Monday, February 17, 2014

Memory Of The Dead (DVD Review) - Artsploitation Films


Argentina/2011
Directed By: Valentin Javier Diment
Written By: Martin Blousson, Valentin Javier Diment, Nicanor Loreti, German Val
Starring: Horacia Acosta, Raquel Albeniz, Jimena Anganuzzi
Color/89 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1

The Film
A group of friends gather in a country house to mourn the loss of their friend's husband. This service of remembrance turns evil very quickly as ghosts and demons from the pasts of those involved quickly turn up and begin wreaking bloody havoc all over the place. MEMORY OF THE DEAD is quite obviously heavily influenced by the films of Dario Argento and Mario Bava, along with paying serious homage to The Evil Dead. And by paying homage I do mean trying its absolute hardest to recreate a few shots from it. It's all good though, and MEMORY OF THE DEAD isn't trying to rip anything off, instead director Valentin Javier Diment takes his influences and uses them to create a rather crazy film. Packed with gore, sex and some wild prosthetics, MEMORY OF THE DEAD definitely has all the makings of a movie straight from the late 70s or 80s. Though instead of the masterpiece that is The Evil Dead or a classic Argento or Bava, MEMORY OF THE DEAD tries to be, instead of simply being. That said, MEMORY OF THE DEAD is a very entertaining horror flick that is sure to please genre fans.


The Audio & Video
Artsploitation Films brings MEMORY OF THE DEAD to DVD with a good looking disc. The disc looks rather good for skin tones and color. The main issue is that some dark scenes have compression issue and black levels aren't particularly deep. It isn't a major issue here and I won't make it sound worse than it is. Overall the disc looks fine in its 2.35:1 widescreen transfer. The audio side of things is very good, with the 5.1 surround sound Spanish track sounding full bodied and very clear. Everything from sound effects and dialogue come through loud and clear. Optional English subs are included.



The Extras
Bare bones.

The Bottom Line
MEMORY OF THE DEAD probably won't become a classic in it's own right but that doesn't take away the fact that it is a seriously entertaining horror film that will be sure to please all of the gore hounds. Go check it out!

MEMORY OF THE DEAD is available HERE

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