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[Review] ‘The Stranger’ The Fourth Horseman Cometh

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The Stranger, image via IFC Midnight

Vampires are oversaturated, just like zombies, but sometimes we get a decent movie or two resurrecting the old hat and making something interesting from it. Guillermo Amoedo (Aftershock, The Green Inferno) brings us The Stranger which follows Martin who suffers from a blood disease that is highly contagious and causes him to desire blood and flee from the sunlight. Standard vamp stuff but they never say the word “vampire”. He’s hunting his wife who fled from him after finding out she was pregnant and killing a human woman. Martin thrives off the blood of animals and is determined to wipe out his kind to prevent the destruction of the human race. He finds his wife has died but not before giving birth to their baby, Peter, who, miraculously, was born without the curse. After some street thugs, aided by their leader’s father who’s a cop, attempt to kill Martin he is saved by Peter who does not know of his past.

When I first got this movie I was apprehensive given the “Eli Roth Presents” header and Amoedo’s last work with Roth, Aftershock which I thought was utter shit. I’m glad I didn’t skip this one, though. The story of Martin is a tragic one, he is determined to kill himself, as he’s the last of his kind, but is torn between protecting his son Peter from the corrupt town he lives in. It’s revealed the lead gang member is the deputy’s son and pretty much has free run of the town, including murder and arson.

Martin

Martin describes the disease as a plague that could wipe out the human race and in a short film (of which the film is based on) included on the disc we learn it’s akin to the Fourth Horseman of the apocalypse, Pestilence. There are heavy undertones of Catholicism within the film, particularly a scene in which Martin heals Peter after a brutal attack. It’s also wrought with complex father and son relationships. Martin and the deputy both have difficult jobs in that they both have sons who are particularly dangerous, one more so than the other, but can’t bring themselves to do what’s necessary. However, the film did fall flat in it’s attempt to make the audience feel guilty for the deputy. It’s revealed early that he’s a recovering alcoholic and widower but neither of which is enough to exempt him from letting his son run amok torturing and hurting people left and right.

The Stranger was filmed in Chile as apart of “Chilewood” a film-making venture from Roth and Amoedo who want to advance the film world in Chile. Amoedo had several successes, and failures, in Chile before Roth and he collaborated on Aftershock but I’m glad to see they took a different turn with The Stranger. It’s a film that battles back and forth with morality, much like any other vamp flick, but it takes the glamorous aspect away which is refreshing. That’s not to say it’s without fault though. In one particular scene Martin uses his blood, which he is constantly telling people to stay way from, to heal Peter. It’s a bit confusing and doesn’t seem to follow it’s own rules until it becomes convenient to the plot. Also, the acting is sort of flat from various characters and tends to lag on repeating itself over and over until the climax. I get it dude, you’re blood is infectious, shut up.

the stranger blood

That aside, I was surprised by The Stranger and maybe I can attribute that to my low expectations going in. Is it the greatest vampire film ever made? Not by a long shot, but I appreciate it trying to incorporate the Four Horseman as its explanation and it’s subtle homages to Near Dark. Give it a watch and be thankful Eli Roth doesn’t show his face in it. The cinematography is gorgeous in itself and I made me want to hop the next plane to Chile.

Jess is a Northeast Ohio native who has loved all things horror and fringe since birth. She has a tendency to run at the mouth about it and decided writing was the only way not to scare everyone away. If you make a hobby into a career it becomes less creepy. Unless that hobby is collecting baby dolls. Nothing makes that less creepy.

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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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