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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Suddenly in the Dark’ is a Wonderful Slice of 80’s K-Horror
The more you get into picking up cult and genre films on Blu-ray from the smaller indie labels the more you become aware of who releases what. All these labels are out to do the same thing — release as many deserving films onto home video as possible — but every company has their own specific brand, and if they don’t start out with one in mind they naturally develop one of the years. Mondo Macabro, one of the best in the business, has a very specific brand.
Whereas most labels release older genre titles that none of us expected to make it to Blu-ray, they’re still titles we’re familiar with. This is completely fine of course, I love getting movies I love on Blu-ray. I want them all on Blu-ray. When it comes to Mondo Macabro, however, they put out truly obscure titles, the type of films that typically aren’t known too much outside of the region in which they were released. That’s another thing with Mondo Macabro, they release not only obscure titles but obscure foreign titles. Titles like Pasquale Festa Campanile’s The Slave, which is a beautiful film. I knew nothing about Greek exploitation but thanks to Mondo Macabro I’ve actually written about 3 different Greek exploitation films right here at Bloody Disgusting — The Wife Killer, Tango of Perversion and Medousa.
I mention all this off the top because one of Mondo Macabro’s most recent Blu-ray releases is another prime example of the company releasing obscure goodness upon the world. The title is a slice of 80’s K-horror in the form of Suddenly in the Dark!
Yu-jin (Yun Il-Bong) is a successful entomologist that recently returned from a trip in which he was hunting for and collecting butterflies. He was gone for 8 days which seems to be a bit of a surprise to his wife Seon-hee (Kim Young-ae). According to Yu-jin he didn’t intend to be gone that long but it was a successful trip and he had a lot of luck so things were extended a bit. Whatever the case may be, Seon-hee is simply pleased to have him home and is looking to spend time with him, but unfortunately, Yu-jin has slightly different plans. His trip was so successful that he needs to invite his colleagues over and set up a slide show to show them what he’s found. Seon-hee is clearly disappointed but she understands.
During the slideshow presentation, a picture of a creepy doll with a white face pops up and gives everyone a little fright. How the picture got there Yu-jin doesn’t know, but he mostly shrugs it off. Seon-hee happens to see it, however, and can’t get the disturbing little thing out of her head.
Shortly after Yu-jin goes out on another trip to find more butterflies and it’s once again a fairly lengthy adventure. When Yu-jin returns this time he not only has pictures of butterflies but also a young orphan teenager named Mi-ok (Lee Ki-seon). Yu-jin doesn’t know a whole lot about Mi-ok other than the fact that her mother died. He stumbles upon her just wandering around and brings her home to be their maid. Mi-ok brings along with her a little wooden doll.
Seon-hee takes to Mi-ok at first. And why wouldn’t she? Mi-ok is just this poor, sad little orphan girl that needs someone to take her in and look after her. Seon-hee and Yu-jin can easily do that and they get a maid out of it. Sounds like a win-win for all parties involved. Once Mi-ok gets washed up, however, she turns out to be quite stunning. Soon Seon-hee begins to become suspicious of Mi-ok. Is she having an affair with Yu-jin?
Seon-hee had what would have been considered a good, normal life. Suddenly she finds herself paranoid. Is she being replaced by a younger woman? What’s the deal with the weird wooden doll? Perhaps everything is merely in her head? Seon-hee isn’t quite sure but what’s clear is that the life she once lived has been turned upside down and one way or another Mi-ok has played a role in that.
Suddenly in the Dark contains many familiar elements. The basic premise of a young housewife possibly going insane has been done plenty of times before. What sets this offering apart is the style and flare with which it was made. The film is shot beautifully with a number of interesting camera angles that you don’t always see. It’s a movie that takes full advantage of being a movie. Every striking visually image is set to a wonderful synth-heavy score.
The Blu-ray release looks stunning. Mondo Macabro doesn’t skimp on anything and that’s the case here. They’ve once again delivered a little-seen gem and done so with a pristine presentation. The special features are rad as well with a pretty solid history of Korean horror and an awesome gallery of Korean VHS artwork.
This is 100% a release you want to pick up. If you ever have movie nights with friends where you always try to impress them by showing them things they haven’t seen then Suddenly in the Dark is a movie you want to own and the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray is the version you want.
Suddenly in the Dark is now available on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro.
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‘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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