For lovers of cult and psychotronic film, the releases from Vinegar Syndrome are nothing short of a cinematic dream come true. Taking its name from a common type of film deterioration, Vinegar Syndrome is dedicated to preserving and releasing forgotten and fantastic feature films that were primarily produced between the 1960s and 1980s. From grindhouse favorites to B-movie oddities, their catalog of releases are packed with movies that are anything but dull. The company’s latest two releases continue to fulfill their mission statement of bringing mad movies to the masses. Here’s the info from the press release:
From the damaged mind of director Rick Sloane (Hobgoblins) comes Blood Theatre and The Visitants.
In Sloane’s 1984 debut, Blood Theatre, an old movie house in which a massacre occurred decades earlier, finally re-opens only to be once again targeted by a bloodthirsty maniac intent on murdering anyone and everyone who makes the mistake of buying a ticket. Packed with low rent bloodshed, Blood Theatre exemplifies the no-budget aesthetic Sloane relished and features the one and only Mary Woronov (Eating Raoul) in a supporting role.
Sloane’s second feature effort, The Visitants, is set in the neon colored 1950s and chronicles the hi-jinx which ensue following the theft of a ray gun by a teenage boy from his bizarre neighbors who just happen to be aliens who have embedded themselves within a sleepy suburban neighborhood.
Barely seen since their brief theatrical runs, Vinegar Syndrome presents the Blu-ray debuts of these off the wall, home grown pieces of jaw dropping mutant cinema, both newly restored from their 35mm camera negatives.
Features:
1. Newly scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original negative.
2. Bonus feature film: The Visitants (1987), directed by Rick Sloane.
3. Commentary track with Rick Sloane on Blood Theatre and The Visitants.
4. Ensemble introduction from a screening at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles with: Rick Sloane, Mary Woronov, Marcus Vaughter, and Jordana Capra.
5. Blood Theatre post film Q&A with Rick Sloane and Mary Woronov.
6. Commentary track for Blood Theatre with The Hysteria Continues.
7. Reversible cover for The Visitants
8. English SDH subtitles.
Nora Mae Edwards had always dreamed that a handsome and wealthy man would offer to marry her, but she never expected to find love while working the night shift at a sleazy diner. However, when John Henry Cox proposes to her within moments of their meeting, Nora can’t help but say yes. Whisked off to John’s home town of Newbury to live in his family’s mansion, Nora discovers that her new husband’s profession is that of an undertaker, and that the local death toll is disproportionately high. As the joys of marital bliss soon give way to increasingly violent nightmares, she begins to suspect that her seemingly gentle husband may be harboring a dark secret, especially when she learns that she’s far from the first ‘Mrs. Cox,’ but even more terrifyingly, that while her husband desires her body, he’d prefer it cold and dead.
A darkly humorous and vaguely supernatural story of necrophilia, Grave Robbers is a gruesome black comedy about the meaning of love and lust after death. Written and directed by Straw Weisman, and the final producing effort from exploitation film tsar, Lew Mishkin, Vinegar Syndrome brings this direct-to-video rarity to Blu-ray, newly restored from its camera negative and fully uncut.
Features:
1. Region free Blu-ray/DVD combo.
2. Newly scanned and restored in 2k from its 35mm original negative.
3. Commentary track with writer/director Straw Weisman.
4. “Digging Up the Past” – interview with Straw Weisman.
5. Director’s introduction.
6. Original video trailer.
7. Reversible cover.
8. English SDH subtitles.
If you love under-the-radar films, you’ll want to inflict yourself with Vinegar Syndrome ASAP!