Vinegar Syndrome Reveals New Partner Label Releases
Posted October 2, 2023 11:17 PM by Webmaster
Vinegar Syndrome has revealed sixteen new 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray partner label releases. Among them are: East End Hustle (1976), Cat City (1986), Squaring the Circle (2022), The Taking (2021), The War is Over a.k..a. La guerre est finie (1966), and Pretending I'm a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story (2020).
FROM PARTNER LABEL CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES:
Description: Cindy (Born for Hell's Andrée Pelletier) is outraged by the sadism of her pimp boyfriend Dan (Ghost Story's Miguel Fernandes), so she turns her back on him and her seedy profession. As he attempts to lure her back, she doubles down on her rebellion by liberating new recruit Marianne (Bingo's Anne-Marie Provencher) and giving safe haven to several of Dan's most prized employees, crippling his business. As this gang of frustrated sex workers waits for the dust to settle, Dan grows incensed, escalating the dispute into a full-blown war. Leaning into his mafia connections and insatiable appetite for violence, Dan orders vicious retaliation… but Cindy has some vengeful tricks up her sleeve.
An unsung Canadian exploitation classic originally brought to American screens by Lloyd Kaufman's Troma Entertainment, East End Hustle is a sordid crime saga that finds an unexpected balance of horror and humanity. Reuniting director Frank Vitale with his key collaborators from the acclaimed Montreal Main, this gritty, unblinking revenge saga anticipates future genre staples like Ms .45 and The Ladies Club. Fueled by an urgent sense of danger and a memorably funky, synth-laden score by noted screenwriter Len Blum (Meatballs), East End Hustle is a '70s genre gem like no other.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
TWO-DISC SET (4K BLU-RAY/BLU-RAY)
EXCLUSIVE NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE by Canadian International Pictures with sound transferred from the 35mm optical track
HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Audio commentary featuring Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and film historian Jason Pichonsky
East End Director (2023, 18 min.) – New interview with writer-director Frank Vitale
The Art Bug (2023, 8 min.) – Vitale on Montreal Main and his career before East End Hustle
East End Troma (2023, 14 min.) – New interview with distributor Lloyd Kaufman
Kaufman's Canada (2023, 5 min.) – Kaufman reflects on his Canadian connections
Renegade Films (2023, 10 min.) – New interview with writer Bill Brownstein on Cinépix and its co-founder John Dunning
Audio interview with composer Len Blum (2023, 15 min.)
Theatrical trailer
Booklet featuring a new essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Label description: Unflappable and unstoppable mouse secret agent Nick Grabovsky (László Sinkó) with his deadpan voice, baggy pants and a big "G" on his shirt, goes up against the criminal cat gang run by the sinister, metal-pawed Mr. Teufel (Miklós Benedek), in Hungarian director Béla Ternovszky's surreal, animated sci-fi treasure. Set in the year 80 AMM ("After Mickey Mouse") on Planet X where cats and rats have banded together to eliminate mice, the film features a show-stopping series of musical numbers including a deranged Euro-disco song ("Just purr with me / Touch me with tender paws") and a bizarre chorus of Mexican vampire bats named Los Vampiros who inhabit an ancient Mayan temple. A cross between 1980s Don Bluth-style animation (THE SECRET OF NIMH) and the British TV series "Danger Mouse" (clearly an inspiration here), CAT CITY has long been a beloved cult favorite in Eastern Europe. In Hungarian with English subtitles.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION by the National Film Institute in Hungary from the original 35mm camera
NEW "The Director Answers: Béla Ternovsky" - 2023, 23 min. Dir. Yvonne Kerékgyártó – interview with Béla Ternovszkym.
NEW video interview with György Ráduly, Director of the National Film Institute-Film Archive in Budapest on Hungarian animation and the enduring popularity of CAT CITY, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (In English)
NEW commentary track by film critic Samm Deighan
NEW essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)
NEW optional 5.1 audio mix, plus original 2.0 track
Three rare Béla Ternovszky animated shorts:
"Modern Training Methods (Modern edzésmódszerek)" - 1970, 7 min. Ternovszky's delightfully wicked and gruesome satire of athletic training
"Let Us Keep A Dog (Tartsunk kutyát)" – 1974, 6 min. For dog lovers everywhere, this classic Pannonia Studio short fueled by a wildly groovy 70s Jazz-Funk score
"Where Is The Limit? (Mindennek van határa)" – 1975, 7 min. A cheerfully oblivious orange figure bumbles from one surreal situation into another, until he discovers he can escape from the cartoon world into the real one – with unexpected consequences
"Ahead Of Its Time (Megelőzte a maga korát)" – 2020, 25 min. Dir. Péter Szalay. Fascinating video essay produced by the National Film Institute of Hungary on the creative genesis of CAT CITY and its importance in Hungarian animation
"We Just Made It For The Fun Of It (Jókedvünkben készítettük)" – 2020, 30 min. Dir. Péter Szalay. CAT CITY director Béla Ternovszky discusses his long creative career at Pannonia Studio and the making of his most famous film, illustrated with rare film footage, stills and animation sketches
A DOUBLE SHOCK of undiluted TERROR and SUSPENSE from maverick Ozploitation auteur TERRY BOURKE.
NIGHT OF FEAR
In this groundbreaking, homegrown creepfest, a deranged, reclusive hermit (Norman Yemm) delights in dismembering unwary travellers and keeping company with a colony of rats fed on blood. When a young woman (Carla Hoogeveen) crashes into one of the madman's ghoulish road traps, so begins "an unrelenting avalanche of terror" (The Australian).
INN OF THE DAMNED
On a lonely stretch of road, deep in an isolated rainforest, lies an eerie, forgotten Inn. Few travellers stop there now – and those that do… disappear! Kincaid, an American bounty hunter (Alex Cord), is hired to unravel the Inn's chilling secrets. He is soon confronted by its demented owners (Judith Anderson and Joseph Furst), obsessed with guarding the nightmarish truth within.
Umbrella Entertainment invites you to dim the lights and settle in for an unnerving evening of sadistic violence, red raw horror and ample bare flesh with this classic Ozploitation double bill – newly remastered in high definition from the original 35mm vault materials.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
"THE D.W. GRIFFITH OF OZPLOITATION" – a visual essay on the career of filmmaker TERRY BOURKE by filmbuff Paul Harris
Extended NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD interviews with producer/editor Rod Hay and cast members Carla Hoogeveen, Norman Yemm and Briony Behets
Terry Bourke TV episode "THE RAIDERS" with introduction by Jack Thompson
Terry Bourke trailer reel – introduced by Terry Bourke
NIGHT OF FEAR 2005 audio commentary with producer/editor Rod Hay, and actress Carla Hoogeveen moderated by filmmaker Mark Hartley
INN OF THE DAMNED 2005 audio commentary with producer/editor Rod Hay and actor Tony Bonner
Description: This illuminating essay uses film scenes to tell of the forced cultural appropriation of a world-famous landscape. Monument Valley is one of the most recognizable landscapes in the world. Its iconographic use in American Westerns has had a lasting influence on stock photography, advertising, and tourism. The valley has been given mythical significance as an image of a "primitive West" firmly in the hands of white people and meant to be protected from intruders. The fact that Monument Valley is traditional Navajo territory has been obscured in the process. A radical examination of Monument Valley's representation in cinema and advertising since John Ford's Stagecoach (1939), The Taking scrutinizes how a site located on sovereign Navajo land came to embody the fantasy of the "Old West," replete with self-perpetuating falsehoods, and why it continues to hold mythic significance in the global psyche.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Interview with filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe
Super 8 Montage of Monument Valley footage used in the film
Description: Set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, the discovery of a mysterious burnt body by two police officers reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city.
Description: Three decades after the Spanish Civil War and Franco's fascist military coup, Communist operative Diego (Yves Montand) juggles multiple identities as he continues his dangerous missions, while reflecting on a life of political struggle. Though increasingly disillusioned, his determination to help a possibly captured comrade and chance encounter with impetuous student terrorist Genevičve Bujold, keep his commitment to the cause alive.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Guernica - a short film by Alain Resnais and Robert Hessens, 1949, 14 minutes
Commentary by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin
Archival writing by Jorge Semprún and Marguerite Duras (newly translated by Nicholas Elliott), Michael Caen, Andrew Sarris, and a 1966 interview with Alain Resnais by Robert Benayoun (newly translated by Craig Keller)
Description: Following his acclaimed debut HAM ON RYE, Tyler Taormina's hypnotic follow-up is a midnight mosaic that reveals a suburban town steeped in alienation. It's the middle of the night, but things are far from quiet; as the camera peers into the late-night happenings of various residents, we witness a number of them quietly escape into the dark... on rollerblades. Drawing on 1960's European art cinema and 1990's kid's TV in equal measure, HAPPER'S COMET presents striking individual vignettes that unfurl like a collective dream. Mesmerizing and meditative, the film solidifies Taormina's gift for transforming everyday banality into uncanny cinema.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Short Film: Some Do It, Others Don't by Tyler Taormina
Trailer
Booklet with essays by Carlos Valladares and director Tyler Taormina
A story centered on a directionless 16-year-old living in Marfa, Texas and his relationships with his girlfriend, his neighbor, his teacher, a newly arrived local artist, and a local Border Patrol officer.
MARFA GIRL 2
In the wake of a horrific tragedy, a family living in Marfa, Texas, tries to pull itself together. The trauma fuels their boredom, disaffection and desire to escape their small-town lives.
Special Fetaures and Technical Specs:
Audo Commentary with Director Larry Clark
Trailer
English SDH subtitles
REGION-FREE
FROM PARTNER LABEL AMERICA GENRE FILM ARHCIVE (AGFA):
Description: Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the petting zoo, you meet . . . GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS! Written and directed by infamous outsider artist Fredric C. Hobbs (ALABAMA'S GHOST), this is the story of an eight-foot-tall toxic sheep monster that blows up gas stations, smashes crooked politicians, and terrorizes stoners. From the surreal "wild west" locations to the outrageous monster effects, GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is one of the most berserk and inexplicably deranged creature features in motion picture history. This includes the scene where the Godmonster crashes a children's picnic. In the wise words of legendary filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (FRANKENHOOKER), "Get the straight jackets ready!"
Special Fetaures and Technical Specs:
Preserved from the only known 35mm print in existence
Short: STRANGE SIGHTINGS
Short: JUST IN CASE: SUPPRESSION OF SCHOOL BUS FIRES
Short: WHITE GORILLA
Rampaging monster trailers from the Godmonster's cage
Bonus movie: THE LEGEND OF BIGFOOT (1975, 72 mins), preserved from a 35mm print
Description: When Samuel, a young orphan, is sent to live with foster parents Marie and Clement, he is gradually forced to face the demons that exist both internally and within his new family. Swept up in the motions of coming of age for the very first time — falling in love with the girl next door, exploring hobbies and indulging in childhood passions — he also begins to learn of the secrets his foster family are keeping, leading him to question everything around him. As these questions emerge, Samuel is pushed in and out of crippling anguish, bridging a harsh gap between dense realism and feverish fantasy which leads to a stunning and transcendent final act.
Lensed in gorgeous 16mm by Simon Beaufils (Knife+Heart), David Depesseville's debut narrative (an official selection of New Directors/New Films) offers a "gripping, impressionist rendering of the raw precariousness of youth" (The Film Stage).
Description: Experience a double dose of vintage Halloween themed SOV mayhem courtesy of director Gary Whitson and his notorious New Jersey based studio W.A.V.E. Productions!
In Hayride Slaughter, a series of murders has caused chaos at a poplar Halloween haunted hayride attraction. A satanic black cloaked killer is on the loose, baffling the local police as bodies continuously pile up with pentagrams crudely carved into their flesh. The owners hire renowned psychic investigator Desiree Vargas (Tina Krause) and her partner Cliff (Jim O'Rear) to pose undercover at the attraction as a magic act. Will Desiree discover the identity of the killer in time or wind up on the sacrificial altar of the nefarious demon Krotos? Shot on location at the actual Frightland Halloween attraction in Delaware, crucial Fall slasher vibes, salacious full frontal nudity, and mind melting, rudimentary green screen FX abound in one of W.A.V.E.'s most sought after and infamous features.
In Halloween Horrors, a pair of greedy sisters are kidnapped on Halloween night and held for ransom. When their father fails to make the payoff in time, the girls are tortured and murdered in the kidnappers' harrowing dungeon of death. Or so it seems. Could one of the sisters possibly be in cahoots with their abductor in an attempt to reclaim an inheritance? Find out as Clancy McCauley (Dead North) & Terri Lewandowski (Sleepover Massacre) star in this Hallow's Eve horror epic from the halcyon mail order days of W.A.V.E. Productions.
HAYRIDE SLAUGHTER (2001)
New transfer from the SVHS master tape
Audio commentary with director Gary Whitson moderated by Ross Snyder, co-director of Mail Order Murder: The Story of W.A.V.E. Productions
"Hayride Memories": an interview with actress Tina Krause
"Magic, Murder, & Mayhem": an interview with actor Jim O'Rear
Tina Krause Evil Angel photo shoot: promo shoot for Aven Warren's uncompleted vampire feature
2000s era W.A.V.E. trailer vault
Tina Krause fan club bumper
Original trailer
English SDH subtitles
REGION-FREE
HALLOWEEN HORRORS (1992)
New transfer from the SVHS master tape
Audio commentary with director Gary Whitson moderated by Ross Snyder, co-director of Mail Order Murder: The Story of W.A.V.E. Productions
"Pumpkin Eyes" (1991) Segment from an uncompleted W.A.V.E. holiday themed feature starring Halloween Horrors actress Diana Lea
Description: The skateboarding industry was going through a major crisis in the early 90s, with popularity nosediving and the certainty of the skaters' livelihoods unknown. But that was all about to change with the introduction of the X-Games, and the debut of one of the world's most influential video game franchises. In 1999, the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater shook the world when it sold 9 million copies upon release and changed the skateboarding scene forever. Complimenting the reboot of the beloved Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 games in 2020, PRETENDING I'M A SUPERMAN tells the story behind the game that changed lives and shaped a generation.
From award-winning Swedish director Ludvig Gür and acclaimed videogame producer Ralph D'Amato, Pretending I'm A Superman is the story of the skaters and developers who came together to create the best-selling gaming franchise, as well as a look into how skateboarding became a part of the mainstream, and continues to influence modern culture.
Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with legendary skater Tony Hawk, as well as industry stars Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, and Eric Koston, Gür takes audiences through an intimate yet extraordinary journey, chronicling the meteoric rise of skate boarding's most famous name.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
30+ minutes of additional interview footage of Producer Ralph D'Amato (not in the film), along with Tony Hawks MoCap session for THPS, Rodney Mullen skating in front of the Neversoft Offices for a magazine shoot, Drone footage of all the Neversoft Offices
Concept art scans
QA session from the premiere of the film at the Mammoth Film Festival
Description: A bloody, sadistically funny satire of cheap horror exploitation films. Psycho Paul, a sinister, egotistical filmmaker introduces previews and scenes from his films as a tribute to himself. He believes that his films are the greatest and worst films ever made. Paul Van Dan Elzen sharpened his skills on the sets of some of Todd Sheets' classic SOV films before turning the camera on himself, his brother, and his mom and making one of the most mind-meltingly absurd movies ever released. Trust us, you have never seen another movie like this. VHSHITFEST is so proud to present this mesmerizing outsider art epic for the first time ever on disc complete with hours and hours of extras.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Introduction by Psycho Paul
Audio Commentary with the filmmakers
Archival Todd Sheets and Paul Van Dan Elzen interview
New Todd Sheets interview
Raw Footage
"The Cleansing of Psycho Paul" featurette
"A Psycho's Story: The Making of Psycho Paul's Film Festival"
Description: Celebrated photographer, creative director and filmmaker Anton Corbijn's first feature documentary SQUARING THE CIRCLE (THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS) tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey "Po" Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognizable album covers of all time, including ""The Dark Side of the Moon"" and ""Band on the Run."" They formed Hipgnosis in Cambridge during the ferment of the sixties and became rock royalty during the boom time of the seventies. They conjured into existence sights that no one had previously thought possible, produced visuals which popularized music that had previously been considered fringe, and were at the white-hot center of the maddest, funniest and most creative era in the history of popular music. During this period, record companies didn't dictate to acts like Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Paul McCartney what their LP covers should look like - Storm and Po did. They made money; they lost money. They did great things; they did silly things. They fell out bitterly; they made up. They never played a note, but they changed music. The film features brand new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour & Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Noel Gallagher, and many more!
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Audio commentary with Director Anton Corbijn and Graphic Designer Aubrey (Po) Powell
Description: After virginal teenybopper Joy is assaulted by a trio of burglars, she finds herself in an unexpected predicament: she wants more! Unsatisfied by her prudish and inexperienced boyfriend, Joy sets out across Manhattan to seduce any and every man she can find, while unwittingly setting into motion a wave of female sexual liberation that sends the entire city of New York into an orgiastic frenzy. With pleasure way up and crime way down, everyone is happy, except of course for the NYPD and stuck up Lt. Handcock, who becomes increasingly concerned that all of the carefree sex going on will put him out of a job…
A patently bizarre mix of raucous sex comedy and thoughtful commentary on contemporary mores, with hefty helping of "sticking it" to the man anti-authoritarianism, Joel Bender's (Gas Pump Girls) debut feature film, JOY, stars Sharon Mitchell (Maniac) in one of her first starring roles along with Crystal Sync (Punk Rock), Richard Bolla (Indecent Exposure), Jake Teague (A Woman's Torment) and many others. Working from a witty and fast paced script co-authored by Bender, along with slick cinematography and tight editing, JOY is a witty, and unexpectedly heartfelt classic which makes its Blu-ray debut from Quality X, newly restored from its 35mm Interpositive and including a comprehensive slate of exclusive interviews.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM A 35MM INTERPOSITIVE
A brand new audio commentary with director Joel Bender and star Sharon Mitchell, moderated by historian Casey Scott
A brand new audio commentary with star Sharon Mitchell, moderated by Steven Morowitz
Video Interview with actress Sharon Mitchell
Q & A with director Joel Bender and star Sharon Mitchell, recorded at Anthology Film Archives
Description: Few filmmakers were more closely associated with the darkest, grimiest, and most shocking side of 1960s sexploitation than notorious auteur Michael Findlay (The Ultimate Degenerate), and no films better personify his uniquely twisted approach to the genre than the infamous "Flesh" trilogy.
In the first entry in the trilogy, THE TOUCH OF HER FLESH, Findlay himself stars as Richard Jennings; happily married to the beautiful Claudia (Angelique Pettyjohn). Richard leaves for a business trip only to return and discover Claudia in bed with her lover! Panic stricken, Richard staggers to the street and is hit by a car, losing an eye and gaining a limp as a result. Scorned and vengeful, Richard adopts a new identity and begins a murderous rampage against all women he deems "immoral."
In THE CURSE OF HER FLESH, the middle entry of the trilogy, Findlay returns as the bloodthirsty and eye-patched Richard Jennings. Continuing his quest to rid the world of sex-crazed females, Richard ups the ante - and bodycount, devising an array of increasingly gruesome methods of dispatching his victims all while planning the ultimate revenge against his wife's lover, Steve.
In the final installment of the trilogy, THE KISS OF HER FLESH, Richard has lost what little sanity he had left, instead putting all emphasis on seeking out and brutally slaying any and every woman who crosses his path. However, this time he might have met his match as his deceased wife's sister, Maria (Uta Erikson), is hellbent on putting an end to Richard's orgiastic rampage...
All three of these perverted classics of underground sleaze have been newly restored in 2K from their uncensored 35mm camera negatives and are making their world Blu-ray debut from Distribpix Inc. and Something Weird!
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
TWO-DISC SET
Reversible cover artwork
English SDH subtitles for the films
A 40-page illustrated booklet containing newly written essays by Lisa Petrucci of Something Weird, film historian Heather Drain, and film historian Elizabeth Purchell
DISC ONE
THE TOUCH OF HER FLESH (1967) newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative
Feature length audio commentary with film historian Heather Drain
"Master Class With Roberta Findlay" an extensive discussion with actress and creative partner of director Michael Findlay recorded in 2019 at the Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium
Theatrical trailers for THE TOUCH OF HER FLESH and THE CURSE OF HER FLESH
Archival image gallery
DISC TWO
THE CURSE OF HER FLESH (1968) newly restored from its 35mm camera negative
THE KISS OF HER FLESH (1968) newly restored from its 35mm camera negative
Feature length audio commentaries by film historian Heather Drain for THE CURSE OF HER FLESH and THE KISS OF HER FLESH