Connect with us

Home Video

[BD Review] Nothing New to be Seen in ‘The Demented’

Published

on

To quote a famous TV duo from the 90s, “Nobody has any balls anymore.”

Okay, while that may not be entirely true, it does feel like a lot of directors, both indie and established, don’t exactly take many risks when it comes to certain projects. Too often nowadays it seems like every other film derives it’s plot from genre clichés that when piled up, make the film look, well, derivative and tired. With The Demented, writer/director Christopher Roosevelt enlisted the help of Steven Monroe (director of the I Spit On Your Grave remake and it’s sequel) to hopefully inject some fresh ideas into a film that boils down to the old “college kids traveling together to a remote locale for the weekend” trope.

Six college friends head out to a Louisiana bayou estate for a weekend getaway. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for the alcohol consumption and promiscuity. Things take a turn when a terrorist attack unleashes a missile carrying a biochemical warhead towards the Gulf coast, causing a quarantine. The bioweapon in turn causes those exposed to turn into feral, cannibalistic hordes. These hordes in turn head to the estate, intent on munching some teens.

In an attempt to stay away from the hints of 28 Days Later, which coincidentally also had rage zombies, Roosevelt spins his zombies a little differently. Instead of the feet-shuffling or roving types we’ve seen in other zombie films, these zombies are content to stay rigid until something provokes them. What provokes them, you ask? Rather than being attracted by the sight or smell of potential victims, zombies in The Demented are attracted and driven nuts by sound. This not only provides the necessary unique twist, but also leads to genuinely intense moments where the group of teens have to silently navigate their way through groups of zombies. Nice! Also, in lieu of having our six protagonists communicating via sign language throughout the film and staying cooped up in the estate (which obviously wouldn’t be fun), the group is almost constantly on the move. As such, the pace of the movie moves along quite nicely.

When it comes to the gore factor, the film relies on the less-is-more approach in some cases, which is unfortunate but is one of the drawbacks to having a low budget film. To offset this, the stunt crew looks to have cranked it up a notch with the stuntwork. Zombies in The Demented don’t mess around, leaping through windows and doors, almost flying across the screen. The quick cuts and angle of shots also helps to beef up these moments, which is admirable in the face of a miniscule budget. We still do get some CGI, although as expected it’s not the greatest. Then again, the same can be said for this movie as a whole.

Yes, in spite of Roosevelt’s efforts to differentiate The Demented from other low-budget zombie films, we’re still dealing with a me-too low-budget zombie film. The problems begin with the cast. Apart from Michael Welch’s turn as your typical smarmy son of a rich dad, the rest of the cast is pretty plain. No one makes a real endearing impression towards the audience, the dialogue is dreadful and the idea of college students being so self-absorbed in their own manufactured drama over stolen boyfriends and other trivial issues is a weak excuse for characterization. Also, despite these kids being in college, they make some pretty stupid moves. Case in point: after beating a rabid dog to death, one of the group decide to take it in to Animal Control. This is in spite of seeing a green mushroom cloud the day before and knowing about the terrorist attack.

In addition, the stuff I said about the pacing is in spite of the fact that for the first 30 minutes of the film, there’s nary a zombie in sight. Just the group talking about relationships and the aforementioned rabid dog that forces the group to remain inside. While the recovery from the first half-hour is nice, the ending (or endings, to be exact) of the film spoils it. Instead of deciding on one definitive ending, Roosevelt pulls a daydream twist that effectively undoes the one ending. The result may be satisfying, but it’s something that we’ve seen before in better films.

Despite his tinkering, Roosevelt’s The Demented is as derivative as it gets. The idea of rage zombies, the cliché characters and twist ending are all things we’ve seen before in much better films. To his credit, Roosevelt tried to mix things up and keep the movie from feeling stale, but it ultimately doesn’t separate the film from the rest of the pack. It’s not entirely bad, since the zombie attacks do carry some good tension and showcase frenetic energy, but it’s not entirely good, either. Ultimately, it’s another one for the “fire and forget” pile.

Video/Audio:

Presented in 1.78:1 1080p, the film is about what you’d expect for a low budget horror film. The overall image shows good detail with bright colour when needed. No excessive DNR or image sharpening to really speak of. There’s nothing spectacular, but it gets the job done.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is unfortunately more disappointing. Much of the action is focused in the front, with little in the way of deviation. Effects lack real punch, and the Casio keyboard score doesn’t do much when it comes to the surrounds. Even the dialogue has trouble standing out from the rest of this flat mix. The audio is definitely a sore spot.

Special Features:

Other than it being a combo pack with a DVD, nothing.

Home Video

‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading