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[Review] ‘Muck’ Is An Incoherent Waste of Time

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Muck

Written and directed by Steve Wolsh, Muck, according to it’s Wikipedia article (yeah, I know), had an interesting production. Shot on a shoestring budget, Wolsh and company endured “19 grueling all-night shoots” as well as having to perform stunts in a single take due to the budget and schedule. Sounds like independent filmmaking at its finest. What’s even more interesting is that a prequel is already underway, thanks in part to a Kickstarter campaign that raised a little over $266k. The key thing is that this money was raised before the backers had even seen the original film. That’s quite a gamble, especially if the original film turns out to be a steaming pile. Well, with a bevy of stars like YouTube star Lauren Francesca, Playboy Playmate of the Year 2012 Jaclyn Swedberg and horror legend Kane Hodder, you would hope that wouldn’t be the case.

After escaping an ancient burial ground underneath the Cape Cod marshes, Mia (Lauren Francesca) and her friends take shelter in an abandoned house. With Billy (Grant Alan Ouzts) in need of a doctor, Noah (Bryce Draper) decides to go for help, despite whatever was lurking in the marsh still being out there. Unfortunately for the remaining friends, the house isn’t abandoned or safe, as another evil is lurking inside.

According to Wolsh, Muck is a throwback to a time before CGI was used for effects, and as such, all of the effects done in the film are practical. I know that I’m not the only one who enjoys in-camera effects and creature makeup, so this was a pleasant surprise. Add in the above-mentioned stunts performed in a single take, and you can’t help but admire the effort that went into stretching the budget while also maintaining a “pure” look to the effects that are many times wiped over with studios using CGI as a crutch. True, it’s safer and you get it exactly as you wanted it every time, but let’s be honest: Often times, it makes a film look artificial and lazy if it’s done poorly. So kudos for that.

In all honesty though, that’s about as positive as I can get with this film: Muck is terrible. Starting with the script, we have characters that are either woefully underdeveloped or just designed for us to hate them (unintentional or otherwise). Nobody acts or talks like a real person would, instead choosing to display crudeness of the worst degree (if a guy acted like Bryce Draper’s Noah in the film around a woman, someone would cave his face in), do stupid things (Bleeding out? Let’s get drunk!), pull a Scream and do the whole “this is what happens to certain people in horror movies” spiel that is delivered ham-fisted at best, and generally piss you off with their actions (don’t call the cops, call your cousin instead to pick you guys up). You’d think that having Kane Hodder show up to butcher these people would be a relief. It’s not, as he’s just as underdeveloped as the rest of them, and isn’t even in the film for that long, either.

Then there’s the story. I get that this is supposed to be an exploitation film with the boobs and all (slow motion, close-ups, etc), but I don’t want one written by a high schooler. It takes nearly a half-hour from the start of the film for someone to actually make a phone call for help. In the meantime, two female characters decide to take showers (complete with time devoted to them undressing), Noah jogs to a bar for help, cleans himself up, buys a girl a drink at the bar, and then makes the phone call. Of course, to top it all off, the assclown makes no mention of how serious the situation is, and just says “Hey man, I need a ride, ok? Thanks.” Oh, and naming the town Wes Craven (yes, he did) and proceeding to take veiled shots at Wes by citing the town as “boring” and that it “used to be pretty cool”? Way to not get people on your side, Wolsh.

Saying that Muck is meant to be a throwback to old-school horror is an insult. While the choice to use practical effects is one I can applaud, the frustrating story, downright detestable characters and lame attempts at scoring brownie points with your viewers makes this film a joke. It seems Wolsh forgot the reasons behind certain aspects of past classic horror movies (and storytelling), and instead just decided to get hot women to oogle while having Kane Hodder toss around the plasma. Uh, no. That only works when your film is entertaining. Leave this muck with the rest of the crap in the bargain bin where it belongs.

Video/Audio:

In spite of the film being overly dark, the 4K Ultra HD-filmed 1.85:1 AVC-encoded 1080p transfer looks really good. The overall image is crisp and clean, with great detail and accurate colours. Black levels are appropriately strong, and the image itself has some depth to it, despite it again being primarily dark.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless track is immersive and nicely balanced. Dialogue is kept to the centre channel, while ambient effects do a great job in the surrounds. The music is particularly aggressive, but doesn’t overwhelm the action.

Extras:
You’d think that they would’ve sprung for some making-of stuff to justify what they’ve put on screen, but no. Perhaps it’s for the best. Hell, the Wikipedia article for the film has enough trivia and production notes from (presumably) someone who worked on the film.

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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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