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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Black Christmas’ Finally Arrives on Blu-ray in the UK!

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Christmas may have come and gone but that doesn’t mean we have to stop watching Christmas horror, right? Of course not! And when it comes to Black Christmas, the best of Christmas horror, well that’s just suitable for any time of the year. So let’s talk Black Christmas!

At the start of winter break, a group of sorority sisters begin to receive obscene phone calls from someone they have dubbed “The Moaner” at their sorority house. The calls are incredibly vulgar and the caller is a grade-A creep. As disturbing as they are the girls don’t think too much of the calls. He’s a pervert, sure, but is he trying to cause them physical harm? They don’t think so.

They’re wrong. Suddenly the girls start being picked off one-by-one and they quickly realize and they soon realize this caller has a lot more on his mind than your standard prank call.

Black Christmas is one of the best and most influential horror films ever made. It essentially created the blueprint for all other slashers to follow. The POV shots from the killer’s perspective that John Carpenter and Dean Cundey made so famous in Halloween where pulled directly from Black Christmas, which predates the Carpenter classic by 4 years. Maybe the most impressive part about the film is that here we are nearly 44 years later and it still holds up. I watch this every year in December, and sometimes in July if I’m having a little Christmas in July fun, and every time I find it to be suspenseful and utterly terrifying. Not many films can recreate the first time viewing reaction on multiple viewings but Black Christmas succeeds every time.

As die-hard horror fanatics, Bloody Disgusting readers are well aware of all this though. I don’t need to tell you about Black Christmas. You’ll likely hold it in high regard much like myself. And if you don’t I will say you’re entitled to your own opinion but I respectfully disagree. What I will tell you about, however, is the new UK Blu-ray release.

The release comes courtesy of 101 Films and was released back in late November. You can currently pick it up on Amazon.uk for about £13. This release is a big deal because it marks the UK debut Blu-ray release of the Bob Clark classic. As an added bonus this UK release is actually region free — so for those in the US, Canada or anywhere else that is region free you can pick this up even if you don’t have a region free player, should you desire to do so. The release comes with 2 discs — 1 Blu-ray and 1 DVD — and features what I believe to be brand-new artwork original to this release, which you can view below.

The transfer used on this UK release is the same one Scream Factory used on their Black Christmas release in 2016 and that’s a good thing. This 2K transfer doesn’t show any signs of being digitally altered, which means we get to avoid that waxy look that often comes with DNR. The picture retains that film quality, providing texture with some imperfections presents, while offering a nice depth of color that pops. The Christmas lights and decorations in particular really stand out. This is easily the best transfer of Black Christmas in existence and I’m glad that 101 went with it.

The 101 Films release also contains 4 featurettes and TV & radio spots for special features. All of these special features were ported over from the Scream Factory release with 2 of them — Film and Furs: Remembering Black Christmas with Art Hindle and Victims and Virgins: Remembering Black Christmas with Lynne Griffin — being features that were specifically produced for the Scream Factory release. The other two featurettes are Black Christmas Legacy, the 40-minute doc from the 2015 Canadian Blu-ray release of the film and the 40th anniversary reunion panel from Fan Expo Canada 2014. There’s a lot of fun bonus context here. I am particularly fond of the Black Christmas Legacy because I think it does a great job pulling in various interview clips to piece together a wonderful backstory to go along with the film. The reunion panel is nice as well because it’s fun to see John Saxon and other cast members reminisce on something they did 40 years prior.

I’m glad 101 Films grabbed and pulled special features from past releases. That’s good. The bad news is that the Scream Factory had a ton more special features that I guess 101 wasn’t able to get their hands on. That’s too bad and dings the overall release a little bit. Despite having less special features this is still a great Blu-ray release of a great film. If you’re in the US or you have a region free player then there’s no need to get this release because the Scream Factory release offers more, but if you’re some place and you happen to be region B locked then this is a great alternative.

Black Christmas is now available on region free Blu-ray from 101 Films.

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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