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[Review] ‘Hidden In The Woods’ Is Harsh, Even For An Exploitation Film…
It’s been all of one week since I’ve seen an exploitation film, and Chilean director Patricio Valladares has seen fit to remedy that with Hidden In The Woods, which is currently being remade by Valladares himself with Michael Biehn starring. The film has rubbed more than a few people the wrong way at various festivals, and is now available for your viewing pleasure. Those audiences weren’t lying. Hidden In The Woods‘ tale of drugs, incest, cannibalism and outright mayhem isn’t what you’d call a good time had by all.
Sisters Anny and Ana are being raised in a shack by their abusive drug dealer father. He murdered their mother in front of them when they were younger, and later raped Ana, who produced her deformed brother, Manuel. When the cops come to investigate the happenings, Father decides to do away with them via chainsaw, but he’s soon captured and incarcerated. While things sound like they’ve turned for the better, the girls are now the target of their father’s boss, drug kingpin Uncle Costello, who thinks that they know the location of a big drug stash.
I’m always at a loss on how to describe the quality of a film of this type. It’s definitely exploitation to its core. The camera seemingly enjoys witnessing the misery and pain of male and female characters. Valladares has described the film as a comedy of sorts, but it’s hard to see that other than the film being so over-the-top that it’s absurd. Every male character in this film might as well have “rapist” or “murderer” stamped on their foreheads, while our two female protagonists suffer so much mental, physical and sexual abuse that it’s ludicrous. I’d be a fool if I were to omit the blowjob montage, which is twisted in a couple of ways. If that’s Valladares’ idea of comedy, I’d hate to see what his idea of horror would be.
When it comes to acting, our female protagonists might as well have been given one direction: scream a lot. There’s not a whole lot to their performances, with minimal character development other than the prologue at the beginning involving the murder of their mother and the incest. As for the men, it’s not hard to figure out that many of them are one-note scumbags even before you watch the film, so no need to waste time thinking about that. The film starts out mainly as an action film (if you can call rape and prostitution “action”), then veers into the horror realm with the cannibalism aspect, which ridiculous as it sounds, seems to fit into this tripped-out world that Valladares has created. Gorehounds and those in the need for that sort of brutality in their films will be able to glean something from this one.
The rest of us, however, will most likely be offended. I know that it’s one of those “well, DUH!” moments when it’s the sole purpose of a film of this nature to offend, but it’s just tiresome when you’re being lead from one atrocity on the screen to the next. That is, it would be if you weren’t so busy squirming in your seat. Valladares just seems content to bombard the viewer with disturbing imagery. Honestly, I didn’t get much entertainment out of seeing the parade of misogyny and men demonizing.
Much like I Spit On Your Grave 2, this is a one-off viewing for me. I’m all for brutality once in a while in my films, but an endless cycle of it tends to wear on the nerves and loses it’s entertainment value rather quickly. Whatever “comedy” you glean from this film is suspect, as I definitely didn’t see much to laugh at, no matter how dark it could get. But obviously, if you’re into a film like this, then you’ll get much more out of it than the rest of us. I’m still scrubbing myself in the shower, by the way.
Video/Audio:
Presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen, the transfer looks decent for a modestly-budgeted film. Colours are a bit blown out, but this seems to be an intentional move by Valladares to help get the atmosphere across to the viewer. Other than that, whites are bright and black levels are great. Overall, it’s as good as you could want for a film like this.
The Spanish language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track matches the video quality nicely. Dialogue is clear and free of distortion, and is balanced with the sound effects, which come through in sickening detail. The rear channels also play into the atmosphere of the film during the more intense moments. It’s not the most enveloping mix, but it does the best it can with the budget.
Extras:
First up is a Behind The Scenes featurette that clocks in at around twenty minutes, and is composed of production footage without any commentary or interviews. As such, it’s kind of hard to follow, though given that some of the scenes involve the gorier moments of the film and it’s all subtitled, it’s somewhat coherent.
Things are slightly better explained in a four-minute Interview with director Patricio Valladares, which was recorded for a Fantasia Festival screening of the film. Here, Valladares covers the basic themes of the film, its intent, and how he was approached by Michael Biehn to do the American remake.
Also included is an 8-page Collectible Booklet, which features an overview by Travis Crawford, as well as an updated interview with Valladares on the set of the remake.
Rounding things out is a reversible cover for the DVD case, showing alternate artwork for the film, and the film’s Theatrical Trailer.
Overall, it’s a nice package, though the extras could’ve used a bit more fleshing out, and a commentary would’ve been a nice accompaniment.
Home Video
‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]
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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