 “Hsiao Guei: (literally
“raising child ghosts”) A folk practice prevalent
in Chinese societies whereby dead fetuses are worshipped in
urns and fed with the blood of their master. Child ghosts
possess great power to bring their master fortune. Some are
so powerful they can even be used to kill. But for such dark
arts, a price must be paid…”
With this opening scroll (written exactly as the subtitles
are written), 98 percent of the mystery of The Heirloom is removed. After reading it, you know what the premise of
the story is. You don’t get to experience the unexplained
through the eyes of the characters in the story, because rather
than being as unaware as they, you know what the score is.
Probably unintentionally, the makers of this film felt the
need to spoil the mystery to you by explaining the plot before
the film began. It doesn’t bring you up to speed, like
the opening titles of Star Wars, or simply
explain the basis of the film, as John Larroquette’s
narration over the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
It ruins it. It isn’t the film’s only
mistake, but it is probably its worst.
The
story is your standard haunted house fare. The Yang family
mansion was a crime scene 20 years ago, when the bodies of
nearly every single family member were found in a room on
the fourth floor. It was determined that they were all hung
– at exactly the same time (why is it ALWAYS midnight?
For once I would like to see weird shit happen at 11:26) –
yet no trace of any instruments of the hanging were found
on or above the bodies. No rope, no wire, no clues. I wonder
what happened at the house? If I were a Chinese inspector,
I would go, “Hmmm, lets check this house over for some
fetuses. I’m getting too old for this shit.” No
one does this though. Case remains unsolved.
The two surviving members are a woman who was in the house
during the murders who now resides in an asylum, and the other
is James Yang, an architect who was a child at the time, now
studying abroad. James is apparently never informed of the
MASS MURDER OF HIS ENTIRE FAMILY, and has only a vague recollection
of ever having lived in the house. Nevertheless, when he goes
back to Taiwan and is informed that he inherited the house,
he decides to move his fiancée in with him.
A successful architect he might be, but he apparently didn’t
have the funds to clean up the house first. That or he felt
it was entirely unnecessary since his entire Ikea living room
set only fills up half of the lobby of this 2,500-square-foot,
four-level mansion.
[That’s what the subtitles said: 2,500 square feet.
This has to be a mistake in translation. My house is 1,800
square feet and one level only. It sure as fuck isn’t
a mansion. Want to make a four -level, 2,500-square-foot mansion?
Stack four closets on top of each  other,
install an elevator, use the bottom level as your garage,
and hope the thing doesn’t tip over in a strong wind.
End rant.]
The shit hits the proverbial fan after two friends that help
them move in stay the night. After that night, they keep waking
up in the house, no matter where they fell asleep. They eventually
show up dead, and while an investigator shows up and sees
for himself how people magically appear upstairs after it
has been established they weren’t already in the house,
he pretty much ends the investigation. This would have been
a good time to look for some fetuses, but like 20 years earlier,
they totally drop the ball.
It doesn’t help the experience to be told what the
film is going to be about in the opening scroll. Most of the
suspense is gone, and the only things open for you to contemplate
are the whys of the history, and the hows of the final chapter.
It doesn’t help either when the actions of the characters
are so stupid that they aren’t even laughable. But even
with all that, The Heirloom still has some
interesting things that set it apart from other Asian horror
films.
I thought that the pacing was great. The film runs under
90 minutes and yet it still manages to flow effortlessly,
unraveling the remaining parts of the mystery to reach its
conclusion with a measured pace. The score is phenomenal.
It is beautifully atmospheric, and seems to echo the feel
of the house quite well. The set design also is fantastic.
The house has an incredible look that feels very much like
a home, and just as much like a prison. There is dust everywhere
in the upper levels. The paint is peeling off of the ceiling.
The floorboards have an awful creak to them. If the movie  was
better, this could have been one of the ultimate haunted houses
of cinema history. The house is every bit as characteristic
as a Chinese Amityville.
While the plot is thin and exposed, the story is a great
example of Asian belief and how very un-Western-like they
actually are. Asians sure do love their curses and spirits.
Innocents can absolutely fall victim. An odd counterbalance
exists there, where a character’s morality has no effect
on their outcome. This makes for a more tense film, albeit
a film without solid answers or logic. While The Heirloom isn’t what I would call a great example of Asian horror,
it serves as a reference point to why the genre is so popular
in the West. It’s something vastly different than what
the horror public has been fed over the past three decades
And different is always worth checking out.
 Presentation
The transfer looks really good. The
print is anamorphically enhanced and, while there is some
grain in parts, it is fairly obvious that it was intentional.
This is even more the case when you look at the horrible quality
trailer and deleted scenes. The sound mix is also really good.
The score for this film is awesome and the DVD really presents
it well. The audio is Mandarin only with subtitles in English
or Spanish. Sometimes the subtitles have a few misspelled
words or other typos, which is pretty unforgivable. Still,
the overall quality of the disc is great and fans will no
doubt be pleased.
Extras
Commentary by Director, Screenwriter and Production
Crew – This feature length commentary is subtitled
in English since all the participants speak Mandarin. It may
seem difficult to watch this type of feature, but it packs
in the content. Think of it like those “text popup”
bonus features on some DVDs. With five participants, including
the composer, this track is especially lively. Their anecdotes
are interesting, although I don’t think everything said
was translated. There is simply too much being said. A valiant
effort though. At the start of the credits, “This is
the end of the audio commentary” appears on screen.
Yet, the participants continue talking through to the end
of the credits. I would have liked to hear what they are saying.
Otherwise, how would I know whether they’re making fun
of me…
“The Making Of” The Heirloom (23:59) – Asian cinema is an entirely different breed.
Marvel at how they actually hung real actors for the scenes
with the hanging bodies. When the director yelled cut people
ran over with step stools for the actors to stand on. Then
marvel even more over the fact that many near-accidents, unsurprisingly,
happened during the filming of said scenes. I found this feature
to be relatively interesting, and often times more freaky
and bizarre than the film itself. It could have been made
shorter though, as it features a considerable amount of actual
footage. It borders the line between great behind-the-scenes
info and EPK fluff.
Deleted Scenes – (6:46) This is a collection
of workprint style deleted scenes with the time codes still
on them. All full-frame (or possibly just unmated) and assembled
together in a somewhat random fashion. One scene had no subtitles,
and the others were essentially useless save for the first
and last, which add a little more to the story. I’m
glad these were included, but it would have been nicer if
they were of better quality video and sound.
Original Theatrical Trailer – (1:31)
With absolutely horrible narration that rivals those old trailers
on Charles Band’s Full Moon VHS releases, and the rest
being various random pieces of imagery, this full frame trailer
for The Heirloom  doesn’t
sell the picture, but at least it keeps the mystery a secret.
That’s something even the film wasn’t able to
do past the 10-minute mark.
Tartan Trailer Gallery – You get five other
trailers for films being released on video by Tartan. These
include Pray (1:11), Marebito (1:51), Natural City (2:19), R-Point (1:55), and Ab-Normal Beauty (2:12). All
of these are presented non-anamorphically, and most of them
look pretty interesting and offer a good sample of Tartan’s
plate. Oddly enough, the trailer for Lady Vengeance,
which automatically plays when you start the disk, isn’t
available separately.
Overall, there is a semi-strong selection of material so
fans of the film have plenty to dive into. Tartan did a good
job making this a full package.
Fine
This Taiwanese production isn’t typical of Chinese film
output, but it comes late into the Asian horror market; a
market which is already flooded. Like any other genre of film,
there are exceptionally good examples and exceptionally poor. The Heirloom doesn’t fit in either
of those categories. It’s a reasonably good film, and
you won’t regret watching it. Ultimately though, it
is just another average film in a vast sea of similar material.
I would strongly recommend a rental, because I wouldn’t
want to see anyone shelling out $25 for it.
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