Vinegar Syndrome Reveals New Partner Label Releases
HomeVinegar Syndrome Reveals New Partner Label Releases
Posted January 1, 2022 04:12 PM by Webmaster
Vinegar Syndrome has announced and detailed eleven new partner label releases that will be available for purchase later this month. Amongst them are: Girlfriend From Hell (1989), The Ernie Game (1967), Killing Spree (1987), The Unknown Man of Shandigor (1967), and Morvern Callar (2002).
FROM PARTNER LABEL CULTURE SHOCK RELEASING:
Girlfriend From Hell
Synopsis: It's a blind date from HELL... when awkward Maggie (Liane Curtis, Critters 2) gets possessed by the Devil! In human form, she is free to feast on the souls of any men who cross her path, as long as she doesn't get caught by womanizer and inter-dimensional bounty hunter, Chaser (Dana Ashbrook, Twin Peaks). Featuring Lezlie Deane (Freddy's Dead) as Maggie's best friend.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Morvern Callar
Synopsis: Samantha Morton (Minority Report and TV's The Walking Dead) is mesmerizing and "gives the female performance of the year" (San Francisco Examiner) as the enigmatic Morvern Callar, in filmmaker Lynne Ramsay's (Ratcatcher and We Need to Talk About Kevin) highly acclaimed and remarkably assured second feature, based on Alan Warner's lauded debut novel.
When Morvern Callar wakes up one Christmas morning to discover her boyfriend dead by suicide, it's the start of an unpredictable and unconventional process of self-transformation. Morvern's form of grieving will be bewildering and shocking to most. She keeps her boyfriend's death a secret. She passes off his just-finished novel as her own to publishers. She goes on holiday to Spain. Equal parts road movie and character study, Morvern Callar is as gripping and beautiful as it is dark and inscrutable.
The ever-present and extraordinary soundtrack—stemming from a mixtape made for Morvern by her boyfriend, and including songs by Can, the Velvet Underground, Aphex Twin, Stereolab, Nancy & Lee and more—is masterfully and audaciously woven into the narrative, acting as a voice for a protagonist who often chooses to remain silent. The film's contrasting two main environments—cold, grey Scotland and arid, sunny southern Spain—are gorgeously captured by cinematographer Alwin Küchler (Ratcatcher and Steve Jobs).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
Synopsis: Swiss director Jean-Louis Roy's long-lost mid-1960s Cold War super-spy thriller is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-DR. STRANGELOVE, part-ALPHAVILLE, with sly nods to British TV shows like "THE AVENGERS" and "DOCTOR WHO." The film stars a Who's Who of great Sixties character actors starting with the unforgettable Daniel Emilfork (THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE) as crazed scientist Herbert Von Krantz, who's invented a device to sterilize all nuclear weapons. A mad herd of rival spies are desperate to get their hands on the device, including legendary French singer Serge Gainsbourg as the leader of a sect of bald, turtleneck-wearing assassins, and Jess Franco vet Howard Vernon (THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF). Gainsbourg's deranged jazz-lounge song, "Bye Bye Mr. Spy" – performed by him on a funeral parlor organ, no less – is arguably the film's high point. "An accomplished spy is at the same time psychologist, artist, funambulist, conjurer," to quote one of the characters – and the same could be said of Roy's exotic camera obscura of B&W Cold War paranoia. With Marie-France Boyer (Agnes Varda's LE BONHEUR).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Ernie Game
Synopsis: Following a mysterious stay in a psychiatric hospital, Ernie Turner (The Prisoner's Alexis Kanner) decides to pursue his destiny as a writer. Hungry for inspiration and human contact, he ventures into the vibrant streets of '60s Montreal, establishes a conflicted romance with Donna (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz's Judith Gault), and reunites with his frustrated ex, Gail (The Dead Zone's Jackie Burroughs). Unable to reconcile the pieces of his fragmented existence or make any progress on the literary front, Ernie begins a new descent into madness – with shocking results.
The second feature from celebrated Canadian filmmaker Don Owen (Nobody Waved Goodbye), The Ernie Game is a penetrating, unsettling character study and an inexplicably overlooked triumph of the New Hollywood era. Predating like-minded studies of loner desperation from Midnight Cowboy to Taxi Driver in a '60s milieu comparable to Inside Llewyn Davis – complete with a musical performance by budding folkie Leonard Cohen – The Ernie Game has a distinctly Canadian vitality and desolation.
This release also features four of Owen's earlier films, including Notes for a Film About Donna & Gail – which introduces two of The Ernie Game's central characters – and a remastered presentation of the landmark documentary (co-directed by Donald Brittain), Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Koko-di Koko-da
Synopsis: Elin and Tobias are a happily married couple who regularly vacation with their young daughter. The family is on a dreamy holiday when an innocuous case of food poisoning derails their plans and forever alters the course of their lives. Three years later, the once loving couple is on the road again to go camping, looking for one last chance to go back to the way things used to be. But what once was is lost, and our characters instead find themselves having to relive the same nightmarish events, as that day and the horrors it brings repeat themselves infinitely. Together, they must overcome their trauma, reconcile with their past and fight for their lives. Over, and over, and over again.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Killing Spree
Synopsis: Newly wed Tom (Asbestos Felt) Russo suspects his got wife Leeza (Courtney Lercara from Slaughthouse) is having sexial encounters with their surburban neighbors and visitors! Tom retaliaties by launching a methodical and invetive campaign to murder the lovers, utilizing such unexpected devices as a "killer ceiling fan". a tv set, an ordinary screwdriver, a hammer, and a lawn mower! But Tom's victims don't lie buried peacefully in his backyard...they're coming back from the dead...FOR REVENGE!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Monster of Camp Sunshine & Honeymoon of Terror
THE MONSTER OF CAMP SUNSHINE: Shot by anonymous maniacs in New York, this is a trash-art berserker that feels like what would happen if a 1980s slasher was teleported inside of a 1960s nudist film. A nurse and fashion model head to Camp Sunshine for a weekend of fun, sun, and cigarettes. But little do they know that Hugo, the camp's gardener, has been transformed into an axe-wielding psychopath after drinking radioactive water! Combining experimental visuals with camp flair, this is a crackpot time capsule featuring Monty Python-esque animation, someone named Ron Cheney, Jr., and, at the end, "a brief summary of the movie for those who wish to relive its magic moments."
HONEYMOON OF TERROR: An early dreamscape from director Peter Perry (MY TALE IS HOT), HONEYMOON OF TERROR (aka ECSTACY ON LOVERS' ISLAND) is a moody mash-up of horror chills and nudie thrills that feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon made for adults. Frank and Marion are newlyweds who embark on their honeymoon to Thunder Island, only to run afoul of a psychotic, club-footed lumberjack with a lust for violence!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
El Planeta
Synopsis: Amidst the devastation of post-crisis Spain, a mother and daughter bluff and grift to fund their extravagant daily life—with impending eviction never too far from sight.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Midnight Swim
Synopsis: Spirit Lake is unusually deep. No diver has ever managed to find the bottom, though many have tried. When Dr. Amelia Brooks disappears during a deep-water dive, her three daughters travel home to settle her affairs. But when the half-sisters jokingly summon a local ghost, their relationship begins to unravel and they find themselves drawn deeper into the mysteries of the lake.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Pals
Synopsis: Three teenagers living in a Spanish suburb find themselves in a whole world of trouble when one of them, Rosario, gets pregnant and doesn't have the money for an abortion. Her brother, Antonio and her lover, Jose fail to find legitimate work to raise the cash and turn to petty crime. They find themselves in a series of misadventures and encounters with grimy criminals in their effort. Luckily they've got each other!
A classic Quinqui (trouble-maker cinema) film from Eloy de la Iglesia starring real-life siblings Antonio and Rosario González as well as his regular leading man José Luis Manzano.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Sinistre
Synopsis: Three petty criminals attempt a botched armed robbery which culminates in a bloody shootout, leaving only the getaway driver Simon unscathed. The wounded felons decide to hole up in an isolated, abondoned house deep within the forest while awaiting a rendezvous with their co-conspirator Lisa. After burying one of his deceased accompolices in the backyard, Simon is eerily haunted by images of of violence and horror from his lamentable past. Aroused by the spilling of fresh blood, a spectral axe-wielding psychopath and his undead minions mysteriously materialize; inflicting incessant physical and psychological torture upon Simon and his gang throughout the night, in a malevolent attempt attempt to possess their corrupted souls for eternity.
The feature debut from Springfield, Missouri based video director Ronnie Sortor (Ravage), Sinistre is an awe-inspiring, post-Tarantino, heist / haunted house mash up that instantly marked the emergence of a fresh and unique voice withing the '90s SOV scene. A mix of manic action set pieces, nightmarish surrealism, and entrail ripping, head stomping gore courtesy of FX artist Mike Strain (You're Next, V/H/S) Saturn's Core is proud to present Sinistre in its first and definitive Blu-Ray edition, fully approved and supervised by director Ronnie Sortor.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
FROM PARTNER LABEL CULTURE SHOCK RELEASING:
Girlfriend From Hell
Synopsis: It's a blind date from HELL... when awkward Maggie (Liane Curtis, Critters 2) gets possessed by the Devil! In human form, she is free to feast on the souls of any men who cross her path, as long as she doesn't get caught by womanizer and inter-dimensional bounty hunter, Chaser (Dana Ashbrook, Twin Peaks). Featuring Lezlie Deane (Freddy's Dead) as Maggie's best friend.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Feature length commentary with Director Daniel Peterson
- Interview with producer Alberto Lensi
- Interviews with actors Liane Curtis, Sarah Kaite Coughlan and Girlfriend From Hell: The Musical creator Sean Matthew Whiteford, all moderated by Brad Henderson
- "Girlfriend From Hell" music video featuring set photographs
- Still gallery
- Cast audition footage taken from the original VHS tape
- Remastered original trailer for Girlfriend From Hell
- Culture Shock Releasing trailers
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-A "LOCKED"
Morvern Callar
Synopsis: Samantha Morton (Minority Report and TV's The Walking Dead) is mesmerizing and "gives the female performance of the year" (San Francisco Examiner) as the enigmatic Morvern Callar, in filmmaker Lynne Ramsay's (Ratcatcher and We Need to Talk About Kevin) highly acclaimed and remarkably assured second feature, based on Alan Warner's lauded debut novel.
When Morvern Callar wakes up one Christmas morning to discover her boyfriend dead by suicide, it's the start of an unpredictable and unconventional process of self-transformation. Morvern's form of grieving will be bewildering and shocking to most. She keeps her boyfriend's death a secret. She passes off his just-finished novel as her own to publishers. She goes on holiday to Spain. Equal parts road movie and character study, Morvern Callar is as gripping and beautiful as it is dark and inscrutable.
The ever-present and extraordinary soundtrack—stemming from a mixtape made for Morvern by her boyfriend, and including songs by Can, the Velvet Underground, Aphex Twin, Stereolab, Nancy & Lee and more—is masterfully and audaciously woven into the narrative, acting as a voice for a protagonist who often chooses to remain silent. The film's contrasting two main environments—cold, grey Scotland and arid, sunny southern Spain—are gorgeously captured by cinematographer Alwin Küchler (Ratcatcher and Steve Jobs).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM AN INTERPOSITIVE
- Audio commentary with film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- "Somewhere Beautiful," a new video essay by Chris O'Neill
- Booklet with essays, stills and cast / crew information
- Original U.K. and U.S. theatrical trailers
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
Synopsis: Swiss director Jean-Louis Roy's long-lost mid-1960s Cold War super-spy thriller is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-DR. STRANGELOVE, part-ALPHAVILLE, with sly nods to British TV shows like "THE AVENGERS" and "DOCTOR WHO." The film stars a Who's Who of great Sixties character actors starting with the unforgettable Daniel Emilfork (THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE) as crazed scientist Herbert Von Krantz, who's invented a device to sterilize all nuclear weapons. A mad herd of rival spies are desperate to get their hands on the device, including legendary French singer Serge Gainsbourg as the leader of a sect of bald, turtleneck-wearing assassins, and Jess Franco vet Howard Vernon (THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF). Gainsbourg's deranged jazz-lounge song, "Bye Bye Mr. Spy" – performed by him on a funeral parlor organ, no less – is arguably the film's high point. "An accomplished spy is at the same time psychologist, artist, funambulist, conjurer," to quote one of the characters – and the same could be said of Roy's exotic camera obscura of B&W Cold War paranoia. With Marie-France Boyer (Agnes Varda's LE BONHEUR).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- EXCLUSIVE NEW 4K RESTORATION from the original 35mm picture and sound elements by Cinémathèque suisse with additional digital restoration by Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile
- New Commentary by film journalist Samm Deighan (Diabolique magazine, Daughters of Darkness podcast)
- New Booklet essay by filmmaker, punk musician and poet, and genre expert Chris D. (The Flesh Eaters; author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film)
- New interview with Francoise Roy, wife of director Jean-Louis Roy, and Michel Schopfer, first assistant director on THE UNKNOWN MAN OF SHANDIGOR (17 min., in Swiss French with English subtitles)
- Ultra-rare 1967 "making of" documentary from Swiss TV's "Cinema VIF" show, featuring interviews with director Jean-Louis Roy, cast members Daniel Emilfork, Jacques Dufilho, and Marie-France Boyer, and behind-the-scenes footage (28 min., in Swiss French with English subtitles)
- Restored original trailer (4 min., in French with English subtitles)
- Inside cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-A "LOCKED"
The Ernie Game
Synopsis: Following a mysterious stay in a psychiatric hospital, Ernie Turner (The Prisoner's Alexis Kanner) decides to pursue his destiny as a writer. Hungry for inspiration and human contact, he ventures into the vibrant streets of '60s Montreal, establishes a conflicted romance with Donna (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz's Judith Gault), and reunites with his frustrated ex, Gail (The Dead Zone's Jackie Burroughs). Unable to reconcile the pieces of his fragmented existence or make any progress on the literary front, Ernie begins a new descent into madness – with shocking results.
The second feature from celebrated Canadian filmmaker Don Owen (Nobody Waved Goodbye), The Ernie Game is a penetrating, unsettling character study and an inexplicably overlooked triumph of the New Hollywood era. Predating like-minded studies of loner desperation from Midnight Cowboy to Taxi Driver in a '60s milieu comparable to Inside Llewyn Davis – complete with a musical performance by budding folkie Leonard Cohen – The Ernie Game has a distinctly Canadian vitality and desolation.
This release also features four of Owen's earlier films, including Notes for a Film About Donna & Gail – which introduces two of The Ernie Game's central characters – and a remastered presentation of the landmark documentary (co-directed by Donald Brittain), Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- EXCLUSIVE NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM A 35MM INTERPOSITIVE
- Short films:
- High Steel (1965, 14 min.)
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965, 44 min.)
- Notes for a Film About Donna & Gail (1966, 49 min.)
- A Further Glimpse of Joey (1966, 28 min.)
- Cosmic Zoom (1968, 8 min.)
- Illustrated booklet
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
Koko-di Koko-da
Synopsis: Elin and Tobias are a happily married couple who regularly vacation with their young daughter. The family is on a dreamy holiday when an innocuous case of food poisoning derails their plans and forever alters the course of their lives. Three years later, the once loving couple is on the road again to go camping, looking for one last chance to go back to the way things used to be. But what once was is lost, and our characters instead find themselves having to relive the same nightmarish events, as that day and the horrors it brings repeat themselves infinitely. Together, they must overcome their trauma, reconcile with their past and fight for their lives. Over, and over, and over again.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Audio Commentary with director Johannes Nyholm and lead actor Leif Edlund
- Behind the Scenes
- Deleted Scenes
- Short Films: Puppetboy (2008) and Las Palmas (2011)
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-A "LOCKED"
Killing Spree
Synopsis: Newly wed Tom (Asbestos Felt) Russo suspects his got wife Leeza (Courtney Lercara from Slaughthouse) is having sexial encounters with their surburban neighbors and visitors! Tom retaliaties by launching a methodical and invetive campaign to murder the lovers, utilizing such unexpected devices as a "killer ceiling fan". a tv set, an ordinary screwdriver, a hammer, and a lawn mower! But Tom's victims don't lie buried peacefully in his backyard...they're coming back from the dead...FOR REVENGE!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Audio Commentary
- Brand New Interviews
- New Stills Gallery
- New Documentary
- Trailer
- Trailers From Twisted Illusions
- Blinded By The Blood
- Old Commentary
- Trailers
- Radio Promo
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
The Monster of Camp Sunshine & Honeymoon of Terror
THE MONSTER OF CAMP SUNSHINE: Shot by anonymous maniacs in New York, this is a trash-art berserker that feels like what would happen if a 1980s slasher was teleported inside of a 1960s nudist film. A nurse and fashion model head to Camp Sunshine for a weekend of fun, sun, and cigarettes. But little do they know that Hugo, the camp's gardener, has been transformed into an axe-wielding psychopath after drinking radioactive water! Combining experimental visuals with camp flair, this is a crackpot time capsule featuring Monty Python-esque animation, someone named Ron Cheney, Jr., and, at the end, "a brief summary of the movie for those who wish to relive its magic moments."
HONEYMOON OF TERROR: An early dreamscape from director Peter Perry (MY TALE IS HOT), HONEYMOON OF TERROR (aka ECSTACY ON LOVERS' ISLAND) is a moody mash-up of horror chills and nudie thrills that feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon made for adults. Frank and Marion are newlyweds who embark on their honeymoon to Thunder Island, only to run afoul of a psychotic, club-footed lumberjack with a lust for violence!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K RESTORATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL 35MM CAMERA NEGATIVES
- Nudie-horror trailers from Hugo's shack
- Bonus movie: ALL MEN ARE APES! (1965, 63 mins), transferred from the original Something Weird S-VHS master
- Inside cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
El Planeta
Synopsis: Amidst the devastation of post-crisis Spain, a mother and daughter bluff and grift to fund their extravagant daily life—with impending eviction never too far from sight.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Original Trailer
- Blooper Reel
- Inside cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-A "LOCKED"
The Midnight Swim
Synopsis: Spirit Lake is unusually deep. No diver has ever managed to find the bottom, though many have tried. When Dr. Amelia Brooks disappears during a deep-water dive, her three daughters travel home to settle her affairs. But when the half-sisters jokingly summon a local ghost, their relationship begins to unravel and they find themselves drawn deeper into the mysteries of the lake.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Audio Commentary from cast & crew
- The Three Sisters Featurette
- The Sirens (Short)
- The Phoenix and the Turtle (Short)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Essays by writers Justine Smith and Nicole Cliffe
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-A "LOCKED"
Pals
Synopsis: Three teenagers living in a Spanish suburb find themselves in a whole world of trouble when one of them, Rosario, gets pregnant and doesn't have the money for an abortion. Her brother, Antonio and her lover, Jose fail to find legitimate work to raise the cash and turn to petty crime. They find themselves in a series of misadventures and encounters with grimy criminals in their effort. Luckily they've got each other!
A classic Quinqui (trouble-maker cinema) film from Eloy de la Iglesia starring real-life siblings Antonio and Rosario González as well as his regular leading man José Luis Manzano.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- U.S. Trailer
- Other Trailers
- Reversible Art
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
Sinistre
Synopsis: Three petty criminals attempt a botched armed robbery which culminates in a bloody shootout, leaving only the getaway driver Simon unscathed. The wounded felons decide to hole up in an isolated, abondoned house deep within the forest while awaiting a rendezvous with their co-conspirator Lisa. After burying one of his deceased accompolices in the backyard, Simon is eerily haunted by images of of violence and horror from his lamentable past. Aroused by the spilling of fresh blood, a spectral axe-wielding psychopath and his undead minions mysteriously materialize; inflicting incessant physical and psychological torture upon Simon and his gang throughout the night, in a malevolent attempt attempt to possess their corrupted souls for eternity.
The feature debut from Springfield, Missouri based video director Ronnie Sortor (Ravage), Sinistre is an awe-inspiring, post-Tarantino, heist / haunted house mash up that instantly marked the emergence of a fresh and unique voice withing the '90s SOV scene. A mix of manic action set pieces, nightmarish surrealism, and entrail ripping, head stomping gore courtesy of FX artist Mike Strain (You're Next, V/H/S) Saturn's Core is proud to present Sinistre in its first and definitive Blu-Ray edition, fully approved and supervised by director Ronnie Sortor.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEWLY RESTORED DIRECTOR'S CUT (73 min.)
- Audio commentary with director / editor Ronnie Sortor
- Two isolated audio tracks featuring music by composers Larry Simmons & Clark Carter
- Original alterate 1997 "Sinyster" cut (71 min.) featuring a new optional retrospective commentary with director Ronnie Sortor
- Archival cast commentary with director Ronnie Sortor, writer / producer Todd Reynolds, and actor Dan Skinner
- Archival audio commentary with special FX artist Mike Starin
- "Beyond the Screen" - new behind the scenes featurette
- "Sinistre @ Studio 2060" - behind the scenes of the Final Cut shoot
- "Composing Sinistre" - an interview with composer Clark Carter
- "Sinyster / Sinistre" - a before and after comparison
- Vintage 1994 TV new coverage
- Outtake reel
- "Remains" - a short film by Ronnie Sortor (with optional director's commentary)
- Behind the scenes of "Remains"
- Trailers
- Reversible sleeve
- English SDH subtitles
- REGION-FREE
