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[Blu-ray Review] Dagger Debs Shed Blood In ‘Switchblade Sisters’

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Jack Hill is undoubtedly one of my favorite directors and with good reason. He’s played a major hand in shaping modern cinema but sadly I’m not sure he gets the proper respect he deserves, at least not on a grand scale. Sure, cinephiles and the like hold Hill in high esteem. Quentin Tarantino regularly credits Hill for greatly influencing him as a director. But the average moviegoer, I’m not so sure about.

In recent years a number of Hill’s films have made their way to Blu-ray. The most recent of those films is one of Hill’s last in Switchblade Sisters, which is out now on region free Blu-ray from Germany’s Subkultur Entertainment. Maybe I’m wrong and Hill is more appreciated than I think. Either way, these recent releases are sure to entertain most folks, especially when they’re as good as Switchblade Sisters.

After a repo man attempts to repossess her family’s television set, ultimately taking what little money her mother has, Lace (Robbie Lee) gathers her ruthless gang known as the Dagger Debs and surrounds the man in the elevator as he attempts to leave the building. They do a real number on the man roughing him up and getting the money back. The Debs then go to celebrate their successful attack at the local burger shop where they meet up with their male counterparts, the Silver Daggers.

Sitting in the burger joint is a new girl they don’t know. They try to force her out but she’s having none of it. Patch (Monica Gayle) attempts to remove the girl by force only to find out the girl is tougher than she looks. Patch, who is named so because she wears an eye patch on one eye, ends up taking a shot to her good eye from the girl. This new girl is named Maggie (Joanne Nail) and Lace takes a liking to her. Before we know it, Maggie is rolling with the Dagger Debs.

From this point on the story actually gets a little complicated because there’s a lot going on. The Silver Daggers rule their high school, but they get wind of a rival gang led by a fellow named Crabs (Chase Newhart) who will be joining the school with plans of splitting control. The Silver Daggers will have none of that noise and plan to stop Crabs before he even gets started.

At the same time as the rivalry with Crabs is getting underway, Dominic (Asher Brauner), the leader of the Silver Daggers and boyfriend to Lace begins hitting on Maggie. Maggie tries to resist by the two eventually hook up. Patch, who already hates Maggie for threatening her position as Lace’s number two, finds out about this and uses it to turn Lace against Maggie. This all leads to one final showdown between all parties involved.

Switchblade Sisters is a pretty classic exploitation flick. It’s gritty, raw and certainly played a huge role in paving the way for the likes of Quentin Tarantino. It’s sort of like The Warriors but female-centric, although that’s probably a too simplified description of the movie. I mentioned the story being complicated and in that regard I mean more in terms of trying to explain it. When watching the film I don’t think you get confused, but rather watch a layered story of deception unfold.

This was the second to last film Jack Hill ever directed and that’s pretty crazy. Switchblade Sisters hit when Hill was at his peak. From 1971 up until this release in 1975 Hill delivered on what is arguably his best work. During that time he released The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, Foxy Brown and finally Switchblade Sisters. That’s a stretch of 5 movies in 5 years, each with a strong feminist message. That’s kind of a big deal. Hill delivered strong female characters in an exploitation landscape that was largely dominated by males. Not saying Hill was the first or only director to do this, but he was surely one of the most impactful. So it’s kind of amazing that after this he just sort of stopped.

The majority of the characters in the film are complex and deal with real emotions but none more so than Lace, Maggie and Patch. Those are three wonderfully written characters, each one worthy of carrying their own film. They all feel very much authentic, which Hill attributes to interviewing real members of female gangs before filming the movie.

The final battle scenes of the film are pretty spectacular. Hill was working on a shoestring budget but he managed to make these scenes feel big. I think the locations really help sell this. The film uses these locations that appear to be run down and decimated by gang violence and poverty.

Subkultur Entertainment did a tremendous job with this release. The picture quality is pristine. I still can’t get over the fact that we get exploitation movies looking this good these days. Blows my mind. The special features are stuffed with goodness. The audio commentary with Tarantino and Hill from the US DVD release is ported over along with an old interview with Hill, Robbie Lee and Joanne Nail. There are also some new features including a making of and an on location featurette with Hill and Elijah Drenner. Great stuff all around that will teach you everything you could ever want to know about the Switchblade Sisters.

If you like Jack Hill or the Switchblade Sisters do you a favor and get this release from Subkultur Entertainment. I’m confident in saying you won’t be disappointed.

Switchblade Sisters is out now on Blu-ray from Subkultur Entertainment.

Switchblade Sisters

Chris Coffel is originally from Phoenix, AZ and now resides in Portland, OR. He once scored 26 goals in a game of FIFA. He likes the Phoenix Suns, Paul Simon and 'The 'Burbs.' Oh and cats. He also likes cats.

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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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