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[Review] ‘Christmas Blood’ is a Fun, But Familiar Killer Santa Flick

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Axe-wielding murderous Santas aren’t anything new, but they’re still one of my all-time favorite horror tropes. From Santa’s Slay to Silent Night, we’ve seen all sorts of wacky yuletide carnage taking place on a traditionally cheerful occasion. Norwegian filmmaker Reinert Kiil is the latest to try his luck at a serial-killing Saint Nick with Christmas Blood, a movie that aims to bring the holiday rampage a bit closer to home.

Christmas Blood stars an ensemble of young friends determined to make the most of their holiday trip to an isolated winter wonderland after a recent tragedy. Featuring the talents of Ida Malene Smith Bakke, Pernille Baggeranas, Helene Eidsvåg and several others, these friends are soon confronted with an axe-murdering lunatic dressed as Santa Clause, who`s just escaped custody and plans on completing a 13-year-long holiday murder-spree. However, a pair of investigators are hot on Santa`s trail, hoping to catch this seemingly unkillable maniac before he paints this white Christmas red.

Due to the sheer quantity of killer Santa movies before it, the cookie-cutter characters and tropes present in Christmas Blood would have been just as tired in the 80s as they are now. Nothing about the film’s story manages to stand out, but every minor detail is so well-executed here that it’s hard to complain as the movie does its best to have fun with these age-old ingredients.

Kiil has a great sense of style, and the movie boasts a nightmarishly atmospheric take on winter in Norway. There’s a slight tonal resemblance to Cold Prey, another Norwegian slasher from 2006, as both films attempt to balance chilling atmosphere and character moments with dark humor and brutal kills as the movie attempts to keep you entertained even when no one is dying.

That being said, the kills are still a lot of fun, if oftentimes implausible. There’s a certain air of repetition to some of these scenes, but there are only so many ways you can dismember someone with an axe, so I can’t quite blame the filmmakers for that. These gory moments are also improved by the film’s attempts at connecting the viewer to these characters, as you’ll probably be left torn between wanting to enjoy the bloody practical effects and rooting for the victims to escape unharmed.

The characters are surprisingly likable despite their relative unoriginality, though a lot of this can be attributed to the cast’s natural charm instead of the script. The Michael-Myers-inspired killer is also a legitimately threatening figure in spite of the Santa outfit, with a few interesting hints at a larger backstory and an intimidating presence. Sadly, he isn’t developed as much as I would have liked, though I can still appreciate the mystery surrounding such a terrifying figure.

Overall, Christmas Blood is peppered with creative details and moments, but it’s a shame that the general setup isn’t all that original. This is still a fun and thrilling slasher flick with a cool villain and a creepy winter vibe, but it’s not exactly Krampus, and the film probably won’t be joining the ranks of our favorite Christmas horror classics anytime soon.

Christmas Blood will be available on Home Video and VOD on December 11th.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

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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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