Best bet is to keep an eye on their site:
https://darkforcesuperstore.com/

The sets are easily identifiable by their ‘drive-in’ newspaper ad mats on the sleeves. They’re currently on edition #22. However, keep in mind that they seem to be limited runs in many cases, and go OOP at random, some faster than others. Plus, because these are the Code Red guys (or guy, now), copies will also be randomly ‘discovered’ in the corner of their warehouse and put back up for grabs, including at discount prices.

They can also be found on Amazon, Deep Discount, and other sites, but they’re more likely to be discounted in Dark Force’s own sales.

Thanks I'll take a look at their website. Riddle of Fire was the movie announced for preorder today.
https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collecti...riddle-of-fire

I have to say I wasn’t overly stoked by the partner titles this month, which is probably good for my bank account even when they reduce them in future sales. Guess my age is showing when I don’t want to take risks on stuff just because some new(er) filmmakers need to feel validated with physical media special editions. Even worse, AMITYVILLE CURSE? Again? And yet another compilation of YouTube videogame “documentaries”? Plus lots of fairly recent ‘genre’ fare that has already been on dvd and some of which is probably still on streaming. I’m starting to wonder if some of these partners are approaching the bottom – or perhaps a point of diminishing profits? – with some of this stuff but hey, if the temptation is reduced for me personally then I really shouldn’t complain (while literally complaining! ). I’m sure there are some hidden gems in the mix.

All I know is that cover/movie poster art for The Beast And The Vixens is fucking awesome.

That site has some fantastic "what the fuck did I just watch" or "how the fuck did this get made" type flicks.

The only thing harder than resisting some of the artwork on VS titles on their site is resisting it in one of their stores, where it’s all displayed in its full glory. Of course, on more than one occasion I’ve been in the store here when multiple random strangers have ventured in because they assume — from a vague peek through the windows — that it’s a bookstore or comic shop full of little graphic novels, or even some kind of paper or greeting card boutique. And in fairness, I can see where they get that impression.

Speaking of which, the Toronto store put out their new releases last Thursday, the same day I had to go out of town for an extended visit elsewhere. I was hoping I’d have a chance at the new INTERMISSION TIME set (with slip) when they put them out, but when I saw the new releases on their social media just as I was leaving the city, I knew I was screwed. As expected, they were long gone when I got to the store today, so I asked the owner if he was expecting any more , LE or standard, and he wasn’t sure. I said “oh well, I’ll find it sooner or later” and kept browsing. A minute later he comes out of the backroom and hands me a slipcovered copy, apparently his last one (I was tempted to ask for another for a friend out west, but didn’t push my luck). He’s done stuff like this for me and other customers before, which is pretty decent and keeps me spending money in the store on certain titles when I could logically wait for one of the VS web sales.

Shudder is now a partner label. Brooklyn 45 is worth checking out.

I’m not particularly interested in Brooklyn ’45, but the Shudder partnership is interesting, and I hope it means we get a physical release of other titles that never got one, like A Wounded Fawn, a movie that I thought was genuinely great, even if I’m the only sucker who buys a copy

Did the Samurai Wolf double feature catch your eye?

It did, but the public library here gets a lot of the Film Movement DVDs, and they got SAMURAI WOLF some time last year so I watched it that way. I guess it must’ve gone OOP, though, as I see some higher prices on Amazon now. I’m assuming the VS Film Movement discs are the same versions only with slipcovers? Cool movies, btw, but I’m not a big collector of the genre.

I also noticed one of the other labels had a mainland China movie called STREETWISE from 2021, but as folks here know I tend to approach stuff from there with caution, and I’m not at all convinced by the promo copy. All the interesting ‘neo-noir’ they could source from Taiwan and they go with a mainland movie by a filmmaker who hasn’t done anything else before or since.

Lucky fucker!

They really should have printed more than 1000 slips for that release. The ones with the slips are selling right now for $100 on eBay.

I got my non-slip version the other day but haven't watched it yet. I am usually pretty lucky on catching that kind of stuff but the that particular release sold out within an hour! Still blows my mind.

Maybe they will do a reprint of just the slip since it is so popular.

Definitely pure luck! I don’t usually care about slipcovers one way or the other, but for some reason I have most of the AGFA titles with them (all bought during sales, too - go figure!) so I assumed I had at least a little time when this one went live, but I procrastinated for a few hours and lost out. I then figured Diabolik and/or Grindhouse Video might get a few slipcover versions based on what I’d read about VS’s distribution set-ups with them, but that turned out to be a no go. Seems like Diabolik might have had some available for, like, a few minutes, sold out, and deleted the listing (?).

The store here became my final option before getting the standard edition (which would’ve been fine, since the artwork is the same anyway), so it was definitely just luck and timing that the owner was there when I popped in. Well, that and the knowledge that he sometimes surprises people with stuff from the storeroom on occasion if he can, so my fingers were crossed.

This should’ve been a no-brainer for them. I realize they like to manufacture scarcity, and that they’ve released many slipcover editions that take years to sell out, but when something’s gone in a few hours (or less), just print some more! It can still be a limited run so the scalpers can fill their wallets, but at least the rest of us can have a better shot at getting one.

- - - - -

While is was in there, I overheard his conversation with another customer about how he’s setting apart a section of the store’s basement — which currently houses their vinyl and VHS offerings — to start selling old movie posters. Apparently he connected with another customer who had a large collection of theatricals he wanted to sell, so the VS store will be putting them out on consignment. I asked him later if that was just for that guy’s collection, or would it be open to others, and he said he’d put out anything that might sell. So I told him about my own large-ish collection of 1980’s - early 00’s posters that have been more or less wasting space in my apartment(s) for decades and he said “send me a list!”

I’d imagine the U.S. stores might do the same thing already, so it might be worth looking into for folks here who live near them and have posters they don’t display anymore.

I must admit, the fact that I’m even writing here about video stores, in 2024, is pretty cool. It’s nice to know that ‘home video’ has now entered that realm shared by hipster record stores and indie bookshops, etc., similar places that many predicted wouldn’t survive the onslaught of technology (and many didn’t, of course). I do hope Toronto’s three stores carry on for at least a while. They’re my primary destinations when I go downtown these days. If I was more of an entrepreneurial spirit, I’d probably open one in my own less-trendy neck of the woods here, but I’m pretty sure I’d be out of business in no time.

As yet unconfirmed, but there’s apparently a lot of smoke suggesting that Lifeline (Johnnie To; 1997) is the UHD VSA title that’ll be revealed as part of the Halfway sale.

Or, and here's a radical suggestion, how about Not?

Who benefits from forced-scarcity and scalpers' prices? Yes, the company will 'sell out' - but logically they'd make more if they made more and sold more, but doesn't it come at the cost of irritating your actual customer base while enriching people who just want to line their own pockets? Do [these niche] companies really care so little about 'actual' fans that they'll take the easy-come-easy-go money of the resellers?

Oh, I totally agree with ‘Not’. I rather not see scalpers fill their wallets in this manner, but these companies can’t entirely stop that practise. What they can do, from a purely cost + goodwill perspective, and especially on a super-hot seller like this one, is print additional slips in a smaller quantity just to meet the extra early demand – say, maybe an extra couple hundred, followed perhaps by an even smaller batch if necessary, and then switching to the standard edition. Despite my beef about ‘manufactured scarcity’ I’m sure AGFA and VS do care about the fans and (hopefully) weren’t all about just taking ‘easy’ money from resellers. But, as the day wore on and news spread about how fast it was selling, people obviously double-dipped (most eBay resellers so far seem to have two copies available). Still, I’d like to believe that the majority of buyers purchased this for themselves because of the retro coolness factor or because of the value-for-money that it offers with 12 hours of content, and AGFA/VS really missed an opportunity here to make sure as many buyers as possible could have the ‘complete’ package.

Not a bad choice, and a Shaw Brothers film to boot! I tried reading up about the guesses on the
mystery titles at that ‘other forum’ but honestly, my brain simply gave up a few days back! I’m guessing the LIFELINE probability came into it after that. How they can drag a guessing game on for hundreds and hundreds of posts is beyond me.

LIFELINE would allow me to retire yet another old HK DVD (and possibly an earlier VCD). It’s not To’s best, but it’s a glossy (if episodic) big-budget action picture from an era that saw several Hong Kong filmmakers emulating the large-scale high-tech action thrillers being produced by the Hollywood studios in the 90’s (obviously, BACKDRAFT was a huge influence on this one). Some other top-tier efforts worthy of western releases (or re-releases) are PURPLE STORM, EXTREME CRISIS, THEFT UNDER THE SUN, and DOWNTOWN TORPEDOES (which only got a Warner Archive DVD-R release, sadly).

I'm watching Riddle of Fire this morning and about 25 minutes into the movie. I decided on a rental first off Vudu. I'm loving it so far as it feels like a whimsical throwback movie centered on the kids and their adventure in the story.

I love the look of it being shot on 16mm film. You'll have to ignore a few things that don't make sense and the kids never had to answer for their illegal behavior but it's a great little movie. If I don't buy it off the VS website I'll pickup the standard edition through Amazon.

It might be worth viewing the Q&A I posted above if you seen the film. I know fest Q&As can run pretty dry, pretty quick, but RIDDLE director Weston Razooli is a fairly engaging participant for a change, and happily owns up to the many influences in the film. This film is so determinedly eccentric that I’ll be curious to see if he continues in that vein or if he blew all his ideas in this one.

I watched some of the Q&A and the director mentioned part of his inspiration came from The Little Rascals. I really hope Riddle Of Fire gets seen by more people beyond just indie film lovers.

The "Hey Its Intermission Time" standard bluray set is $21.98 on Amazon. That's about $6 cheaper than the price on the Vinegar Syndrome website.

Lesson learned on that one. If you don't score the initial limited slip, wait it out for a better price on the regular edition.

I got sucked into thinking the regular edition was possibly limited as well and ordered it on the same day it was released. Oh well.

I never thought it was a limited release but I don't have the money currently for a VS website order and have to shop for the best deal.

It definitely didn’t help that they played their little game on that first day and “sold out” the standard edition as well, only to reactivate it days later with plenty of copies. It makes it hard to trust them (which I’ve bitched about in previous posts). Even now, their listing says 172 copies, but clearly it’s not a limited edition if other retailers including Amazon are selling it, so I’m sure the VS stock will magically increase again.


Not sure if it helps, but their Half Way To Black Friday sale is next week, so assuming it’s still in stock it could be added to an order where you get some actual savings on other stuff. Of course, with it seemingly being widely available, it might ‘last’ long enough to be in the November sale as well.

Still, the Amazon price is decent for the amount of content.

Incidentally, Something Weird recently revived their YouTube account after six years, and uploaded a couple of the same S-VHS collections from whence the Intermission Time shorts came, each about two hours. SWV put out a lot of these back in the day, so presumably more are on the way. The two on YT so far have ‘safer’ content than some of the racier comps they released, so I’m assuming AGFA won’t be doing the entire library.

To be fair, I may see a listing on Amazon that says "Only 2 left in stock", or Shout Factory saying "60 in stock", but that doesn't mean there won't be a restock later. I don't think VS listing how many copies they have on-hand is necessarily misleading or that it suggests these are all the copies that are / will ever be in circulation. (Although, sure, low numbers = FOMO = quick sell-through, and VS isn't timid about admitting that.)

I can't speak to Intermission Time's restocking specifically -- I saw plenty of discussion about the limited edition swiftly selling out but less about when the standard was restocked -- but the way things are currently worded on vinegarsyndrome.com sounds kosher to me.

I'm not sure we knew the '70s title will be a double feature:

Fair enough. I guess to me, it just feels more like a FOMO game with VS than it does with Amazon, Shout, etc. Of course, that’s also fuelled by consumers who slavishly leap on every new release, buy into the hype, buy on day one, etc., thus generating a lot of that FOMO in the first place. So yeah, I suppose it makes sense that VS would capitalize. Maybe it’s just me; I still think giving the wrong impression with the “sold-out” standard editions was a bit dodgy. Based on their restock very shortly afterward plus the eventual listings on Amazon, Grindhouse, Diabolik, Deep Discount (where it’s now $19.99, btw, which could be lower if they do another 15% deal soon) etc., they probably could’ve easily just set their counter higher and more accurately so people weren’t hunting all over, potentially paying even more from resellers even for the standard edition. But that means it’s also on the buyers to be diligent, too. And, like Spiderbite noted (or learned), with VS it’s better to wait it out on a lot of their stuff, sometimes even the titles where they expressly state how many copies will be manufactured.