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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Threads’ is a Devastating Look at Nuclear Holocaust

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When Severin Films announced the Blu-ray release of Threads I had no idea what the film was. A made-for-TV film that first aired on the BBC in 1984? Yeah, not really in my wheelhouse. With that said when Severin releases something, you check it out because they have a track record you can trust. So check out Threads I did and oh man was I blown away.

Threads is a documentary-like movie about nuclear war and the impacts it has on Sheffield, a city in Northern England. The film focuses on a young couple, Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale), that are planning to get married due to an unexpected pregnancy. The first third of the film plays out like a typical drama centered around this young couple and their lives being turned upside down. You see the uncomfortable moments of them each telling their parents and then both sets of parents meeting for the first time. Jimmy, trying to cope with the upcoming changes, heads the pub with his best friend and there he considers having one last fling before he’s tied down.

As we get to know these characters we constantly see news reporters on in the background about the possibility of an impending nuclear war. The conflict is primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union with England’s overall involvement being rather small in comparison. The two power nations are unable to come to a peaceful resolution and war officially begins. The people of Sheffield receive a red alert warning indicating that nuclear war is moments away and immediately the entire town is in a panic. Within 5 minutes of the warning the first nuclear warhead bursts over England. While Sheffield isn’t directly hit with this first warhead, the town is subject to plenty of fallout and more bombs follow closely behind. Within moments more than two-thirds2 of homes in the UK are destroyed.

The aftermath is heartbreaking. Shortly after the bombing stops there is nothing but chaos. People running around the town desperately trying to find loved ones and any semblance of shelter. As devastating as the injuries and deaths are that are direct result of the warfare, the true trauma comes in the months and years to follow as people attempt to cope. Money at this point is useless and food is scarce. There’s no hospitals, few doctors and no clean water. People that still have some sort of home are forced by the government to take people in, even if those people have diseases. It’s a complete nightmare.

The story continues to follow Ruth as she attempts to find Jimmy and is eventually forced to give birth on her own. Obviously, these are not the best circumstances to raise a child.

As the years go by, we see the lasting impact. The actual attacks were so quick, but it will takes decades to recover. It’s not just that lives are lost and buildings destroyed, but society as whole is essentially wiped out. Not only do people need to rebuild, but people need to learn how to interact with one another again. This attack sends people back in time and turns people into animals.

Threads is an incredible watch for a number of reasons. A hard watch, but an incredible one. Just showing something like this on basic network television is sort of hard to imagine. It’s not overly graphic by any means, but the stuff you see is hard to swallow. And the context in which it’s shown is something else. It’s presented like a pseudo-documentary. The film wants to pull you into this reality and make the impact real for you. And given that it was released during a tense political climate, that wasn’t a hard thing to do.

The scary thing about Threads is that it’s relevant today. A movie like this shouldn’t be relevant today. We should be progressing and evolving as a society but we’re not doing that. We’re devolving and moving backwards. We’re currently living in a tumultuous political climate largely because we have an idiot President living in the White House. An idiot that openly threatens nuclear war on Twitter because it makes him feel tough and impresses his equally idiotic base of supporters. But because he’s a narcissistic idiot he doesn’t understand the ramifications of nuclear war. He doesn’t realize that launching a nuclear war against North Korea, or any other nation, will result in devastation for the entire planet. In nuclear war, we all lose.

And please, spare me any comments about how we need to leave our political beliefs out of what we write and you come here to get away from all that. Because one, what I stated isn’t a political belief but rather a true statement — the President of the United States is an idiot that doesn’t understand nuclear war. And two, horror has long served as a place for filmmakers to provide social commentary, so just deal with it already. Or don’t, I don’t care.

Special Features

The Blu-ray release of Threads contains an audio commentary with director Mick Johnson and interviews with star Karen Meagher, DP Andrew Dunn and production designer Christopher Robilliard. I can’t speak on the commentary because I’ve yet to listen to that, but the interviews are all worth a watch. The best feature is a thirty minute with Stephen Thrower discuss the film and the origins behind it. It gets into what it was like growing up during that time and why a film like this was important.

I think Threads is a phenomenal film that I wish didn’t have meaning today. But maybe it can be used to take away that meaning. Maybe it can start being shown in school, or perhaps, ABC can show it yearly. It’s the sort of film that is there to teach us how to be better as a society. Let’s start learning from it.

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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