Vinegar Syndrome violates TABOO II/TABOO III (review)

The story of TABOO continues in this pair of linked sequels.  In TABOO II, Paul's girlfriend Sherry is shocked to learn about her boyfriend's relationship with his mother until her brother tries to get into her pants and she tries to get into dad's.  In TABOO III, Paul runs out on his mother Barbara and she finds herself getting jealous and possessive of her younger son Jimmy.  Kay Parker, Honey Wilder, Blake Palmer, Kevin James, Dorothy LeMay, Eric Edwards, and Jerry Butler star.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

TABOO II/TABOO III Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Interview with actor Blake Palmer
• Theatrical Trailer for TABOO III
• Kay Parker's Personal Script

Vinegar Syndrome arms DEATH MACHINES (review)

Madame Lee trains three unstoppable assassins as DEATH MACHINES to horn in on the professional mob hit business on the West Coast.  Using them to take out other assassins, she makes the mob an offer they cannot refuse but soon the killers are out of her control.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

DEATH MACHINES Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD: 
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Director's Introduction
• Audio Commentary by director Paul Kyriazi
• Interview with actor Michael Chong
• Audio Interview with actor Joshua Johnson
• Trims/Outtakes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Teaser Trailer
• Reversible Cover

Black Friday at Vinegar Syndrome: Joe Spinell is THE UNDERTAKER (review)

Joe Spinell's real "last horror film" was the little-seen THE UNDERTAKER (released previously on DVD in a vastly different cut called THE DEATH MERCHANT) in which Spinell stars as Uncle Roscoe, the local undertaker who murders a series of young women for his necrophilic needs.  When his nephew confides his suspicions to his anthropology professor, they are next on his hit list.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE UNDERTAKER Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/co-director/actor William James Kennedy
• Interview with writer/co-director/actor William James Kennedy
• Rough Cut Outtakes
• Promotional Video
• Still Gallery 
• Liner Notes Booklet by Michael Gingold

Available directly from Vinegar Syndrome.

Black Friday at Vinegar Syndrome: Joe Sarno's ALL THE SINS OF SODOM (review)

The "Ingmar Bergman of Porn" Joseph Sarno spins another web of erotic predation.  The son of a preacher man, Henning has become obsessed with capturing the wickedness of women and is looking for a model who is "Eve, Salome, the priestesses of Bala, the princesses of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Babylon all rolled up into one."  He tries to get what he wants from Leslie but the naive seeming Joyce who he lets stay in his back room may be the real "daughter of Satan.'

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

ALL THE SINS OF SODOM Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Available exclusively from Vinegar Syndrome.

Scream Factory is infected by RABID (review)

Marilyn Chambers is "insatiable" again as the carrier of a deadly strain of rabies in David Cronenberg's RABID.  When a motrocycling couple are in an accident, an experimental skin grafting procedure on the woman causes her to develop a bloodsucking organ that turns her victims into rabid killers.

REVIEW LINK: Scream Factory/Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

RABID Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by director David Cronenberg
• Audio Commentary by Cronenberg book author William Beard
• Audio Commentary by "Golden Goddess" author Jill Nelson and Marilyn Chambers' personal appearances manager Ken Leicht
• Interview with David Cronenberg
• "Independent Spirit" interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman
• "Northern Exposure" interview with co-producer Don Carmody
• "Young And Rabid" interview with actress Susan Roman
• "From Stereo to Video" video essay
• Photo Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• 3 Radio Spots
• Reversible Cover
• Collector's Slipcover

Hutson Ranch taps into THE ID (review)

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET's Amanda Wyss stars in this horror-tinged drama as a woman whose life has wasted away taking care of a sadistic and abusive invalid father.  The sudden reappearance of her high school crush in her life plunges father and daughter into a deadly game of emotional manipulation and physical abuse that can only culminate in murder and madness.  From the producers of NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY.

REVIEW LINK: Hutson Ranch Media (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE ID Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 stereo
• Audio Commentary by director/producer Timothy Hutson and actress Amanda Wyss
• Trailer
• Photo Gallery
• Audition Clips
• Behind the Scenes
• "Needs, Wants & Desires" featurette
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Start-up Trailers

Breaking Glass Pictures commits HARA KIRI (review)

Having just met and decided they are not meant for this world, skaters Beto and August decide to go out like kings.  On their planned last day of existence, Beto starts seeing the world anew while August continues to pine for something better and pushes Beto to take the next step with him.

REVIEW LINK: Breaking Glass Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

HARA KIRI DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• English Closed Captioning
• QA with director Henry Alberto
• Deleted Scenes
• Alternate Takes
• Auditions
• Trailer
• Previews

Big World Pictures presents IT'S ALL SO QUIET (review)

Based on the novel by Gerbrand Bakker, IT'S ALL SO QUIET details the lonely existence of Helmer, a middle-aged farmer who dutifully yet resentfully looks after his invalid father and generally shuns contact with the outside world, more so as family friends, neighbors, and regular tradesmen die, retire, or move on with their lives while he is trapped in an emotional stasis. When he hires a young farmhand, long suppressed desires come to the fore,

REVIEW LINK: Big World Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

IT'S ALL SO QUIET DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Trailer
• Previews 

Wolfe Video spends the holidays in SHARED ROOMS (review)

Gay men often make their own families, which is even more true during the holidays as a group of friends find their holidays rocked by the arrival of a twinkish nephew, a holiday hookup that turns into something more, and roommates forced to share the same bed due to canceled travel plans and an AirBnB reservation.

REVIEW LINK: Wolfe Video (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

SHARED ROOMS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Rob Williams & actors Alec Manley Wilson, Justin Xavier, Robert Werner, and Christopher Grant Pearson
• Blooper Reel
• Trailer
• Previews

Big World Pictures rears THE ALMOST MAN (review)

With a baby on the way, thirty-five year old manchild Henrik has moved in with his girlfriend into a prefab house and started a buttoned down job.  He tries to repress his partying ways but they begin to manifest themselves in unpredictable ways.

REVIEW LINK: Big World Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE ALMOST MAN DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Norwegian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Trailer
• Previews

Kino Lorber falls into THE PIT (review)

The Canadian oddity THE PIT stars Sammy Snyders (Tom Sawyer from HUCKLEBERRY FINN AND HIS FRIENDS) as a misfit kid whose only friends are a talking teddy bear and flesh-eating creatures in a pit deep in the woods.  When he must find a way to feed his starving friends, Teddy tells him to feed them all of the people who have been wicked to him.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE PIT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jason Pichonsky and Paul Corupe from Canuxploitation.com
• Interview with Star Sammy Snyders
• Interview with Star Jeannie Elias
• Interview with Screenwriter Ian A. Stuart
• Interview with Composer Victor Davies
• Bonus Trailers

Vinegar Syndrome spawns HOBGOBLINS (review)

Rick Sloane's HOBGOBLINS break loose from the film vaults again to terrorize humanity on Blu-ray.  A curious night watchman at a studio lets loose alien creatures that grant the wishes of unsuspecting victims who pay the price for realizing their greatest fantasies.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

HOBGOBLINS Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Disc One (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• Disc Two (DVD):
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Rick Sloane
• "Hobgoblins Revisited"
• Interview with creature creator Kenneth J. Hall
• "Hogboblins: The Making of a Disasterpiece"
• "Hobgoblins Invade Comic-Con"
• Trailer

Arrow Video USA goes underground with C.H.U.D. (review)

People are disappearing beneath the surface of the streets of New York, victims of creatures known as C.H.U.D.s (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) in this quirky eighties cult classic starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, Kim Greist, Christopher Curry, and featuring early appearances by Patricia Richardson, Sam McMurray, John Goodman, and Jay Thomas.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

C.H.U.D. Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (Integral 96 minute cut)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary with director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry
• Audio Track featuring isolated score selections and an interview with composers Martin Cooper and David A. Hughes
• "A Dirty Look" interview with production designer William Bilowit
• "Dweller Designs" interview with special make-up effects/creature creator John Caglione Jr.
• "Notes from Above Ground: The NYC Locations of C.H.U.D." featurette
• "Behind-the-Scenes Gallery" slideshow
• Extended Shower Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two (Theatrical cut)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
• Collector’s booklet featuring a new writing on the film by Michael Gingold.

Scream Factory is possessed by THE EXORCIST III: LEGION (review)

THE EXORCIST III, the true sequel to William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST, written and directed by author William Peter Blatty from his own novel LEGION finds Lt. Kinderman (George C. Scott) investigating murders that appear to be committed by the Gemini Killer.  The problem is, the Gemini Killer died in the electric chair fifteen years ago on the same night as a certain fateful exorcism.

REVIEW LINK: Scream Factory/Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE EXORCIST III Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (Theatrical Cut):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Vintage Featurette
• Deleted Scene, Altrenate Takes, and Bloopers
• Deleted Prologue
• Vintage Interviews (38 minutes)
• Photo Galleries
• Two Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Disc Two (Director's Cut):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty
• "A 'Wonderfull' Time" interview with producer Carter De Haven and more
• "Signs of the Gemini" interview with actor Brad Dourif
• "The Devil in the Details" interview with production designer Leslie Dilley
• "Music for a Padded Cell" interview with composer Barry De Vorzen
• "All This Bleeding" a look at the reshoot and special effects
• Reversible Cover
• Collector's Slipcover

Garagehouse Pictures worships THE SATANIST (review)

Long believed to be lost until a print was recovered in 2014, documentarian Zoltan G. Spencer's THE SATANIST depicts a couple who escape to the country after the husband's nervous breakdown and fall in with a sexy cult of Satanists.  Dancer Pat Barrington stars as the sexy succubus and also appears in the disc's co-feature SISTERS IN LEATHER in which a businessman is blackmailed by a lesbian biker gang when he is photographed having sex with a hitchhiker.

REVIEW LINK: Garagehouse Pictures (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE SATANIST Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by film historians Chris Poggiali and Ashley West
• Blu-ray Teaser Trailer
• Bonus Feature Film "Sisters in Leather" 
• Previews

Simply Media feasts on TANDOORI NIGHTS (review)

Saeed Jaffrey stars in this sitcom look at British and Indian race relations in the eighties as an upscale restaurant owner tugged between tradition and capitalist success.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

TANDOORI NIGHTS Series 1 and 2 DVD specs:

• Twelve episodes on two dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

Simply Media invites you to MEET THE WIFE (review)

Thora Hird and Freddie Frinton star in this early BBC domestic sitcom as a plumber and his nagging wife who always have something to fight about but always make up in the end.  Through a pilot and five series, they deal with an out-of-control modern bed, vacation woes, entertaining clients, and dealing with their empty nest.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver) 

MEET THE WIFE DVD specs:

• Pilot plus six series one episodes and the surviving episodes from seasons two, four, and five on three discs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles

Simply Media awakens SLEEPERS (review)

Warren Clarke and Nigel Havers play Soviet spies sent to Britain as sleeper agents in the sixties and forgotten about until their operation is discovered and the KGB, the CIA, and MI-5 are soon in pursuit of two men who have become thoroughly British and have no plans to return home, even if that means leaving behind everything they have built up in the last twenty years and all they have come to care for.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL (DVDBeaver)

SLEEPERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD specs:

• Four episodes on one dual-layer disc
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles 

Second Run's falling star: STELLA CADENTE (review)

In Catalan director Luis Minarro's is a fanciful depiction of the brief rule of Spain by Amadeo I, Duke of Aosta.  Threatened by assassins and dismissed by his own bank-run government, Amadeo's ideals crumble and he is left to erotic and aesthetic distractions supplied by his confidante and castle servants.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (UK) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

STELLA CADENTE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Catalan Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Documentary film "Familystrip" (69 minutes)
• Liner Notes Booklet by film programmer Neil Young 

Raro Video USA celebrates a SACRIFICE! (review)

Umberto Lenzi inadvertently jump-started the Italian cannibal film subgenre with the Italian take on A MAN CALLED HORSE.  British news photographer John Bradley is in Thailand on a photo story.  When he gets into a fight at a bar and accidentally kills a man, he goes off the beaten track and ends up trapped by an ancient tribe.  Escaping proves to be a problem because enemy cannibal tribes surround the village and the chief's daughter has fallen in love with him.  Released in the states as SACRIFICE! but better known as THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER.

REVIEW LINK: Raro Video USA (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

SACRIFICE! Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• English and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Cannibal World" featurette with Umberto Lenzi, writer Francesco Barilli, and actress Me Me Lei
• Collector's Booklet

Arrow Video USA undertakes THE INITIATION (Review)

MELROSE PLACE's Daphne Zuniga and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL's Hunter Tylo are among the young and vulnerable pledges who spend the night in a shopping mall with a psychotic killer in the eighties slasher THE INITIATION.  Also stars RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD's Clu Gulager, PSYCHO's Vera Miles, and REMINGTON STEELE's James Read.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE INITIATION Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
• Interview with writer Charles J. Pratt Jr.
• Interview with actor Christopher Bradley
• Interview with actress Joy Jones
• Extended Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver

Vinegar Syndrome spends ALL NIGHT AT THE BIZARRE ART THEATRE (review)

Stay up all night with twelve 16mm storefront porn oddities dealing with secret cults, depraved killers, deranged rapists, sex-mad yetis, and sexy conspiracies. 

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

ALL NIGHT AT THE BIZARRE ART THEATRE DVD specs:

• Twelve films scanned in 2K from 16mm archival elements
• Three dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono 

Paramount Pictures colorizes I LOVE LUCY SUPERSTAR SPECIAL (review)

Aired on television in 2015, this colorized I LOVE LUCY special pairs the episodes "L.A. at Last!" in which Lucy goes searching for the stars and William Holden ends up with a pie in his face, and "Lucy Meets Superman" in which Lucy dresses up as Superman for her son's birthday party and requires the rescue of the real thing (George Reeves) when she ends up on a ledge in a thunderstorm.

REVIEW LINK: Paramount Pictures/CBS (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

I LOVE LUCY SUPERSTAR SPECIAL DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
• Colorized and Black and White versions of both episodes
• Audio Commentary on "Lucy Meets Superman"