Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Not much pops for me, other than the HK double feature of course, although I wish 88 would list their supplements on those two titles for comparison, and their slip/sleeve art for both are substantially better (in fact, the VS tradition of so-so slip designs continues this month). Curious to see BRIMSTONE as well, but likewise probably in a future sale.

They didn’t name check all 17 Partner titles in their email this morning:

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collecti...partner-labels

I’m intrigued by the AGFA Mystery Mixtape collection, which has about 8.5 hours of material, but their previous mixtapes haven’t necessarily been keepers for me, especially if they don’t include any uncut original material.

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

I’ll grab the new Forgotten Gialli box set at some point — maybe April or May, which sound more my speed — but I’m not in a huge rush. I haven’t even watched anything from volume 7 yet!

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

Haven’t really kept up with the rumor mill, but I wonder if the 60’s British horror double bill might be Hammer films of some sort? I’ve noticed a lot of the Shout Hammer titles (and maybe the Mill Creek / Columbia batch?) are out of print now.

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Devil Doll and Curse of the Voodoo are widely speculated as the double feature next month, but we’ll see! I’d definitely be up for Hammer if it went that direction instead, but it sounds like VS said in another hint elsewhere that the movies in this double feature were new-to-Blu-ray, and if that’s true, I’m not sure how much ‘60s Hammer remains to be mined.

It also sounds as if Murder Rock might be the ‘80s giallo for April. A big box with that label was in the background of a photo from their warehouse, or something like that. (I’m a little out of the loop!)

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Ive always been tempted to get one of those box sets. So I’ll have to ask, in your opinion, which sets are the best ones? I’ve read that the second one is supposed to be really good.

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May will probably have the next VSU movie. If it's a "90s horror classic" and VS is now releasing Paramount movies I hope it's The Relic.

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My kneejerk is that 2 and 3 are my favorites, and 5 and 6 are really solid as well.

1 is the weakest of the bunch, and the ‘80s focus on volume 4 (where these movies are basically Italian Cinemax After Dark) isn’t really my thing at all.

The trend with these sets has been one movie I love, one I like or at least ranks as okay, and one that’s a little bit of a struggle to watch or I actively dislike.

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I think it will be that.

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Good to know. Well, sorta good to know. :lol: I had CURSE OF THE VOODOO as part of a British Horror 4-pack that Elite put out probably 20 years ago (man, time flies!), and it was easily the dullest film of the bunch. Not horrible, mind you, just slow, and utilizing a lot of stock footage for the scenes involving wild animals because they never actually shot in Africa. There is a rather memorable, bum-wiggling nightclub dance number running a good three minutes or more, so there’s that. :lol: I also had (maybe still have?) the old Image DVD of DEVIL DOLL, which is a decidedly better movie. That disc had two versions of the film (there are two for VOODOO as well, but only one appeared on the Elite disc as I recall) a solid commentary with producer Richard Gordon and historian Tom Weaver, and a still gallery. Hopefully they’ll port that stuff over. In fact, these two films make sense together as they share the same producer in Gordon, director in Lindsay Shonteff, and leading man in Bryant Haliday, the latter of whom would go on to co-found Janus Films.


This doesn’t surprise me, especially with 88 Films just announcing it, too. It’s far from top-drawer Fulci, as I’m sure many here already know, but as noted in the 88 Films thread, the spandex is off the charts! ;)


Adam can obviously speak better to the ‘mix’ in these sets (I have the initial three, still unwatched) but it’s worth noting that the first three are now standard-edition only (each in a handy single case) and tend to turn up in the various VS sales regularly, which can make them much easier on the wallet if you’re not keen risking more money on the boxed versions.

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The Relic would be right in line with the Vinegar Syndrome and it deserves a 4k upgrade. I only ever bought it on dvd and it was one of worst transfers I've ever seen. Great creature feature kind of flick.

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I saw THE RELIC theatrically and loved it, and I was very disappointed that the original VHS and DVD editions were so much darker than what I saw in the theatre. As shot, it was dark in many scenes (it’s that kind of film) but not so much that you could barely make things out in many sequences, including effects sequences. I figured the original Blu-ray would be an improvement but it was just more of the same, and money kinda wasted. It’s always led me to wonder if maybe the theatre just didn’t project it right, but it sure as hell looked right at the time. I’ve seen many reviews of various formats that seem to corroborate that it got much, much darker on home video and stayed that way. I really hope VS would rectify that.

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I'm hoping to get Invasion USA 4K when the next major sale happens. That's the one title that I really want as I have collected most of Chuck Norris' movies on BD. $37.99+ tax and shipping is a little too rich for me for a 40 year old title. I still have my Shout Factory BD, so I'm not in any major hurry. I know Sidekicks is also on VS, but that's a goofy kids comedy and I don't like it enough to pay a premium for it.

I was able to get Death Wish 2 4K a few years ago before it went out of stock.

Maybe if there is a decent deal, I will look into the China O'Brien movies and Navy Seals.

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Sidekicks was on sale for about $20 last month, I bit on that. It even came in the deluxe packaging, I usually don't opt for that since they charge more for it.

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I had the laserdisc of The Relic and think that was the last good release. Wasn't as dark as every subsequent video release. I think Peter Hyams even said that he likes to shoot dark but not that fucking dark. It was almost AVP: Requiem on home video dark.

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Peter Hyams always favored natural lighting, or at least lighting from sources motivated by the scene (lamps and light fixtures on camera, and so forth). He hated using studio lighting rigs and what he considered the artificial look they created.

At the time of The Relic, Hyams was really pushing the limits of how dark he could make the photography and still produce a usable image. Even during its theatrical release, there were tons of complaints about the movie being too dark. You can find some in critics' reviews from the time. A lot of that may be due to the highly variable and unreliable nature of how theatrical prints were struck, and how theaters projected them. Depending on where you saw it, you could have gotten an acceptably bright picture, or one that was impenetrably dark and murky.

Then when it came to home video, it seems that the DVD and Blu-ray masters were not handled well.

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Peter Greenaway has always had what I call Bad Video Karma. Most of his movies have had lackluster to terrible home video editions. The Belly of an Architect is not one of my favorites of his films, nor one I'd think a boutique label would prioritize, but I'll gladly take a new Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

I would love for VS to get their hands on The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. That never got better than a DVD release on disc, and HD streaming copies are underwhelming.

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I got Bang the Drum Slowly 4K in the mail and it arrived in good condition.

You can only get it from their website and not Amazon or other dealers outside of Ebay and pay triple the price probably.

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The Vinegar Syndrome store here promoted an upcoming rep cinema screening on their Instagram yesterday, for a movie called THEY CALL HER DEATH (2024, although the copyright on the trailer says 2023). The post said “Vinegar Syndrome Pictures presents a Sunrunner Films Production . . .” which suggests this obscurity might be coming on some pricey Blu-ray 4K set down the road.

I’m certainly not feeling it based on the trailer. Looks like any of those cheapo DTV westerns or horror-westerns that often turn up on DVD at Walmart with no-name casts, only with ‘grindhouse’ mannerisms employed by a director who’s probably watched too many boutique Blu-rays of vintage B-movies to do something that isn’t a pastiche. But that’s just me and it might prove me wrong. I’d watch it, but a long ways down the road. His earlier released picture EXPOSURE wasn’t particularly well-reviewed.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...b9d645706.jpeg

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RIP Wings Hauser- Huck from Champagne and Bullets.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/w...ss-1236343867/

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Street Trash is now available to stream on Tubi. It's one of those movies I've wanted to watch from Vinegar Syndrome but not really interested in doing a blind buy.

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Have you seen the original?

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No from what I understand the movie is technically a sequel.

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I’ll probably check out the new one eventually just because I like the first one a lot. A friend of mine who shares a lot of similar tastes made it halfway and gave up. Said the new one was unwatchable.

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As mentioned by Mr. Tyner earlier in the thread, MURDEROCK 4K and the DEVIL DOLL / CURSE OF THE VOODOO combo are available now. No sign of THE RELIC as some of us were hoping, but instead we get that celebrated action classic that everyone has been begging for . . . uhh, DROP ZONE? Sigh.

Also out:

THE NESTING
IGOR AND THE LUNATICS
LAST TANGO IN PARIS (two packagings, one at VS and one at Melusine).

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/

And the latest batch of partner releases, with quite a few slipcovers setting the bar even lower for design effort. -rolleyes-

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collecti...partner-labels


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...9f2055275.jpeg

Re: The Official Vinegar Syndrome Thread
 

And there's a bunch of stuff on the partner label front, including:

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^ The only thing I don’t get about that one is they released it seven years ago and I can’t tell if there’s anything different about it. Slipcover? New scan, maybe? Both films are pretty bad, but in a good way, so I’m assuming it’s just a reissue due to demand (?) or maybe because AGFA didn’t have anything else in the hopper for this month?

And, as mentioned, some of those partner slips – oof!

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What? Are you saying this art is exciting and interesting? It looks like they spent a whole...3uh, 30 minutes on it.

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop...g?v=1742319893

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop...g?v=1742323243

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop...g?v=1742490699

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Severance (2006) is in their new partner releases. I have seen it a couple of times and I remember it to be a lot of fun. Not sure if I want to own it though. It has been several years since I watched it last.

It at least has some decent slipcover art.

Severance – Vinegar Syndrome

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop...g?v=1742406892

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/cdn/shop...g?v=1742406892

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:lol: Yup. Anyone who can doodle can now get a commission to doodle a VS slip. Even better, you often only need to do a sketch for one side and slap the logo on the other! I can see why a lot of people passing by the VS store here look in the window and think it might be a greeting card store from a distance!

The laziest one this month has got to be LOVE CRIME. I mean, unless the characters spend time making art with with construction paper and scissors, this offers just the thinnest of thematic relevance.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...59ba5751f.jpeg

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Haha. Yeah, I saw that one and thought about posting it but I hesistated to even call that "art" which is why I didn't post it. :lol:

That one reminds me a lot of many of those old lazy-ass steelbooks from the past:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...020ef2ea11.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...4eacd225c9.png

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Wow - I never saw any of those before. Its almost insulting that these companies take it for granted that someone, somewhere, will collect anything that’s shovelled at them. I must be old-fashioned, but if it wouldn’t have passed muster as an actual original theatrical release poster – or at least come close, like some of the more painterly slip artists attempt to – then don’t use it. I get that the slip should differ from the sleeve art, but at this rate these things might become impediments to purchases at some point. Of course I say that while noting that the usual numbers have already bought into many of this month’s VS partner slips and one of the better ones (BONE SICKNESS) has sold out, even though it duplicates the sleeve and the back is a weak still photo. -rolleyes-

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I think the "laziness" of some of those stem from likeness rights, especially with some boutique labels. They can't afford to pay the stars more money, so they tell the artist to whip up some abstract works instead. Now with major labels doing that, well, yes, they are being lazy and cheap since they can afford to pay stars more money for their likenesses. Arrow Video does this a lot but that's why they have reversible artwork.

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I wonder what changed about likeness rights in recent years, or if it is just that they don't want to go through the approval process, and I am guessing that is why Shout/Scream Factory 4Ks only include the original art and do not include the newer art that they originally included with their blu-ray releases.

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The likeness rights have certainly seemed to become an issue, and it’s come up a few times on these boards in recent days, largely whenever a boutique unleashed a whack of substandard clip-art-y slips. I suppose there is an advantage to the boutiques that have spent years getting people hooked on packaging, when they can just commission bare-minimum design work and still move a substantial number of copies to the ‘day one’ crowd that should really know better, or at least expect better at this point. Maybe future actor contracts will need clauses stipulating that their work on this or that particular film may be reinterpreted within reason by graphic designers and artists for future home video editions, or streaming menu thumbnails, etc. That might be better than letting them or their unions (presumably?) veto such work unless they get paid even more money for projects they may have made 30 years ago. I am glad that several boutiques at least offer the reversible sleeve, but a few of them (88 Films and Eureka in particular) are maddeningly inconsistent about it, and that’s on their releases of old Hong Kong films, where likeness rights are likely not an issue at all.

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It looks like the Last Tango in Paris LE box is close to selling out on the VS website but there's a separate LE box that's exclusive to Melusine that has plenty in stock.

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I just bought my first partner label title this weekend with the "Hey its intermission time" bluray from AGFA. I've seen bits of the Something Weird tapes on YouTube and I loved seeing all these old theater promos they played in front of movies when we had the Alamo Drafthouse in KC. I should get my copy on Thursday. I also got the LE box set of Southern Comfort off of Ebay. I missed out on this one right before it sold out on the VS Website.

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Look at Kino Lorber -- they always use the theatrical U.S. posters - 100% of the time from I can tell.

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That’s a fantastic set, and great value if you’re into that stuff because it’s got nearly 12 hours of content. I bought it early on and I still haven’t finished it. Because it has a lot of similar content, I tend to put on one of the segments (which are nearly two hours apiece) from time to time.

Totally agree. I really appreciate how they respect the original designers who were hired to help ‘sell’ the films, especially the ones from back in the ‘painted posters’ era, but also the modern designers. It’s an art form, and while there are some solid slipcover artists out there, I’ve seen very few that really nail it like the higher-end pros did, or do. It’s nice when the boutiques give us the reversible option on the sleeves, but it bugs me when they don’t, and aren’t consistent about (like Eureka, 88). I wonder if Kino can simply afford to use original artwork because they’re bigger than most boutiques with a larger library (consider all their sub-brands) and because they never go overboard on supplements and especially collector-baiting packaging like the competition does. With Kino / KL you generally get existing supplements if possible, maybe a new commentary, and a slip. Nice and simple.

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This will likely be my first of many purchases from AGFA so I'm excited to finally have it. The way I look at it you can watch it for maybe 15-20 minutes before watching a movie at home and it'll be great pre-show entertainment. At almost 12 hours it'll take a long time to get through it so it'll be well worth the money.

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Of all the Partner labels, I have more AGFA releases than any other. I was a huge fan of the Something Weird catalog going way back, and collected a large number of their DVD release, which I similarly considered fair value for what you got one each one: two or three Grindhouse features, some nudie/burlesque shorts, extensive trailer and still galleries, and even commentaries, so when it became apparent that AGFA was the primary beneficiary of the SW catalog I was stoked. I don’t have all the Blu-rays (the ‘mixtape’ discs without the uncut originals don’t really do it for me) but I’ve got most of them. If you dig that bottom-rung exploitation vibe, Something Weird was a treasure trove and it’s good to see AGFA (and a couple of companies, like Film Masters) stepping up, even though the pace of their releases isn’t as frequent as SW’s was.

I just finished revisiting THE DEFILERS / SMELL OF HONEY double feature. Both of those are legendary. The Blu doesn’t have anything that isn’t on my old SW discs except the booklet, but it was a nice upgrade of two very watchable films.

I have AGFA’s old DVD of SUPER SOUL BROTHER and THE GUY FROM HARLEM on an old Code Red double feature (with FORCE FOUR), so I’ve had my eye on AGFA’s recent Rene Martinez triple-feature – which adds ROAD OF DEATH, which I haven’t seen. Based on the other two, Martinez was a really low-end hack, but there’s a sincerity to his films that makes them quite amusing. Hoping that one finally turns up in the next sale.

The Blood-A-Rama and Shock-A-Rama triple features are also a lot of fun, and while Doris Wishman’s films can range from enjoyably corny to real chores, it’s nice to have so many of them collected in those three sets they did, albeit on sale, of course.

A couple of other real stunners from AGFA are SATAN’S CHILDREN, which I never saw before their Blu-ray, and SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS, which I had on their earlier DVD and happily upgraded. Both are highly deserving of cult status.