August's new releases have been announced.
As Brian mentioned I really don't get the Cinematographe line either. I watched Little Darlings through Youtube and it was okay but not for me. Next VS movie I hope to buy is Invasion USA.

I'm in for My Father. I've never seen the "Enforcer" cut, but I loved that it blended 90s HK cop movies with traditional kung fu flicks. You know, instead of the typical period piece, shot on the same sets with the same costumes as all the others. "You killed my master. Now I will go away and learn the ways of the dragon arts and come back to defeat you." Long training montage. Long fight scene on a hillside. Credits. (Sometimes, not even credits)

I have Devil x 5 on Blu, watched it once and enjoyed it enough. Not sure if I need to upgrade it though.

And we get two of them in August, no less, neither worth that premium pricing and one previously available from Kino (albeit with only the Altman commentary) and Radiance (with a somewhat similar batch of extras). It’s not that THIEVES LIKE US is a bad film; but come on, who on earth is screaming for it on 4K? I’ve wanted to see JOYRIDE over the years because some of Joseph Ruben’s drive-in movies were really decent, and missed the MGM DVD release back in the day (although it’s still not that expensive), but I can definitely wait for a standard edition in a sale down the road. I have serious doubts it’s worthy of this kind of treatment. The whole line so far has largely been an exercise in packaging creating a false sense of significance.

I likewise saw DEVIL TIMES FIVE on the Code Red Blu-ray (which was also scanned from the original negatives), bought in one of the Kino sales for a song, as well as in a previous DVD (read on). That’s another one that absolutely does not need a 4K upgrade, and blind buyers are just getting soaked, especially when the earlier disc has the most relevant supplements you’d actually need (repeated by VS). Again, it’s an ok movie, but this kind of release makes me long for the days when these kinds of movies were routinely put out on double- and triple-feature collections, cheap, by various boutiques in the DVD era, .

Glad to see MY FATHER IS A HERO finally getting a proper release over here. That was in Eureka’s Jet Li triple feature, and only had a Mike Leeder/Arne Venema commentary, which pretty much told me Frank Djeng’s was being withheld for a U.S. edition. Presumably this means the other films in that set, DR. WAI AND THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS and HITMAN (both of which were included in two versions) are now headed to North America with alternate commentaries or extras. Knowing me, I’ll probably still bite, but waaay down the road.

Further on Hong Kong cinema, it was a nice surprise to see a Stephen Chow movie in the mix. I’ve wondered previously – after Eureka’s excellent FIGHT BACK TO SCHOOL box set edition – whether his stuff would be deemed worthy of releases in the U.S. Because of his highly localized humor, his films have largely been ignored here all through the home video era (with the exception of the ROYAL TRAMP films from Dragon Dynasty), presumably because they required some contextualization that most labels back then probably didn’t want to bother with. Frank Djeng’s commentaries on the FIGHT films are reasonably illuminating, and he’s present on VS’s LOVE ON DELIVERY edition, so hopefully that’s a sign that more might be coming. One line in their description is ridiculous, though, where they claim that the movie is an “excellent example of the future talent we would see in Chow's later films”. He’d been in nearly forty films when this one came out, and many of them were very much in the style for which he’d already become famous.

Also, BLOODBATH IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH is . . . interesting, but I’d recommend viewing before buying at that price, as it’s more of a Kenny Everett comedy than a Vincent Price horror show, and Everett can be an acquired taste (I didn’t mind his popular TV show back in the day). It’s on Tubi for those who’d prefer to sample.

I'm a big Altman fan, so I'm excited to see Thieves Like Us get a 4k release. I've got the Kino Blu-ray, but I'll upgrade.

Anyone here ever watch A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2? I just watched the trailer and I must say it looks pretty cool and just a gory Kung Fu flick.

Watched the first one several times. The first time, I was expecting a gory horror flick. My audible response was, "This is not a horror movie, it's a HK soft core porn flick. Yay! It's a HK soft core porn flick!"

Go in with that expectation and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I’ve watched the first one on VHS, both on VCD, both on non-anamorphic Hong Kong DVDs, and I’ve watched the second one from the VS set. And yet, there’s no obsession with these two films in particular as I’m just one of those HK nuts who’s grateful to be upgrading all of the higher-profile titles in my collection one last time (and only doing 4K when they force it one me, as long as there’s a Blu in the pack). But getting any Cateogry III films on these shores is always a treat, especially as many of them will never get released again in what remains of Hong Kong under the new owners and their ever-tightening restrictions on content!

As Paff noted, approach these as softcore (borderline Skinemax) with some wild HK-style action mixed in and you may find them to be gateways into a very popular genre from Hong Kong, with both period and contemporary erotic dramas and thrillers. Thanks to the Category III films that have been given North American home video releases through the decades, there’s admittedly been a perception that the ‘category’ consists of crazy/gory horror films but I’d wager they made more ‘sexy’ films under the banner than anything else because they probably cost less to make, especially the modern-dress dramas and thrillers which basically required a few actresses and actors willing to get undressed, of which there were a few, both domestic and imports from Japan for the really naughty stuff as time went on.

It would be great if this set prompted VS or other companies to exhume more HK films in a similar, umm, vein, but I guess we’ll see. There were also plenty of films that mixed erotica with horror that would be nice to see restored too. Yvonne Yung, the lead actress in the first TORTURE CHAMBER has enough Category III classics in her resume – many of them maddeningly hard to see for decades now, outside of rare VHS rips uploaded to porn sites – to fill a few boxed sets!

Based on the quantities available on the VS site though, if you’re on the fence, it seems likely this set will still be available by the time Black Friday rolls around of if it doesn’t qualify for that, then perhaps the New Year sale. Seems unnecessary to pay full price unless you’ve got points.

Not to derail this into a HK Cat III thread, but one appealing factor of the films is that the women in them are just drop dead gorgeous. I'm sure Brian can back me up.
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In beauty pageants like "Miss Hong Kong", the winner and sometimes the runner up would go on to make mainstream action films and dramas. But from like third place on down, they ended up in Cat IIIs. In other words, you're getting skin flicks from like the third prettiest woman in all of Hong Kong, and that ain't bad. Far better than what the US offers.

I'll look at getting Chinese Torture Chamber on blu-ray in the near future.

I'd only seen Chinese Torture Chamber Story on laserdisc, and I thought it was bad subtitles because they kept calling the female lead "Little Cabbage" (you know, the same bad subtitles that had the chorus of the song in Dragons Forever going "love is a conveyor belt of warmth").

But then I made an effort to listen to the dialogue, and sure enough, her character's name was "Bok Choi"

I’ll back you up on that!

In fact, when I was writing my previous post, I typed two extra paragraphs regarding the actresses in these films and how there was a mix of adventurous B-level actresses, pageant participants and, increasingly, imported Japanese “AV” starlets that made them so memorable, but ended up deleting them for the sake of (not quite) brevity.

There’s actually a lot of interesting (and occasionally sordid) history surrounding this aspect of the Hong Kong industry that would make for a compelling bonus feature, from stories about really good actresses being stereotyped because of the association and having their careers limited, to others ending up with, umm, side gigs for the likes of the Sultan of Brunei. Not to mention stuff that would definitely be #metoo-worthy of it happened a decade or so later.

As I mentioned, the sheer volume of non-horror Category III movies was off the charts, and sourcing disc versions (or even tapes) is next to impossible now. I’m sure the boutiques will bring many more of the higher-profile pictures back to the forefront, but I wonder if a lot of the lower-tier stuff is simply lost to the ages at this point (or limited to the aforementioned grainy VHS/VCD rips on porn sites).

On a related note, I just watched the featured length Category III documentary that is included on the Unearthed Films disc of UNTOLD STORY. It’s not bad as an overview of the era, the rating, and many of the higher-profile films. The interview mix is a bit wanting, but does include locals Godfrey Ho, Anthony Wong, and Josie Ho, plus a bunch (probably too many) white reviewer dudes painting a pretty fair picture. The subject matter screams for the faster-paced stylings of someone like Mark Hartley (ELECTRIC BOOGALOO, MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED, etc.), but I’m not sure that will ever happen, especially with so many of the participants – particularly the actresses – having retired or settled down or moved on to other businesses – and a possible unwillingness of others to talk about the glory days under the new regime.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/..._Din8NKGuIokcg

I think this would be a first for a movie that's been resurrected by Vinegar Syndrome. One of the writers from Spookies is trying to raise funds in hope to get a sequel made. He cites that Spookies has developed a cult following thanks to the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray release.

I would love a half-way decent release of A Day Without Policeman (1993) as I only have it on VCD.

Love To Kill (1993) also desperately needs an updated release, as both the HK & Taiwanese DVD releases are wonky. I finally found a copy of the Taiwanese DVD a few years back, which was a bit of a holy grail.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Massacre Video is planning to release Horrible High Heels (1996) sometime in the future.

Wow! Someone else who knows DAY WITHOUT POLICEMAN. Dark little picture, with a near total body count. I likewise still have the VCD, which might be the only format it was released on (maybe LD as well?). I looked up my capsule review of it and realized I called it out for blatantly lifting the twist ending of FAR AND AWAY, which came out the year before. Then I had to look up the wiki synopsis for that film to remember how it ended and yup, only in Hong Kong! 😆

I’m kinda bummed at how long it’s taking Massacre to release HORRIBLE HIGH HEELS. I have the HK Blu-ray from Panorama, which looks solid and is Region A, so I can wait to see if Massacre provides any supplements, but they do seem to take forever on everything anymore. Same for Error4444. I realize these are small companies, but honestly, having a release or two month by now would probably be wise, just so people know they still exist.

I never did get LOVE TO KILL, but should keep my eye peeled for that DVD, although I’m sure it’s not cheap now. That’s a good example of a film that would be worth reviving over here.

In fact, any of those titles would’ve worked well in another volume of Vinegar Syndrome’s MADE IN HONG KONG box set. Maybe not together, but if they (and Severin) and keep cranking out those FORGOTTEN GIALLO and DANZA MACABRE boxes full of mostly shit Italian thrillers, they could easily start a much better series of sets with untold numbers of unheralded Category III films that would more effectively cause a few jaws to drop. On top of that, VS’s first MIHK box only had one Cat. III film as I recall.

There are also a number of actors prominently associated with the rating as well, like LOVE TO KILL’s Anthony Wong and DAY’s Simon Yam, not to mention a slew of actresses who made their names in steamier and/or darker and more violent fare (Veronica Yip, Loletta Lee, Carrie Ng, Chan Wing-Chi, Lily Li, the tragic Pauline Chan and countless others). Boxed sets – even budget ones – curated along those lines would get more of this stuff back on the radar where it belongs.

And then there’s all the (usually non-Cat. III) ‘girls with guns’ movies that have fallen off the radar, starring the likes of Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, and Sibelle Hu. So far, I think the only title we’ve gotten that comes close to this category, and not HK ‘studio’ fare, is FATAL TERMINATION from Error4444 last year.

If I had the money to burn (and yes, maybe to waste ), I’d start my own label and grab up licences to these shows and get them out there with the same speed that far lesser old Italian stuff seems to keep reaching these shores whether anyone wants it or not. But alas . . .

And, just for kicks:

Does anyone think Vinegar Syndrome is bringing back Rad during this upcoming Weekend Sale? I'm in several collectors groups on Facebook that seem to think that's happening. I'm glad I have the 4k disc and I'll never sell it.

That was my thought when I saw the artwork used to promote the sale. But considering the prices it fetches I can’t imagine it will last long, or that it would even be discounted. Alternately, I thought the art might hint at another BMX film being announced, like BMX BANDITS – which for my money is a more entertaining and fast-paced movie with better riding and stunts – although that would probably be on the Umbrella sublabel and not really given such an obvious hint.

Yup: "Disclaimer: When we first teamed up with Utopia to release RAD on 4K UHD/BD in 2020, we agreed on a strictly limited number of units. When going to replication, we received an overage of 1,000 discs that we could not sell and were never packaged. In our ongoing transition to our new warehouse, we discovered these discs on their original replication spindles and reached out to Utopia to secure a one-off license to package these overproduced discs. This RAD release is the same as we released in 2020, including the Helltrack poster insert. There are no new extras or artwork, and it will only be available in a standard edition, strictly limited to one copy per person."

Seems to be going fast. Less than 350 already.

I mentioned last night that the LOST PICTURE SHOW box was a pretty good deal at $80 as shown in those early cached pages, but it’s actually $60, which is seriously good for the amount of content, plus a solid behind-the-scenes documentary about VS itself. (I assume the prices I saw last night were in Canadian dollars)

Also, fans of RAD who like fad movies like that might also enjoy SKATEBOARD for $10 with the slip.

Yea... I had been eyeing Skateboad since the Kickstarter. I picked it up at the price.

The 1,000 copies sold out in less than an hour. It's crazy they still had these discs but never got the license to release them sooner. Since 2020 I don't remember what sale it was but they also had a batch of copies with damaged slipcovers and they sold those copies as standard editions and they sold out instantly. It's insane the the demand is still there for Rad.

The weird thing about this warehouse sale is that a lot of these movies have been out of print for some time and all of a sudden a couple of hundred copies of a movie reappear. How do you miss that in a warehouse unless you struggle to keep counts right in your inventory.

It depends, but it’s not unfathomable. A few boxes (which can easily add up to 100 or more copies) can be put aside for accounting for staff copies, damages during shipping, promo handouts, etc. and then get left sitting for years at a time. I wouldn’t be surprised if a print run of 2000 copies actually has 10% extra if not more, for all the reasons above.
I know some companies will sometimes get entire batches of new product due to imperfections from the manufacturer, then sell the imperfect copies at a later date for a hefty discount instead of destroying them, but may have to wait a certain amount of time for logistical or contractual reasons.

This happens with retailers all the time. It could be 20 copies of something...it could be 200.