Tag Archives: Vinegar Syndrome

Movie Review: From Beyond

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Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree, Ted Sorel, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Bunny Summers

For horror fans, the ‘80s were a time of sheer wonderment when it came to special effects. With the constant advancement of special makeup effects, it was a time of foam rubber, latex, and slime, with the only boundaries being imagination. One film that represents that more than most is Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond.

When I worked at the theater back in the ‘80s, Re-Animator (1985) played there and it just blew me away, between the gore and just the outrageousness of the whole story. I had already been reading Fangoria by that time, so when From Beyond was coming out, I was already excited about seeing it. And luckily for me, it played at my theater as well, so I spent a lot of time in there watching it over and over. I had recently started reading horror fiction, and thanks to Stephen King, had already started to dive into the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and had read the very short story that From Beyond was based on. In fact, the pre-credit sequence in the film is pretty much the whole story. But I think writer Dennis Paoli, along with producer Brian Yuzna and director Gordon, fleshed out the rest of the plot that, while way gorier and gooier than Lovecraft would have spelled out, I think it still felt it could be in the same universe.

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Movie Review: Attack of the Beast Creatures

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(1985)
Directed by Michael Stanley.
Starring Robert Nolfi, Robert Lengyel, Julia Rust, Lisa Pak

I first came across this title while roaming the video stores back in the day and rented it simply because of the title and the box art. I mean, how could it be bad? It says right on the box that a group of shipwreck survivors end up on a deserted island, and “a living hell breaks loose when the survivors encounter gruesome, flesh-eating Beast Creatures!” I was totally sold. And after watching it, I was amazed that no one else was talking about it. Everybody remembers the little Zuni Fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror, right? Just imagine a whole island filled with them!

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Vinegar Syndrome Unleashes Curucu!

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Now what exactly is the big deal that Vinegar Syndrome is releasing a film that is rated at a 3.7 on IMDB? Could it be because that Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, an extremely rare film, had never gotten a release on DVD or even VHS? Or maybe because it was written and directed by Curt Siodmak, who wrote countless classics like The Wolf Man (1941) or Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)? Or maybe because it stars Beverly Garland, a favorite amongst fans of the sci-fi / horror films of the ’50s? Or maybe because the main character’s name is Rock Dean! Or maybe it is simply because VS has found this almost lost film, taken the time to make a newly scanned and restored print in 2K from its 35mm dupe negative and saved this title from becoming another one of those lost films. I say for that alone, VS deserves our gratitude!

Now I had a bootleg copy of this on VHS, that not only was in black and white, but the quality was so bad that I never could get through it! When I saw the trailer and the quality of the print, I was blown away. Sure, this is not supposed to be that great of a movie. Doesn’t matter. With a title like Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, with some freaking amazing poster art, plus with some of the people involved in it, I know there will be a copy in my collection. We all know that a lot of the older movies never lived up to the hype the posters and trailers made it out to be, but we still enjoyed them. I know I can’t wait to finally get to see this, in a print quality that probably looks the best it has since its initial release!

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Beast Creatures Come to Blu-Ray!

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Decades ago, in the time of video stores, seeing a big clamshell VHS tape was an easy way to get a young film fan’s attention, especially when they were looking for something a little different. It was during one of those trips that I came across Attack of the Beast Creatures on the World Video Pictures label. I rented it but had no idea what I was in for. I had always been a huge fan of Dan Curtis’ Trilogy of Terror, mainly due to the segment with the little Zuni doll running around trying to kill Karen Black. What I didn’t expect with Beast Creatures was that it is basically a whole island full of these types of monsters! While not the “best” made production, it is damn entertaining and just so much fun. A lot of hard work, and heart and soul went into this production, and it shows.

Back in 2018, I added this title to our Turkey Day line up and it was one of the favorites of the day. For those that don’t know what you’re going into, it almost makes it even better.

Now I see that Vinegar Syndrome has announced they are putting this out on Blu-ray! Of course, I immediately ordered it. This new release has been restored from the original theatrical version of the 16mm camera negative, so this is going to be the best it has looked since its initial release. As much fun that VHS copy was, the print is still pretty rough, so I can’t wait to see this upgrade. The release also features a partial commentary with director Mike Stanley, as well as interviews with him and writer Robert Hutton, and some test footage. It also lists a preservation of the VHS version from the 1″ tape master, so not sure if that means the theatrical version is different from the VHS version? We shall soon find out!

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More Naschy on Blu-ray and UHD!

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I’ve been wanting to post something about this earlier but have been too busy or maybe just too giddy to type comprehensive sentences! But last weekend, Vinegar Syndrome announced that they would be releasing Paul Naschy’s 1971 film The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman. Anchor Bay had originally released on DVD back in 2002 under the title Werewolf Shadow, followed by another release by BCI in 2008 under the same title. But it had never been released on Blu-ray here in the states, let alone in 4K UHD! This Vinegar Syndrome release will have 3 different cuts of the film: the international export version (which has the nudity) that runs 87 min, the Spanish clothed version, which runs 94 min, and an integral “nude” version. that runs 95″ min.

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An Evening with Bigfoot at the Music Box

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On Wednesday, July 13th, head over to the Music Box Theatre in Chicago for a rare treat, being able to witness two Bigfoot movies, two very different kind of Bigfoot movies, on the big screen. The fact that there is a whole sub-genre of Bigfoot movies is amazing enough, but getting to see these two rare films, both that are about as far apart as you can get, will be screening in one evening.

Presented by Shudder and starting at 7pm, you’ll first get to experience a comprehensive and exhaustive Sasquatch mixtape, featuring Bigfoot’s appearances in film and TV shows, ranging from documentaries, children’s films, to horror and X-rated titles. How’s that for just getting started?

The first feature will be Cry Wilderness (1987), which is basically a children’s Bigfoot story but unlike anything you can imagine. The second feature is Night of the Demon (1980), which definitely isn’t a kid’s movie, featuring the famous scene where a biker learns what happens when you piss on Bigfoot. This is from a recent 2K scan from a recently discovered 35mm answer print. Both films are screened from DCP and look amazing.

Also, to entice you even more, both Severin Films and Vinegar Syndrome will have Pop-Up Shops set up in the Music Box Lounge starting at 4:30pm and there until after the screenings.

For all the information, just click HERE.

January Giallo

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For the last several months, I’ve been honored to be part of the podcast Kicking the Seat, hosted by Ian Simmons, which he has been going through a bunch giallo films and discussing them with myself, as well as Dr. AC aka Aaron Christensen, and Bryan Martinez from The Giallo Room. The episodes are called Accademia Giallo and we’ve covered a wide range of titles from some familiar ones and some more obscure titles, so if you’re a fan, or want to learn more about this sub-genre, check these out.

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Happy Birthday Paul Naschy!!!

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Back on this day, in 1934, Jacinto Molina was born. He would later adopt the name of Paul Naschy for his film work, which happened to be massive by the time of his death in 2009. He wasn’t just an actor, writer, and director, but he was one of us… a lover of the horror genre. I can’t think of too many other people in the industry that has created the work he had in his lifetime, dedicated to this “cinéma fantastique”, as he referred to it. That really puts him in the icon status. Not to mention that he made a hell of a lot of entertaining films! Continue reading →

Dohler’s Nightbeast Hits Blu-Ray

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Nightbeast blu-rayBack in the late ’70s to early ’80s, Baltimore’s own Don Dohler made a few low budget films that may not have been the best made, but they happened to be pretty entertaining for young horror fans that were eating up different titles at their local video store. And seeing his 1982 alien invasion flick Nightbeast on the shelf, I was more than pleased with it once I got home! Originally released on DVD from Troma back in 2004, now thanks to the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome it comes to Blu-ray for the first time in a newly scanned and restored in 2K from its 16mm camera original. And I suggest you order your copy now, especially if you are one of those that enjoys those nice rubber-suited monster movies of that time, plenty of blood and a few boobs, and just a lot of fun.

While this release does have some of the extras from the DVD release, such as the audio commentary from Dohler (who passed away in 2006) and actor George Stover, and the outtakes and bloopers, it does have more than a few extras that are going to be interesting to see. Here is what the site has listed for the extras: Continue reading →

Naschy’s Count Dracula

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Count Dracula's Great Love.jpg

Vinegar Sydrome has officially announced the details for their upcoming release of Paul Naschy’s Count Dracula’s Great Love. Released in choppy and fair qualtiy DVD releases before, this will be the first time we’ll get to see the film looking this good. The print has been scanned and restored  in 2k from a 35mm internegative. Plus, they have an audio commentary from Naschy, as well as director Javier Aguirre, which is an unbelivable extra. Add in a new video interview with actress Mirta Miller, and 8-page booklet written by Mirek Lipinski, both English dub track and original Spanish language track, trailers, still gallery, and revesible cover artwork.

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