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[DVD Review] You Should Watch ‘Beyond the 7th Door’ Right Now!
The new InterVision DVD of Beyond the 7th Door is currently $11.99 on Amazon. The DVD doesn’t come out until Halloween but you should go pre-order it right now. Seriously, stop whatever you’re doing and go pre-order this now. I’ll wait.
I’m waiting, go on now. And don’t forget to enter the three-digit security code on the back of your debit card.
Order all placed? Great. Now go wait by the mailbox. I know it’s nearly two weeks away from release date, but maybe Amazon will slip up and ship it early and if that’s the case you don’t want to just leave this sitting in your mailbox. You need this in your hands as soon as possible so you can transfer it to your DVD player.
You may be thinking to yourself, “What is Beyond the 7th Door and why should I listen to you, Chris?” I don’t have an answer for that second part, but I can tell you what Beyond the 7th Door is. It’s awesome, that’s what it is.
Beyond the 7th Door is a movie unlike anything else I’ve seen before. It’s a slice of Canadian cinema that must be cherished forever. I guess you could say it’s like The Room before The Room, but it’s even better because this time there is 7 rooms and 7 is more than 1. Do the math, it checks out.
Lazar Rockwood — greatest name ever — stars as Boris, a career criminal recently released from prison. Boris claims that he wants to turn his life around but not before completing one last job. He learns that his former girlfriend Wendy (Bonnie Beck) is working for a paraplegic millionaire named Lord Breston (Gary Freedman). Rumor has it that somewhere inside Lord Breston’s massive mansion is a treasure. Boris meets with Wendy and his able to convince her to help him break into the place and get the treasure. Boris swears this will be his last job. Wendy is reluctant at first but eventually gives in. She agrees to scope the place out and get any keys or passcodes necessary to commit the heist with ease.
The big day finally comes and Boris and Wendy are able to enter a backroom of the mansion with ease. So far, so good. After entering the first room things take a change as they are immediately locked in. Suddenly they hear the voice of Lord Breston speaking to them over a PA system. Breston explains that he knows they’re there for the treasure and they can keep it they find it. The trick is they have to make it through 7 rooms and each one of those rooms will kill you if you don’t make it out fast enough.
The rooms contain a variety of traps designed to kill intruders, but each one has an escape route waiting to be found. Some rooms are pretty clever and contain puzzles that Boris and Wendy must solve. And some rooms are just plain silly but still result in highly tense situations. One room looks sort of like a sewer and it starts to fill with water while Wendy is trapped inside. To escape Wendy merely has to use a screwdriver to remove about 20 screws from a plate blocking the exit. This sounds simple but before she can get the screws all out water begins to fill the room and she starts to panic, frantically trying to stop the water from flowing in. Meanwhile, Boris is another room trying to think of a way to pull Wendy out. It’s all very silly but somehow works. The scene is very tense.
Beyond the 7th Door is composed of some of the greatest dialogue you’ll ever hear. My favorite line actually comes during the water scene. In order to stop the water flow Wendy rips up her dress to plug the spouts and this leaves her legs fully exposed. As Wendy is struggling to escape and Boris is attempting to help her out he stops for a moment to acknowledge her legs. I can’t remember the specific line but he says something like, “I never took the time to appreciate your legs.” Amazing.
The only thing more amazing than the legs discussion is the score composed by the trio of Michael Clive, Brock Fricker and Philip Strong. The music in this movie is like a John Carpenter knock off and I think it’s brilliant. I’d pay good money to have this on vinyl. Maybe Severin Films can enter the vinyl game?
I should point out that this is a no-budget movie and it does show. The cast is minimal and the acting isn’t great. Rockwood’s line readings are hysterical. The plot is pretty silly and the ending is so ridiculously outlandish. Despite all these shortcomings director B.D. Benedikt creates a pretty compelling thriller that zips along — though I’m sure the cool 77-minute runtime helps with that.
The reason I love Beyond the 7th Door is that it bleeds the spirit of independent filmmaking. It’s akin to Dangerous Men or Miami Connection. The flaws don’t matter when you have so much passion. This movie is a blast from start to finish, issues be damned!
The DVD contains a handful of special features. There is an audio commentary with Benedikt and Rockwood that is moderated by Canuxploitation’s Paul Corupe. I haven’t listened to this yet but I will because I know it’s amazing. There’s also a 21-minute interview feature with the trio that I have listened to and it’s everything I wanted it to be. Benedikt either owns or works at a theater in Canada and he takes us on a brief tour where he discusses the death of indie filmmaking thanks to everything going digital and mega studios creating a monopoly on Hollywood. He also shows off a collection of religious thrillers he’s written over the years. Rockwood commands the spotlight here though as he shares the key to becoming a great actor which is to own a cat. Rounding things out is a quick 4-minute feature on a Canadian street performer named Ben Kerr. He has a cameo in the movie as a dead man.
I love Beyond the 7th Door. I just love it to death. I’ve already watched it twice and I plan to watch it more. And when I say I’ve watched it twice I mean I watched it and as soon as it was done I hit play again. That’s twice back-to-back in one setting. It’s one of the best releases of the year and I’ll forever be in debt to the fine folks at InterVision for introducing me to this lovely gem. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go watch it for a third time.
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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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