May 22, 2020

For hardcore physical media collectors, we have our buying patterns down pat. There are some new releases and special editions we just can’t wait on. Certain titles are instant pre-orders, especially the limited editions. But then there are those spots on our calendars that we save several months in advance for. Criterion’s half off sale with Barnes & Noble. Christmas season. Black Friday. For specialty genre label Vinegar Syndrome, they’ve laid their claim over the now annual “halfway to Black Friday” sale where the majority of their titles are 50% off, and they usually surprise us with a few new previously unannounced movies.

Since I tend to consume everything I can, a lot of friends come to me right before these sales and ask what they should focus on? What’s the best of the bunch? What are essential must-owns that should be in every collection? I’ve compiled this list for those friends, and figured it was also worth sharing with our devoted Fangoria readers as well!

There are different tiers to these recommendations, so let’s start with what I consider to be essential must-owns in Vinegar Syndrome’s discography.

You’re going to want to start with the 1989 “slasher” cult classic Cutting Class, which features the second movie appearance from a young Brad Pitt, Donovan Leitch Jr (The Blob 88) and Jill Schoelen (Popcorn, Phantom Of The Opera 89). It’s a pretty wacky high school murder who-dun-it. The way that Jill Schoelen’s father disappears and reappears in the movie is pretty unintentionally hysterical, but overall, this is just a fun VHS-era gem for those of you that love your “slashers.”

And speaking of, there’s also Madman, the 1981 “Cropsy” inspired flick from the late director Joe Giannone, which introduced us to Madman Marz! You may have caught this on a recent episode of Joe Bob Brigg’s The Last Drive-In on Shudder, but I assure you, you’ll want this pristine Blu-Ray that includes a feature-length documentary on the making-of and enduring cult history of Madman!

Christmas Evil is a legitimate holiday set drama following the mental deterioration of a dangerously disturbed man (in a Santa costume, of course), played by Fiona Apple’s dad, Brandon Maggart!

Also, you can’t go wrong with There’s Nothing Out There, THERE’S a fun comedy horror piece that opens in a video store and eventually lands in cabin in the woods territory when a feisty little green alien attacks a group of horror-savvy teens! Writer/Director Rolfe Kanefsky’s been pounding the pavement with dozens of genre fare since this debut, but this disc could very well be the most stacked special edition in Vinegar Syndrome’s entire library, boasting bonus features, commentaries, documentaries and more!

Those were the sure-fire winners. If you’re looking for fun stuff that’s definitely worth checking out, their recent 1990 Los Angeles set New Wave influenced vampire tale Pale Blood might be up your alley. It’s got Wings Hauser and Darcy Demoss! The Australian gore cult classic Body Melt is definitely a surprising splatter-filled gem waiting to be discovered. You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts! Early 80’s video store favorite Mausoleum features some killer practical FX from the late, great John Carl Buechler and is so bonkers, that it has to be seen to be believed! George Kennedy and Clu Gulager star in Uninvited, a boat set 80’s horror flick with a cat that vomits out a monster cat that kills people. If you love the original Night Of The Demons, you should definitely check out director Kevin Tenney’s underrated follow-up Witchtrap. In David DeCoteau’s Nightmare Sisters, scream queens Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, and Michelle Bauer start out as college nerds and transform into nude sex starved succubus! In equally bizarre horror comedy territory is Gorman Bechard’s romantic Psychos In Love! If you want to drop the laughs and just watch something with that serious 70’s exploitation grit, look no further than Sudden Fury, a very suspenseful thriller in which a good Samaritan is pushed too far!

So, the following fall in the “silly” category, and may not necessarily be “great” genre offerings, but I can assure you they’re all thoroughly entertaining and will be a blast with a small group of friends. (From an appropriate distance, of course.) Part Evil Dead, and part what could easily be the main inspiration for Cabin In The Woods comes the 1990 stunner Demon Wind! Spoiler alert: that demon on the lenticular cover is not in the movie, but karate kicking beer cans is! The long sought after Spookies finally arrived on Blu-Ray late last year; a film from two completely different directors with different visions in mind that somehow magically fuses into this crazy little fever dream.

Unmasked Part 25 is a British made Friday The 13th spoof that somehow becomes less spoof and more serious character study about a deformed serial killer that falls in love with one of his would-be victims, who also happens to be blind. There is nothing quite like a confused hockey-mask wearing killer wandering the streets of London, confused and slightly heartbroken! Speaking of Psychos In Love director Gorman Bechard, another oddity in his filmography is 1984’s Disconnected, which features two twin girls played by the same actress, Frances Raines, the grand niece of legendary Claude Raines! One of the twins works at a video store frequented by a serial killer that she starts dating! And then it gets weird. And hey, did you love Panos Cosmatos’ masterpiece Mandy? Remember that bizarre movie that Nicolas Cage is watching at one point while on the couch with his love? That’s Nightbeast, the 1982 sci-fi horror flick that a young 16 year old JJ Abrams worked on as his first on-set feature experience! And of course, Vinegar Syndrome has lovingly restored Nightbeast to all its former glory. Why? So you can own it!!!

If you want the best bang for your buck, look into a few of their box sets. Amityville: The Cursed Collection is actually a pretty darned good collection of four of the latter Amityville sequels, some of which feature familiar faces like Patty Duke, Megan Ward, David Naughton and Terry O’Quinn! All of them have special features, including a video interview with every director of each sequel. I’ve just started diving into their recently released Forgotten Giallo collection, and it’s got some never-before-released-in-America Spanish horror gems, like Trauma; a 70’s style giallo riff on Psycho! And from what I’ve heard, they’re running pretty low on their Vice Academy and Angel collections as well.

Look, tastes are different for all of us. These are mostly examples of the films I’m most stoked to have in my home collection. My advice would be to jump on You Tube and watch the trailers to the ones you’re contemplating putting in your cart for the upcoming sale. Meanwhile, you can also listen to Vinegar Syndrome’s recent appearance on the Shock Waves podcast for even more guidance and suggestions! (Such as The Candy Snatchers.) Embedded below for your convenience!