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Digital Dismemberment: Memory Of The Dead DVD Review

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Digital Dismemberment: Memories of the Dead (La Memoria Del Muerto) DVD Review

MemoryoftheDead_newtitleDirector– Valentin Javier Diment

Producer– Valentin Javier Diment and Hernan Findling

Special FX– Rebecca Martinez, Franco Burattini and Leandro Bury Bustos

Cast- Gabriel Goity, Lola Berthet, Matias Marmorato, Rafael Ferro, Ana Celetano and Flora Gro

Released By– Artsploitation Films

Release Date– February 25, 2014

 

793690_529516737081478_907290160_o-717x1024The Premise: Reminiscent of the finest work of Dario Argento with its spectacular set pieces, Valentin Javier Diment’s Memory of the Dead mixes eye-popping visuals with wicked black comedy to create one of the most memorable supernatural shockers in years. A recent widow (Lola Berthet) gathers her husband’s closest friends at her country home for a memorial service, but her intentions aren’t quite as noble as they seem. Soon, the gathered mourners are beset by an onslaught of ghosts and demons from their pasts. Grieving is hard, but surviving the night is even harder. Packed with gore, terror, tongue-in-cheek humor and a healthy dose of sex, Memory of the Dead is a must see for fans of wildly fun international horror.

Foreign horror films can be very hit or miss for some people, whether it is because they can’t watch a film and read subtitles or the cultural subtexts do not translate over properly. In the case of Memory of the Dead, I feel the cultural subtext may not have translated as well, but that is not a bad thing! After receiving the DVD for review and reading the back, I was expecting gore and comedy along the lines of Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive or Bad Taste. The gore (well placed and not overly abused) certainly hit its marks, but I failed to find any comedy in the film. However, I find that it works for this film. Director Valentin Javier Diment certainly earns the praise that is heaped on the film for its Argento like use of color and camera angles, and the cast certainly bring some strange, if not powerful, performances to the screen. The story has some well hidden twists and turns with an ending that will certainly shock many. The decision to release it to standard Definition DVD was a great choice as well. While not the biggest fan of digital FX, the films quality lends well to the blending of CGI and practical FX. Certainly worth picking up and watching, make sure to keep an eye on Diment in the future!

The film opens with us hearing a female voice singing the tale of the seagull that loves to ocean while we see blood bubbling. We then see Alicia and Jorge walking down the road, discussing things. After getting to the house, Alicia has an encounter with two creepy children at the gate. As she turns, she sees Jorge jump into the swimming pool with now water in it. Screaming as she watches, he gets out and does it again, splattering his brains all around… Alicia then wakes up from her nightmare to find that Jorge has died in his sleep… 3 months later, Alicia gathers their closest friends for a memorial service to Jorge. After unveiling a painting of Jorge (self portrait) and reading a letter that is addressed to all of the friends, they split up for remembrances, but someone is performing an unholy ritual that soon begins to beckon the dead to the house. At the stroke of midnight, heavy lightning and fog begin to roll in. One of the friends, Ivana, thinks she sees her dead daughter outside on a swing. Even against warnings to not go outside, she runs out into the night, only to slowly have her life drained by the spirit and then exploded against the outside window…

Another of the group, Hugo, is beaten up and locked in a room after he sacrifices a cat. Alicia explains that as long as they stay in the house they are safe. They have been brought together because of a ritual Jorge taught her that will guide him back from the dead to the house. It will also draw other spirits, however, and they must focus their love for Jorge so that he may come back. Everyone is shocked and they sit around the table discussing it and Jorge. Some of the conversation becomes very bitter towards other members of the group, and before long, Mumi leaves for the bathroom is is haunted by her dead mother and father. After a gruesome display where her mother sews her own eyes and mouth shut, the father begins to sexually abuse her and then locks her in a closet. Meanwhile, Mauro storms off to his bedroom and is confronted by the ghost of an ex girlfriend, and then later his mother. When he finds out his mother sent her away when she was pregnant, the girlfriends stomach explodes in a shower of blood. Screaming, Mauro runs to the bathroom, where he is brutally murdered by someone stabbing him multiple times…

Nicanor and Faniana are also assaulted by the spirits and separated. Nicanor is cornered by a faceless spirit that begins ripping the the teeth and eyeballs out of his face and placing them in hers. As he screams in agony, we pan back to see what would appear to be his younger sister staring back at him. Fabiana hides in a car and finds the spirit of her grandmother. The spirit warns her of what is going on and shows her were the ritual is taking place. Nicanor wakes up underneath a bookcase (none the worse for wear) and is helped by Hugo. They explore the house trying to find everyone else and escape the evil that surrounds them. Who is behind the gruesome ritual and murders, what do the spirits want and will anyone get out alive? You are going to have to watch to find out…

d1b67d781daac594e80b628d79cb5bb4Bonus Features:

Memory of the Dead Trailer– 1 minute, 40 seconds

Hidden in the Woods Trailer– 2 minutes, 12 seconds, Directed by Patricio Valladares. Deep in the Chilean countryside, Ana and Anny live with their deformed brother and are subject to their father’s perverse and sadistic whims. After a dispute with the police leaves a wake of death and mutilation, they flee and find refuge in a remote cabin hidden from society. Meanwhile, a crime lord, convinced they have stolen the massive stash of drugs their father was hiding, sends a violent pack of thugs to find them.

Based on a bizarre true story and not for the faint of heart, Hidden in the Woods (currently being remade in the U.S.) features extreme violence, prostitution, sexual assault, buckets of blood and even cannibalism.

Horror Stories Trailer– 1 minute, 20 seconds, Directed by Bum-shik JUNG, Dae-woong LIM, Ji-young HONG, Gok KIM and Sun KIM. Horror anthologies might be everywhere these days, but the Korean entry Horror Stories raises the bar with four terrifying stories (and a nail-biting wraparound tale), each one chilling enough to be its own feature. If you thought this was going to be a tame collection of teen-friendly “ghost girl” stories – think again. Horror Stories goes right for the jugular with non-stop splatter, intense shocks and riveting suspense. A high school girl is abducted and forced by a psycho to tell him the scariest tales she knows.

Toad Road Trailer– 1 minute, Directed by Jason Banker. A different kind of American independent horror film, the hypnotic Toad Road, presented by Elijah Wood and his SpectreVision production company, unfolds like a hallucinatory cross between the sexual candor of Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, and the backwoods creep-out of The Blair Witch Project. Young James kills time with his small town druggie friends, engaging in excessive chemical intake, until he meets sweet new arrival Sara. But just as James wants to abandon the narcotics life, Sara wants him to take her further into mind-altering experimentation…and she also wants him to introduce her to the sinister local legend of Toad Road, a spot deep in the forest that is apparently home to the Seven Gates of Hell. Writer-director Jason Banker’s debut is a unique fusion of documentary-like realism, and otherworldly, haunting rural terror. Unlike any other film you’ll see this year, Toad Road is a mesmerizing trip.

Wither Trailer– 1 minute, 55 seconds, Directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund. This Swedish homage to Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead (1982) is a bloody, scary tale of demonic possession. A group of naive young people find their carefree weekend in an isolated country house unhinged when one of them accidentally unleashes a mysterious and murderous creature trapped in the basement. As the demon begins to attack the couples, the blood-dredged body count mounts and with it, more creatures out for a taste of human flesh, freshly killed. The dazed young men and women soon mount their own desperate counter-attack, an attack that includes decapitations, dismemberment, spurting blood, flailing axes and the kind of gore one does associate with Swedish cinema!

Discs: 1
Format: NTSC
Color: Color
Rating: Unrated
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1)
Language: Spanish with English subtitles

Artsploitation Film crosses borders to bring us something fresh from Argentina! Not strictly a genre label, ARTSPLOITATION FILMS looks for intriguing, unsettling, unpredictable and provocative films from around the world and they have delivered. I admit initial surprise to find out that the movie was in Standard definition, but it really worked well for this film. Nice DVD cover and DVD art round out a nice visual presentation. The sound and picture are nice and fresh with that slight grain to give the film a surreal look, and due to the use of digital FX in the film, blend very nicely. With this being a newer film, there really is nothing in terms of special features other that a cadre of thought provoking trailers. Much deserved credit goes to Artspoiltation Films for bringing something from the foreign market that has a great visual style and panache. Would have loved to see some behind the scenes interviews or maybe a segment on the Make-Up and FX, but these are minor quibbles. Defiantly worth picking up!

Movie Rating: 3.5 out of 5
DVD Rating: 7 out of 10

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Dedman13

Owner of Slit of the Wrist FX and producer, actor, FX artist and writer.

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