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[BD Review] Rural Thriller ‘The Invoking’ Offers Up Tight Suspense and NO Cliches!

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The Invoking originally went by the name “Sader Ridge,” which is a way better title in my book. Names of places are more interesting to me than just adding “-ing” to a verb. After watching the movie, the title they rolled with makes sense, but I can’t help but figure they changed it because of The Conjuring‘s success. Anyway, The Invoking turned out to be a solid indie that’s more like a straight up thriller than horror. On the surface the concept anticipates a cabin in the woods kinda slasher, but there are only a few moments of slashing. That’s probably why they didn’t call it “The Slashing.” If you can get past some of the actors (excluding two amazing ones), the film has some moments of bona fide suspense and a nice sense of atmosphere, all while gloriously avoiding cliches!

Sam Harris (Trin Miller) has just inherited a house and a nice piece of land from her recently deceased aunt out in the sticks. She brings along three friends to check it out with her. Well, two friends and one ex-boyfriend who inexplicably gets to hang out with these decent people. I’m talking about Mark (Brandon Anthony), who’s an opportunistic self-centered prick. I don’t understand why Sam or her friends Roman (Josh Truax) and Caitlin (Andi Norris) would EVER hang out with this jerk.

When they arrive at Sader Ridge, they’re greeted by the young groundskeeper Eric (D’Angelo Midili), whose motivations for wanting to help Sam get to know the property are eerily vague. As she spends more time in the house and on the surrounding land, Sam begins to come unhinged. She’s plagued by waking nightmares of brutality and whispers of her forgotten past. Before losing her grip on reality, she’s forced to confront these images to figure out what dark family secrets have been kept from her.

The whole story of Sam’s family is really engaging and even after it’s clear what happened there on the property, The Invoking still does a great job of maintaining suspense until the credits roll. There’s nothing particularly inventive, but the film’s greatest strength is its avoidance of cliches. There are no ghosts or maniacs out in these woods, just some horrible, repressed memories threatening to consume Sam. The whole theme of memory is explored really well, in fact. The approach, in short, is really attractive once you dive into the film.

The biggest drawback of the film is the acting. I know it’s an indie and all that, but most of the dialogue is delivered in such a stiff, machine-like manner that it really drags the film down. None of the exchanges between characters sound natural. There are some exceptions. Trin Miller is fantastic as Sam. She runs the gamut of emotions throughout the film, which would be a challenge for any actor, veteran or not, but she nails it. Keep an eye on her. Then there’s D’Angelo Midili, who plays Eric with an incredible amount of restraint. We’re never quite sure if he has Sam’s best intentions in mind or whether he’s just a complete psycho. Midili keeps us on our toes by presenting layers of menace, sympathy, and kindness, all presented in a believable manner. He never goes over the top. The guy simply plays a great creep.

The Invoking is a great ride with some well-crafted suspense and two kick ass actors that carry the whole damn film. It’s available now on DVD and I think it’s seriously worthy of a rent.

Patrick writes stuff about stuff for Bloody and Collider. His fiction has appeared in ThugLit, Shotgun Honey, Flash Fiction Magazine, and your mother's will. He'll have a ginger ale, thanks.

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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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