Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

The full Vinegar Syndrome slate:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...6b85edbdfc.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...cc2307831d.jpg


And partner labels:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...1ecfe4e8bc.jpg

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Pre-ordered Howling II.



https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...73d59b850a.gif

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https://i.ibb.co/RNY9hkz/IMG-4898.jpg

And as a reminder:

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I’m sure some folks must tire of the HK announcements, but I’m thankful. Maybe a little broke because of them too.

Based on that ‘kids are not alright’ bit, the long sought after uncut/uncensored version of Ringo Lam’s SCHOOL ON FIRE would sure be nice, although I don’t pay much attention to the rumor mill so that’s probably still wishful thinking.

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Apparently the house in the picture matches the one from Dial D for Demons.

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Weird choice. It’s ok but I don’t recall it having much of a following (I know, personal opinion, etc etc), and it got pretty average to low scores even when it was new. It’s basically THE RING with pagers instead of videocassettes, and a Category II film (unless they’ve sourced a previously unknown Cat. III version which seems unlikely). Their choices baffle me sometimes.

Personally I have a soft (read: weak :lol:) spot for – and a fairly massive collection of – low- to no-budget Hong Kong movies from circa 1998 to 2004, when the industry was atrophying rapidly and companies top to bottom were cranking out cheap quickies and knock-offs that basically kept a lot of regulars gainfully (if not profitably) employed through those years. Lots of very limited theatrical runs locally (like this one, which was a Golden Harvest production and thus positioned a little higher up the food chain) and even more direct-to-video stuff. It was really the last wheeze of a very prolific industry, but by then the top talents were already splitting time between HK and Hollywood and many western fans just weren’t interested in these items from the lower depths, so to speak, which meant all sorts of Chinatown hunts and unique (if forgettable) finds for me!

It’s really the kind of film that would make more sense in a boxed set of similar fare just to lower the per-film price a bit for those less familiar with it. VS released that MADE IN HONG KONG VOL. 1 box which similarly contained movies from this period, so I’m a little surprised DIAL D wasn’t rolled into a VOL. 2.

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All the HK stuff is actually saving me a ton of money. I almost subscribed last year, but it’s just not my wheelhouse.

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I’ve heard other folks saying that elsewhere, and it’s totally understandable in light of some titles they’ve picked up (thankfully not most). I do think they could be more choosy with what they licence, though, or push harder for ‘important’ key titles that people have actually wanted for ages (like the wild SCHOOL ON FIRE) and which might be more enticing to those who are less familiar with the city’s cinema. Stuff like DIAL D FOR DEMONS, if that turns out to be the big reveal, are not representative of the best Hong Kong had to offer. I do wonder if every key title they make a deal for comes with caveats in the form of stuff like this.

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For what little it’s worth, this HK title wouldn’t have been included as part of a subscription since it’s VSA rather than part of the main line. I haven’t tallied things up, but their Hong Kong releases have been something like 70% VS / 30% VSA?

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I hope one of the movies in October is as Christmas movie. They usually have to release them in October to get the movie in consumers hands before the end of the year.

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https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...d528337b9b.jpg

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I ordered The Tenant, Corpse Mania, Forgotten Gialli vol. 7, and Power of Grayskull (which I think is the one that has a bunch of my friends in it).

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^Thanks for the heads up on Power of Grayskull. I ordered a copy! The slipcover version of this will likely go quick.

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I was just reading VS email newsletter and saw that I missed the LE slipcover version of The Cult Of The AFGA Trailer Show. Dammit! :(

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I still can't place a VS website order until Im gainfully employeed but "Through the Looking Glass" looks really cool on the Melusine website.
https://melusine.com/cdn/shop/files/...g?v=1727733601

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

I still want the Hey It's Intermission Time Bluray but this new release from AGFA might also be a worthy purchase.

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Added The Tenant to my Kanopy watchlist. If it’s up my alley, I’ll spring for the 4K disc, but otherwise I’ll just skip it.

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Looks like this one’s going to be another faux ‘sold out’ title, with the slip version gone and the regular down to less than 100 copies, which will then be magically replenished. :) On the plus side, they included the uncut versions of all the trailers, which I don’t believe they did on the first volume (which is still available and lasted long enough to be included in sales, hint hint).

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I'll be curious to see what comes up with this Syntober event! I was tempted to order Ebola Syndrome, but my Labor Day sale orders are still unfulfilled, which makes me a bit not want to order anything else..
I also wonder is Syntobor is a shipping stacking promotion?

Hmm, maybe I posted this to the wrong thread and should have put this in a Bluray Bargains forum?

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I tested this with EBOLA SYNDROME (which I already own and which, more importantly, was quite a bit cheaper for me in a previous sale) when it was first listed and I didn’t get the stacking option, and my Labor Day items likewise haven’t shipped. I was able to add two items in mid-September, but the window is closed to me now.

Today’s title, FLESH AND FANTASY, was about the same in the Black Friday 2023 sale I bought it from, but it did include the slip.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Has a determination been made on stacking shipping yet? Today's sale item is one I want, and it saves me from ordering it at BF next month if I get it now.

ETA: Answering my own question here. They are NOT stacking shipping. Because my copy of Singapore Sling is already on its way. So take any item in this "sale" and add six bucks to it, cuz that's gonna be what you pay. Highly unlikely I'll buy anything else. I'll just wait till BF and bundle em.

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Hmmmm

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I have seen guesses online it might be Congo.

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From the newsletter that came out today:
I’m not sure if Congo fits the description of the VSU release, but the third bullet point sounds like one of the titles might be the rumored release of Michael Mann’s The Keep; the commissioned artwork for that was accidentally leaked early by the artist a little while ago.

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I, uhh, keep hearing about THE KEEP as being in the pipeline, to the degree that I just bought the ViaVision all-region DVD at a ‘Video Store Day’ sale here just over a week ago and finally watched it for the first time. I had only seen bits of it on an OTA television broadcast in the 80s and found it dull enough to change the channel. On the Australian DVD the movie is still kind of a slog to these eyes, but the widescreen transfer looks spectacular. Regardless, it’s the kind of movie that a boutique label could really go wild with in terms of restoring the preview cut, examining the history behind its failure, interviewing cast and crew, etc. I’ve read that even if they could rebuild it, though, it still wouldn’t be a ‘finished’ movie because of stuff that wasn’t shot back in the day (including effects?), but whatever they could construct might be fascinating to watch in comparison to what’s available now.

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I watched it on the Criterion Channel when they had a decent looking version available either last October or the previous year. I think the VistaVision DVD may be from the same source as that. I also came across a very unrestored 35mm scan online, but the Criterion stream was significantly more watchable.

As far as any alternate cuts, I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but I’m not expecting any real surprises on that front. Maybe some deleted scenes, animatics, etc.

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No idea how much stock to put in that, or if “recent” might be too recent for a Black Friday title.

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Interesting. Even if it’s too early for BF, that post does seem to suggest that it’s on the way. As I said, it’s a movie that could anchor a phenomenal special edition, especially if a longer version can be prepared with a new audio mix where you can actually understand what the characters are saying. I’d imagine a bunch of supplement-makers are simply keeping mum at the moment. I suppose VS (or whomever gets it) could still announce it for BF but then not ship it until the new year or whenever it’s ready.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Well, looks like the VSU title was indeed Congo.
No sign of The Keep just yet, but there are two secret titles to be revealed later.

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AGFA is releasing "Santa Claus conquers the Martin's and other Holiday Oddities". This looks wild!!

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Anything's possible, especially with existenz being one of the reveals last year, but the secret titles are usually kinda underwhelming.

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I'm hoping there is a decent BF sale so I can pick up Invasion USA. I normally don't shop at this label. The last and only one I picked up was Death Wish 2 before it went out of print.

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Black Friday is 50% off. But I do not think Invasion USA would be included in the sale at that price since it came out in July. You’d have to wait until the May sale.

If you just want the standard 4K of that, the best deal is on eBay through Pop Market with their buy 2 items get 20% off. That would be cheaper than buying from VS directly, especially since they’d charge you shipping during the sale.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

I don’t really get CONGO, frankly. I mean, it’s certainly an ok movie – just ok by pretty much all critical measure then and since – but it has literally been a Blu/DVD dump bin filler for decades. The original discs were barebones save for trailers, as I recall – which tells you something – and they couldn’t secure the participation of a single principal from the production (director, producer, actors, writer [ [i]not Crichton, but Shanley, of course]) for this edition, only some FX and makeup guys. Those features would be interesting to see because the effects in the film were quite good for the time, but still. Would’ve been nice to maybe see a featurette about Jerry Goldsmith as the movie does have one of his better latter-day scores, but alas. I wonder if the Paramount acquisitions are reasonably priced but come with stipulations, like “release a spiffy edition of one of our tired-out titles like CONGO and maybe we’ll see what we can do about THE KEEP.” :)

Definitely keen on the AGFA Christmas disc. Guess I’ll keep an eye on the quantities. So far it doesn’t seem to be selling out as quick as their INTERMISSION TIME collection, but that had about fourteen hours of content compared to this edition’s five, so maybe that was a factor.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

I watched Congo recently and I can definitely see the eventual cult following for that movie. It has a great cast, some terrible acting from said cast, some bizarre story choices and a gorilla that using sign language with a robotic voice speaking for her. What's not to love?

But seriously, I wouldn't own it but it is worth a rental.

You need to move on the X-mas disc if you want it though. It is down close to 250 copies left and will probably see out today. I saw the Martian movie many moons ago and it is indeed awful. One of those that is more fun to watch the trailer than the entire movie. I am more interested in the weird Xmas shorts that is included though. Pull the trigger. You will always be able to get your money back on eBay if you have the slipcover version should you decide you don't want it after watching it.

I am still irritated that I missed The Cult Of AGFA Trailer Show slipcase version to go with my first release. But I saw that after several years, you can get the slipcover version of that original release now for the amount of the regular version on eBay. There were 1500 of it but only 1000 done of the recent release.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Precisely. :thumbsup:

People temped by the VS edition who haven’t seen the film would probably do well to see the DVD first, which is still easy to find super cheap (or probably at your local library or on streaming). Looks like the Paramount Blu is OOP after having been cheap for years, so now that would cost you as much as the VS edition with bonus material.

Good point. I’ve been watching it throughout the day and it definitely went quicker than I thought it might. I’ve likewise seen the movie – probably too many times considering it is indeed horrible – and own the MST3K standalone ‘Essentials’ DVD from ages ago. The library here has the more recent Kino restoration on DVD, so I borrowed that because it has nearly an hour of vintage Christmas crap on it (mostly less interesting than I suspect the pieces on the VS disc will be).

I’ll just have to hope I can add enough with discounted BF stuff to justify the shipping to a Canada, which is exceptional provided you really fill a box, and I’ve kinda picked them over in the last few sales, so we’ll see.

A few months back here, I mentioned having slips for all the AGFA titles that I’ve purchased (which is far from all of them, and mostly the Something Weird-derived stuff), but it turned out I was mistaken and didn’t have the slip for the original HORROR TRAILER SHOW disc. Just last week, I found a used copy in a bookstore here for $10 with the slip. Figured at that price I could flip it on Amazon for a nice profit, until I dug out my older copy and realized it had no slip. Standard versions still fetch decent money up here, so it’s still a win-win.

I actually skipped the CULT OF AGFA slip version and will get the standard on sale eventually (if it lasts long enough). I probably could’ve made a habit of that moving forward, but technically I still can if I do decide to flip the slip version of the Xmas disc, like you say, and grab the standard later on in a sale.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

According to ReelGood, Congo is currently streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime.

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I was going to post the exact thing. And that was where I saw it.

The movie is dumb as shit and you sit there wondering why the studio put so much money behind it after reading the script.

I was a manager at a Blockbuster Music at the time it came out and you wouldn't believe all the promo shit and toys they made us push for that particular movie. I remember it than any other movie while I worked there. Strange choice. I think they thought it was going to be huge. We had Amy gorilla dolls on clearance forever and couldn't get rid of them.

If you are an Ernie Hudson fan, it is worth seeing for him. He chews the shit out of the scenery in it.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

I recall the studio definitely thinking they had a blockbuster in the making, what with Michael Crichton, Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy linking this in the public’s minds to Spielberg and Jurassic Park just two years earlier (even on the poster), and the big budget – which they barely recouped half of – is certainly what makes it even remotely tolerable. Personally, I just don’t think it’s VS ‘upfront special edition pricing’ tolerable. VS’s own trailer actually plays up almost nothing but oddball aspects of the picture (including some strange accents), which I suppose is the right approach in trying to manufacture the aforementioned cult audience for it, but it certainly wasn’t intended that way at the time because of its pedigree.


They even produced toys ahead of the release, which went nowhere and haunted dollar stores for ages.


And speaking of Blockbuster:

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Anyone know if the Santa Claus conquers the Martians bluray will show up on Amazon? If it's on the VS Website now I'd assume it'll get a wide release of the standard edition blu-ray in December.