Vinegar Syndrome has announced its March batch of 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases. They are: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), Specters / Maya (1987-1989), Story Of A Junkie (1985), and Goin' South (1978).
Description: Five men, all strangers, board a carriage on a train from London to the town of Bradley, where they're joined at the last minute by a sixth - a mysterious, black-clad older gentleman who introduces himself as Doctor Schreck (German for "terror", as he informs them). Bearing a stack of Tarot cards, Doctor Schreck claims to have the ability to read fortunes, and although some of the group are initially skeptical, it's not long before his fellow passengers are asking him each in turn to relate what the future holds in store. What follows is five fiendish tales of terror, as the doctor reveals the various dreadful fates that are to befall his traveling companions - which include bone-chilling encounters with werewolves, killer plants, voracious vampires and all other manner of horrors!
The first in a line of anthology films to be produced by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg's celebrated Amicus Productions, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS is a frightfully entertaining classic of 60s British horror which reunites genre legends Peter Cushing as the titular doctor and Christopher Lee, who delivers a memorable turn as a scathing art critic terrorized by a disembodied hand! Helmed by Academy Award® winner Freddie Francis and featuring an early appearance by Donald Sutherland (Don't Look Now), Vinegar Syndrome conjures up the 4K UHD debut of DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, presented from a brand new 4K restoration of its 35mm camera negative and stacked with extras both old and new!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Audio commentary with director Freddie Francis and moderator Jonathan Sothcott
"A New Home of Horror" (15 min) - featurette including never-before-seen interviews with actress Katy Wild, second assistant director Hugh Harlow, propman Arthur Wicks, continuity supervisor Pauline Harlow and dubbing mixer John Aldred
"Tales of Terror" (39 min) - author Stephen Thrower on Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
"House of Cards" (58 min) - an archival making-of documentary
Archival video interviews with: actor Kenny Lynch (25 min), actor Ann Bell (21 min) and actor Jeremy Kemp (8 min)
Archival audio interviews with: writer/producer Milton Subotsky (12 min) and producer Max Rosenberg (2 min)
Description: John Spacely, known on the streets as Gringo, has spent much of his life selling - and using - drugs, mostly heroin. Since relocating from his native California to the Lower East Side of New York, Gringo has gained a group of steady customers for the dope he sells, amongst them musicians and actors and, in the process, has also developed a reputation as a colorful street character; hanging out amongst the dilapidated environs of Lower Manhattan. But with his own drug habit starting to get the better of him, Gringo must challenge himself not to end up on an even darker path, from which there may be no way back.
An unflinching study of addiction from multi-award winning documentarian, Lech Kowalski, STORY OF A JUNKIE (originally titled Gringo) stars Spacely as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, mixing staged interactions with grim documentary realism. Filmed entirely on location, and featuring a supporting cast of Gringo's real life friends and customers, Vinegar Syndrome Labs presents the Blu-ray debut of this remarkably human document not just of the long-gone punk counterculture on the Lower East Side, but of the fascinating and colorful personalities who populated it..
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
CD SOUNDTRACK
"The Dance of Death" (19 min) - an interview with director Lech Kowalski
"Thirteen Weeks of Hell: Editing Story of a Junkie" (11 min) - an interview with editor Val Kuklowsky
"Drop the Needle" (12 min) - an interview with composer Chuck Kentis
"Troma: The Last Stop on the Train" (4 min) - an interview with Troma President Lloyd Kaufman
Archival interview with producer Ann S. Barish (10 min)
Description: On a dark and stormy night, Mother and Daughter, a wealthy pair of psychopathic killers with a penchant for murdering their servants, happen upon a badly injured man, laying dying in the mud. Bringing him back to their opulent villa, they begin nursing him back to health; naming him Singapore Sling in the process. As soon as he is "well" enough, the twisted duo begin subjecting him to every manner of torture imaginable. But as each of them develop their own unique interest in their mysterious victim, a perverse love triangle begins to unfold, leading to shocking revelations...
As staggeringly beautiful as it is notorious, Nikos Nikolaidis' acclaimed SINGAPORE SLING is a grotesque, sensual, and altogether unforgettable genre cinema gem from one of Greece's key arthouse auteurs. Distinguished by Aris Stavrou's intricately lit and immaculately composed black and white cinematography, Vinegar Syndrome is thrilled to present the U.S. Blu-ray debut of this mesmerizingly unsettling noir-fantastique, newly and exclusively restored for this release in 4K from its 35mm original negative and boasting an expansive selection of new and archival extras.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
"Directing Hell" (80 min) - a documentary from 2011 exploring the work of Director Nikos Nikolaidis
New interview with Marie-Louise Bartholomew, wife of director Nikos Nikolaidis (12 min)
New interview with actress Michele Valley (12 min)
New interview with actor Panos Thanassoulis (9 min)
New interview with cinematographer Aris Stavrou (5 min)
20-page booklet with an essay by film scholar David Church
Description: As the close of the 1980s drew nearer, Italy continued to turn out some of the weirdest and wildest entries the horror genre had to offer - and this set of atmospheric offerings, SPECTERS (1987) and MAYA (1989), from director Marcello Avallone, are no exception! Mixing sex, mythology and bloody supernatural slayings in a dizzying blend sure to please fans of 80s terror everywhere, these sacrificial slashers are finally unleashed in their Blu-ray world premieres, newly restored in 2K from their original 35mm camera negatives by the high priests of horror at Vinegar Syndrome, alongside a treasure trove of new bonus material.
SPECTERS: Whilst excavating the catacombs at an archaeological site in Rome, a team of researchers make an astonishing discovery when nearby drilling work in the subway system causes a wall to collapse, revealing a passageway leading to a series of hitherto unexplored tunnels. Delving deeper into the subterranean labyrinth, the team uncover a cavernous tomb filled with ominous inscriptions, as well as strange, unidentifiable skeletons and a crude, sacrificial weapon. Little do the archaeologists realize that the uncovering of this burial chamber, long-since sealed off from the world, has unleashed an ancient evil intent on wreaking bloody havoc.
MAYA: Lisa, a young woman from New York, arrives in a small Mexican seaside town to identify the body of her father, a researcher into Mayan culture who has been brutally murdered in a sacrificial-style killing. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father's death, Lisa decides to stay in town, where she learns about the local folklore and superstitions with the help of Peter, a young American and friend of her father. As more people are found dead, all slaughtered in a similarly gruesome fashion, and the town's celebrations of the dead loom, could the legend of a vengeful and bloodthirsty Mayan king returning from the dead prove to be true?
Special Features and Technical Specs:
TWO-DISC SET
NEW 4K RESTORATIONS OF BOTH FILMS
Presented with their original English language mono* soundtracks, as well as their Italian language dub stereo soundtracks (untranslated)
Audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani (Specters)
"Little Roman Ghosts" (28 min) - an interview with director/co-writer Marcello Avallone (Specters)
"Paranormal Roman Activity" (27 min) - an interview with producer/co-writer Maurizio Tedesco (Specters)
"Little Specters, Little Demons" (27 min) - an interview with special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti (Specters)
"A Horrific Anomaly" (31 min) - an interview with film historian Eugenio Ercolani (Specters)
"Simply Emma" (13 min) - an audio interview with actress Erna Schürer (Specters)
Audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani (Maya)
"The Mexican Connection" (20 min) - an interview with director/co-writer Marcello Avallone (Maya)
"Second Time Around" (21 min) - an interview with producer/co-writer Maurizio Tedesco (Maya)
"Scream Queen Memories" (27 min) - an interview with actress Mirella D'Angelo (Maya)
"Mystical Mayan Melodies" (21 min) - an interview with composer Gabriele Ducros (Maya)
Alternate Italian titles and credits for both films
Description: Henry Moon (Jack Nicholson, Chinatown) is a cut-rate outlaw in post-Civil War Texas, convicted of bank robbery and property theft. Moon is sentenced to death by hanging in the town of Longhorn, a town that maintains an ordinance allowing for any condemned man to be freed from the gallows via marriage. Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen, Clifford), a quiet virginal young woman with a secret gold mine, saves Moon from the gallows in an attempt to exploit him for free labor. With Moon intent on consummating his marriage to a virgin bride and Tate seeking to mine her hidden fortune, the two embark on an equally combative, comedic, relationship in the Old West.
The sophomore feature directorial effort from Jack Nicholson, following his counterculture comedy Drive, He Said in 1971, GOIN' SOUTH is a commonly overlooked entry in Nicholson's repertoire as an actor and filmmaker. Featuring gorgeous photography from noted cinematographer Néstor Almendros (Days of Heaven) and a talented comedic cast including John Belushi (Animal House), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Danny DeVito (Wise Guys) and Ed Begley Jr. (Blue Collar), Cinématographe is proud to present Jack Nicholson's wild western comedy on blu-ray and UHD for the first time in the world from a brand new 4K restoration of its original camera negative!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
New audio commentary with film critic Simon Abrams
Néstor Almendros: A Man with a Camera -- a new video essay by critic Samm Deighan
Jack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director -- a new video essay by critic Daniel Kremer
New written essays by Jack Nicholson biographer Marc Eliot and film critic Chris Shields