friends while their former teacher (James Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious that his students have turned his intellectual theories into brutal reality.
Bonus Features:
Rope Unleashed
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Rear Window (1954)
James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in this voyeuristic masterpiece about a photographer who becomes obsessed with watching his neighbors and discovers a possible murder.
Bonus Features:
Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary
A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of The Master
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Masters of Cinema
Feature Commentary with John Fawell, author of Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart
Blu-ray exclusives: BD Live, Pocket Blu

The Trouble with Harry (1955)
While no one really minds that Harry is dead, everyone has a different idea about what should be done with his body in this quirky mystery starring Shirley MacLaine and John Forsythe.
Bonus Features:
The Trouble with Harry Isn’t Over
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
James Stewart and Doris Day star as a vacationing American couple who accidentally become involved in an international assassination plot and must take matters into their own hands after their son is kidnapped.
Bonus Features:
The Making of The Man Who Knew Too Much
Production Photographs
Trailers

Vertigo (1958)
James Stewart and Kim Novak star in this dizzying web of mistaken identity, passion and murder involving an acrophobic detective and the mysterious blonde he rescues from the San Francisco bay.
Bonus Features:
Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock’s Collaborators
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Foreign Censorship Ending
The Vertigo Archives
Feature Commentary with Associate Producer Herbert Coleman, Restoration Team Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, and Other Vertigo Participants
Feature Commentary with Director William Friedkin
100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era
Theatrical Trailer
Restoration Theatrical Trailer
BD Live, Pocket Blu (Blu-ray Exclusive)

North By Northwest (1959)
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller about an adman who gets plunged into a realm of spy and counterspy and is abducted, framed for murder, chased and crop-dusted.
Bonus Features:
Feature Commentary by screenwriter Ernest Lehman
The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style
Cary Grant: A Class Apart
North By Northwest: One for the Ages
Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North By Northwest
Music-only audio track
Stills gallery
Theatrical trailers and TV spot

Psycho (1960)
Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh star in this shocking classic about an unsuspecting visitor to the Bates Motel who falls prey to one of cinema’s most notorious Psychopaths, Norman Bates.
Bonus Features:
The Making of Psycho
Psycho Sound
In The Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
The Psycho Archives
Posters and Psycho Ads
Lobby Cards
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-release Trailers
Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho)

The Birds (1963)
‘Tippi’ Hedren and Rod Taylor star in this horrific tale of nature gone berserk when thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
Bonus Features:
Deleted Scene
Original Ending
The Birds: Hitchcock’s Monster Movie – New! (Blu-ray Exclusive)
All About The Birds
Storyboards
Tippi Hedren’s Screen Test
Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts
The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel)
Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel)
Production Photographs
100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics
100 Years of Universal: The Lot
Theatrical Trailer
BD Live, Pocket Blu (Blu-ray Exclusive)

Marnie (1964)
‘Tippi’ Hedren stars as Marnie , a compulsive liar and thief, who winds up marrying the very man (Sean Connery) she attempts to rob in this Psychological thriller that races to an inescapable conclusion.
Bonus Features:
The Trouble with Marnie
The Marnie Archives
Theatrical Trailer

Torn Curtain (1966)
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in this action-packed thriller about a world-famous scientist who goes undercover to get top-secret information and ends up running for his life from enemy agents.
Bonus Features:
Torn Curtain Rising
Scenes Scored by Bernard Herrmann
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Topaz (1969)
John Forsythe stars as an American CIA agent who hires a French operative to travel to Cuba and investigate rumors of Russian missiles and a spy codenamed “Topaz ”.
Bonus Features:
Alternate Endings
Topaz : An Appreciation by Film Historian and Critic Leonard Maltin
Storyboards: The Mendozas
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Frenzy (1972)
In this morbid blend of horror and wit, the “Necktie Murderer” has the London Police on red alert and an innocent man (Jon Finch) is on a desperate quest to find the real criminal and clear his own name.
Bonus Features:
The Story of Frenzy
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Family Plot (1976)
Chaos ensues in this suspense-comedy when a phony psychic and her not-so-bright boyfriend cross paths with a slick diamond merchant and his beautiful girlfriend.
Bonus Features:
Plotting Family Plot
Storyboards: The Chase Scene
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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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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