You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.

Hello everyone, Welcome back early October edition of Punk Vacation and unofficial Winninger Syndrome podcast.

As you all know, Punk Vacation is all about finding the joy in unfettered creativity.

I want to use this podcast as a way to bring awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere and during any time.

And for the last time, I will introduce this podcast as I have a goal, because I am overjoyed to start saying we have a mission.

Eli Oldsberg has agreed to my begging to have him come on and join as a co host for Punk Vacation for every episode.

Eli, I cannot thank you enough for saying yes.

I Oh, I can't thank you enough.

Christ just to give a little peek behind the curtain by you begging, I couldn't have said yes quicker.

As soon as you started the begging.

I was immediately like, oh, absolutely, and I think I did, and even like in all caps if you can picture it that way.

So no, thank you.

It really is an honor, you know.

I I pretty much when I'm not working, this is what I'm this is what I'm up to in terms of what I'm watching and how I have my conversations with friends and shit.

So it's cool to be able to do this with you because every episode I've done with you so far has been a blast, and so happy to keep doing it on a on a consistent basis.

With all the guests you bring on.

Yeah awesome.

Well it shows and everything you've you know, everything you've ever said, or any kind of thoughts you have around the subject.

It feels like you are steeped into it.

So this was a no brainer from my side.

And for anybody that was getting used to the rhythm of two episodes per month, they may notice that September and August were inconsistent when when the episodes dropped, and everything just kind of worked out perfectly for the timing of this and for you coming in and helping out and really infuse some new life into this.

So just thank you, yeah, think thank you again.

And I did say this, I don't know if you remember.

Back before you had me on as a guest, I had just you know, hit you up on Discord and I was like, hey, you know what I love about the show is I always want to up in the middle of the conversation.

That's how that's that's the best compliment I think you could give a podcast, and so it's nice to actually be able to do that every week now.

But also I hope other people feel that way when they're hearing us talk.

Yeah, I'm sure with the amount of time I get stuff wrong, there's a lot of opportunities to want to jump in.

So but no, it's it's that's a that's a very high compliment.

So thank you.

And yeah, I think like, look, we were talking before the show about like where this this idea of punk vacation can even go even beyond the podcast to maybe some some different places online or more active on social media.

So I think there's a lot of exciting directions this can go.

From the beginning, I've made this very clear, I never want this to be the Chris Haskell show.

You know, so happy when Celeste came on and agreed to do the fifteen minutes with You segment and really did dive into the adult titles, and yeah, I just think that everything is always wide open for me.

So so I this is a perfect timing and a perfect perfect person to come in and do it.

Stoke super Stoke let's just let's jump right into it, right.

Let's go so holy cow.

First of all, for October.

I couldn't have said it better myself, holy cow, like I would have just had holy fucking shit, maybe all one word like no spaces like truly.

I again think that like when people think about like February or July being like because that's historically this year, there's have been the months where people were really like pulling their hair out of their head about the lineup.

I think this is another one of those months like September where it's just a it answers that really well, like it balances it out perfectly, if not more.

Oh yeah uh this yeah, this, this has this is something for everybody.

I was digging into these like a background of some of these films that I didn't know as much about, and it just feels right up the vinegar syndrome allley like it just I don't know, I think this is perfect and it makes me very excited for November.

Well because that you know, they because they said they were like, you know, if you thought last year when we dropped the keep was a big one, get ready like and I was like, okay, if that's if you really want to put those words out there, let's uh, let's party.

I would love for that to be topped.

Let's go amazing.

Well.

October has four mainline titles, so a good month for the subscribers.

It has a VSA, and it has a cinematograph.

It has a ton of merch, which you know, we don't really spend a lot of time on merch because I don't think either of you or I buy too much.

This is a lot of Halloween theme stuff, so if you want some spooky season merch, this is good one more time.

Two of the four shirts are cinematograph.

Actually, there's a really sweet one though with the satan's yep symbol.

What's it called the pentagram pagram?

Thank you sorry the word e scame me for a second with the goat on it the cinematograph title.

That's pretty sweet shirt.

Actually, yeah, I like the projector one with the skull and yeah they also they you know, this was even though it's like, I'm glad it was a little slower on the partner now, excuse me, not the partner of the sub label side.

The partner label side will never be slow, but the sub label side was like pretty pretty minor, which which is good.

I don't mean minor by like, sorry, I should say just you know, it's only two titles because they went and we could talk about this one later too, but they went also very hard in the paint with some major Melu scene announcements like big ones.

Yeah.

Yeah, So I was like really happy about that because it's it's definitely gonna be a smaller box for me this month, but not in a bad way at all.

Yeah.

Absolutely, yeah, they yeah, they I don't know.

I think between October and November.

My my hunch is that they're gonna have a ton of male scene stuff as well coming out right at the end of the year.

Oh yeah, we can also talk about that.

They did make a couple of big announcements.

I'll when we get to the Melu scene titles.

Right before we do, we could talk about the couple of major announcements they made in regards to like a new line and stuff.

Awesome.

Great.

So five fourteen is where they're up to now in terms of spying number, and it's probably the one that is the most the least like a typical VS release, But I'm still really pumped for it.

So The Man Who Could Cheat Death is five fourteen.

There's going to be six thousand of these in the limited edition, and the standard is already selling super well.

It's a little hard to tell exactly how many they start with on the standard, but I'm assuming they have two thousand and so they've sold already over a thousand of these.

I actually want to say it's it might be.

Yeah, you could be right.

I've seen some standards where it looks like they start from one thousand or from five hundred, But I guess it depends on the title.

You're right, this is probably a bigger title, so it probably would be two thousand, since it's a retail version anyway.

But they did bring back for the slip cover.

They kind of did a they did the Slaughterhouse slip cover where it pulls apart because of his face, the two faces.

If people don't remember slot Slaughterhouse years ago, they did a they did a split slip cover, so it breaks down rather in the middle than from the side, similar to a Blade in the Dark where that pulls like diagonally, but this one's from the side and it has like but this one has like the booklet and everything.

Yeah, it's a great it's a it's a big addition.

This is a Hammer production, but it's a it's an American co production.

I think I want to say Paramount.

Could be it is Paramount.

Yeah, okay, awesome, And it's from one of the great horror directors, Terrence Fisher, one of the great kind of classic Gothic horror directors.

I guess I should say.

Yeah, And I think, didn't he direct I feel like he directed some outside of like horror stuff he directed.

I'm drawing kind of a blank, but I know, yeah, I mean, obviously he directed Dracula and Churse of Franken's Sign and The Mummy.

But no, I guess I'm you know what, I'm confusing him with someone else.

But yeah, it's like, I know he Foresight A Triangle just got to release.

Also, I think from yeah, imprint, I want to say, it got like a big, a big box.

But yeah, it's a this looks great.

I'll let you kind of take over for a second because I'm just like so still reading up on kind of what the features were, because I remember this one.

I was like, actually more excited about this than I was a couple of the other titles awesome.

Well, no, I mean I think it's you know, they've used VSL to put out some of the maybe like British war stuff, and I think that's it.

I don't think they've done a lot.

Oh they did a I think they did an amachist title.

Didn't they do Doctor Terror?

House of Horrors?

Okay, fine, fair enough?

So that was not that was on the main line.

That was mainline and but no, you're right.

I mean VSL is definitely where where a lot of that stuff, where a lot of it thrives.

Yeah.

Really, they don't really go outside of that too often.

So it is cool that this got like a mainline release and one that is like jam fucking packed, because I thought this was like more bare bones, which I should have known better, but reading it beyond the beyond, like the the actual different versions of the movie they have, especially for something this old is really key.

Yeah, so that's that's that's a really interesting point.

So this old is really key here.

So nineteen fifty nine, the movie has Hazel Court, which is you know, he has a very famous sort of character actor and using a lot of British movies Anton differing who is that you recognize his face from a lot of British horror, and then probably the main attraction obviously is Christopher Lee.

And it had a new scene in it in nineteen fifty nine, which is interesting, and it actually got censored and that that cut was not allowed to be shown.

So the This is the World like the first time ever on any home video release of the uncut version of this movie, which is kind of cool.

It is, yeah, and it's not like it's sometimes with the alternate versions, you only get them as like Blu ray only, but this is like seamless branching on the four K, So that's like really I love when they're able to get like different versions in four K as well, even if sometimes I don't think with this one unless they put text in front, but I don't see anything here about it.

But like sometimes they'll have to put like a kind of like a preface at the beginning of the movie.

That's like just the FYI.

We could only source this from a you know, a SD Master or an Inner Positive, which I love that they do that because it still gives you like the most complete version.

But I think this one it looks like it's because the version just got cut for one censor ship.

The negatives probably exist since displayed in the US obviously with the topless version, it seems.

Yeah, absolutely, so that'll be Yeah, that'll be nice to see it in the I guess the best quality.

But it's cool.

They get Kim Newman on.

It's really fun to listen to Kim Newman.

And then they also have Jonathan Rigby.

Very fun to hear both of them talk about hammer horror stuff.

They're both kind of encyclopedias, so I'm excited for the behind the scenes stuff they have on this as well.

I don't know Vic Pratt, and forgive me for not knowing him, but I'm sure you know they don't source these names, and people lightly so very pumped to see to learn who that is.

And then they have another so yeah, I mean they've got a thirty minute feature just from Jonathan Rigby, twenty five minute from Vic Pratt, seventeen minute from Melanie Williams talking about Hazel Court, plus a commentary, plus another seven minute feature with an interview with one of the AD's forty pound book Like, this thing is totally stacked.

This is a wonderful release.

Yeah, it's cool.

I agree.

I like when when these get made, because I'm sorry when these get released, because you're right, Like, I know more when it comes to commentaries and special feature like people who make video essays and stuff.

I'm used to a very specific stable myself, but this movie is even a little out of It's not out of bs's wheelhouse entirely, but it is I think out of their mainline wheelhouse.

And so obviously it's like you said, they clearly went out to get people who, let's say this was a Criterion release or an eighty eight films released, it's probably the same people who would be on those.

Yeah, right, you know exactly, So that's super pumped for this.

I will I'll be watching this as soon as it comes in.

Same they.

I don't know.

Yeah, it's hard to tell how well this is selling for them, but anyways, I think it's if they get into gothic horror, that also opens up a lot of interesting avenues for them, even outside of the UK.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

I mean it could be a testing ground for that too, like you know, to see how how it does.

But I also think that you know, they're they're becoming a bigger company, and I also know that I mean, all the shit that's been going on between like tariffs and you know, like that kind of stuff.

Who knows how.

I often wonder like just economically, if some of the sales, if it slows down, I don't know if it even has anything to do with VS.

You know what I mean, like how much of it's out of their hands, because yeah, it's now that we there's no way to really look on like a counter unless it drops below two thousand, it's hard to know how these are selling.

I remember before it cut off, Before when you could look on that, I think it was like on someone had pointed out it was like the OCN distro side or something.

I was surprised that Mac and Meee had only sold two thousand copies like in its first until that that fact, the little the little number count cut off.

But you know, I thought to myself, I'm like, I don't know if that's really a VS issue.

That might be, Like sometimes I think some of the stuff is just you know, where we're at economically.

Maybe, But I have a feeling this one in particular, especially because it has such a cool type of slip cover.

I know that that stuff's very appealing to people.

I think this will move fairly quick.

Well, and there's so I guess we should mention if you want to get the four movies that came out, they have one hundred and sixty seven dollars option, or if you want to get the VSA and the cinematograph, they have a two hundred and thirty seven dollars option.

And I think as we go through this, well you'll start to see kind of at some point you're just like, all right, fine, I'll.

Just buy the blind right right exactly, But.

Anyway, so okay, man, you could cheat death pumped about that.

Also shout out to Hammer who must have somebody working in there that understands the value of nice boxes for physical media for sure, because holy like some of these ones that have been coming in are beautiful.

Yeah, I love I love this one.

I actually want to get, Like I only get protectors when I have to put them somewhere where that it gets dusty because they're not like spine together.

This might be one of those ones that makes it on like the wall for me, because I love the design of this.

Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, So then that was five fourteen, five point fifteen.

Now it's a trauma film.

You said that Sergeant Kabuki Man is like a mid tier trauma for you, although you love trauma, right, Yeah.

Yeah, that's exactly right.

I grew up on trauma, especially in my teen years.

But for some reason, Sergean Kabuki Man just didn't didn't hit for me, even at even at a young age.

But this next title sure as fuck did oh hit real hard for me when I was when I was a teenager, I love this movie.

Tell your story about Tromeo and Juliet, because I'll tell you I have a brief one I can share as well.

But do you remember, yeah.

You know what I remember particularly was I so I gotten a trauma during the VHS time.

But then when I was old enough, when I got my first job at sixteen, I started buying DVDs and the first one of the first DVD's I bought was Toxic Avenger because you could actually buy it and it wasn't like you could get it at a best buy.

It wasn't.

And I remember the thing I loved about the features Trauma, especially back then, they knew how to cut fucking trailers.

They had the perfect voiceover guy, It had the right sense of humor, about it.

The surf Nazis Must Die trailer at the time was one of my favorite friend my friend Sydney, and I used to watch it all the time.

The movie unfortunately doesn't even come close to living up to it, but Death Bite Temptation.

AnyWho, there was a Tromeo and Julia one and it's actually how I discovered Motorhead because I remember Lemmy shows up and so I was like, Okay, I gotta watch this asap, and I went to a Borders.

I was able to finally track it down out of Borders and I watched it and I just loved it.

I don't have a particular story in terms of like, I just remember watching it back to back with Terror Firm.

I bought them together because they were both there.

Terror Farmer was the one I was And again this isn't a knock on Tromeo Julia being picked, but that was my secret wish because I still think the R rated version of that is one of the funniest fuck used to the MPAA I've ever seen.

And some of that's tied to me being a teenager, because if I saw it uninitiated as a grown up, I'd be like, oh, these jokes are really silly.

But at the time, if you people forget how much of a stronghold the NPA had in the nineties, it was like a It was truly like a fucking religious organization the way they ran that shit, and so how Lloyd Kaufman worked around that was amazing.

So Tromeo and Juliet I watched Second because I watched Tara Farmer like three times, and then I watched Troumian.

Julia loved it and also watch it like three times, like back to back to back.

I just watched it throughout the week.

It's just such a funny movie.

And yeah, what's what's your story?

Uh?

Well I had so I've told you before how I worked at a Blockbuster that had actually had a trauma section, right.

That's right.

Yeah, And so we my friends were like, Okay, you got to check this out, but don't be put off because there's a scene where the dude gets his head smashed in and when he gets his head smashed and it cuts to a watermelon with a smiley face, and they were saying it like it was a bad thing.

But in my mind, I was like, oh, I got to see this, So like I was kind of going in excited, and it just there's such a chaotic energy to this.

But this is true with a lot of trauma stuff.

It's even true with kabuki.

Man, Like in the behind the Scenes feature, Cofin was talking about how he brought an expert in on kobuki theater, so that even in this silly movie, like nothing that they were saying was inaccurate, right, right, right, And like this is the same thing with Tromeo and Juliet.

Is they actually like did a good job of representing Shakespeare.

I agree, yeah, yeah, oh absolutely, I mean that's what you see.

You know, Lloyd Coffin's whole thing was always that he was actually like it.

If I remember correctly, he was in theater in college.

I could be wrong about that.

He might have just been in film school.

But you know, I just remember him talking about like that he loves Shakespeare.

It's not like he was It's not like he was adapting it as like a means of being crude towards Shakespeare.

So I think you're right.

I think he splits the difference of being a typical trauma movie, even including the great shot of the car going into the air and you know, but also being true to the source material.

Yeah, yeah, like he obviously knows it, respects it.

But there's the similarity I always pull people, like I always tell people is that if you watch Monty Python's Life of Brian, you can tell that they actually have had a background in the Bible, because yeah, everything in that movie is very accurate to Christianity.

It's just like a satire of it, or that's right, but it's not inaccurate really, and so it's it's more radical and more funny if you really understand the source material, where it's not just totally's any And I think I think this is in a similar spirit where he really likes Shakespeare you can tell, or has experience with it, but it's fully a trauma movie.

Well, I think.

I think also where Kaufman's strength are as a director, I think where he shined the most as far as like adapting the trauma ethos to each era of film.

I think the eighties and the nineties are where he really was able to shine.

I think later when when digital became more not even normalized, I mean even when like like mini DV filmmaking happened, and you know what he's like I just think when things became so postmodern, I don't know that Trauma kept up well, I can't say, but I could say that this is as far as the nineties go.

You know, Terror Firmer, they really kept off the decade really well.

But but with titles that they both acquired and what he was putting out, I think Tromo and Juliet's kind of the net like that, that synthesis of those things of like being trauma and being independent and being punk whatever that even means anymore.

You know, that word obviously lost its meaning even before the nineties.

But like you know, but the closest he could get to that I think was like a was that ethos?

Yeah, yeah, kind of outsider art.

But we can't talk about this without mentioning the screenwriter of Tromeo.

And that's right who the little known guy now in Hollywood named James Gunn and his brother Sean gun is all over this, that's right.

Yeah, I wonder I'm looking at the features and like I know that that.

You know, one thing Trauma did was they jam packed their special features on the DVDs, right, oh yeah, and so there's this is no different.

There's like you know, they include like the DVD and the LaserDisc intros, and clearly some of this is like archival, And they also have Tales from the Crapper, which I'm not sure if it's the whole movie.

That's like a movie that was in the early two thousands that features like a bunch of cameos from like, if I remember correctly, even the band Newfound Glories in it, and like like all the all the people who worked for Trauma who like went on to do bigger things, Like there's a lot of cameos and obviously Trauma regulars.

But I'm sure if that's crazy, if that's the whole if Tails from the Crapper the movie itself is like a bonus feature on here.

I don't remember liking it, but it was, like I think the movie kind of felt like most people, I don't think think of it as like an unsung trauma or something, you know what I mean.

It's just but it's still it's a fun curio totally.

But I think to your point, I mean, James Gunn is all over this.

Yeah, I'm wondering how much of this is archival, because I know it says like there's a few brand new featurettes and interviews with like Lloyd Kaufman, Will Keenan, the lead, Jane Jensen, and even like Debbie Rashaan And it is awesome.

Yeah, but like I also see there's a bunch of archival interviews and then also like deleted scenes with commentary with James Gunn.

So I do wonder how many of those were made at the time versus if they're new.

But either way, it's awesome that they poured it over everything and are giving you a bunch of new stuff.

This is like great, Like literally, I feel like the menu is gonna have like three pages.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's there's we can spend ten minutes just going through all the special features on here.

But there's the interesting thing is there's an interview with just a commentary excuse me, with just Lloyd Kaufman, one with James and Sean Gunn, and then one with James Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman.

Yeah, and then another one with like the editor of the movie with and then with the editor of poultry Geist.

And like it's it's crazy that to me.

Also, how and if I remember correctly, James Gunn wrote the script for really like I think it was.

And I don't know where I'm getting this from, but if I remember correctly, he only got paid like less than two thousand bucks to write it, I think.

Okay, I mean Trauma is notorious for not paying much.

Right right, No, I don't mean that.

I mean back then, I think that was.

It was just like a badge of honor to write it for him, you know what I mean.

Like, I don't think that it was.

I'm not saying that as like an indictment or anything, just to be clear, but it's just crazy to think about how this guy, like, you know, struggling in New York was writing the script, you know, just because it was an opportunity that presented itself.

And now look where he's at.

You know, it's like it's like amazing.

Yeah, yeah, I mean there's Trauma is kind of all over Hollywood in some ways if you think about, especially when you start getting into the crew and some of the editors and stuff.

Oh yeah.

But the the interesting thing is I would actually love to hear from those two editors because if Trauma had a like a mount Rushmore culture, guyst is on there, right.

Oh you think so?

I mean, yeah, like in terms of first of all, name recognition, and I also think of in terms of like quality of film, like if you look at best of movies lists, m hm Ultra Guist is the only one that ever shows up on movies list.

It's like people discover it and it's it's like it's not so out there, yeah, but it's but it's like a it's a fun movie and it's a crazy idea and like it's made well.

So I think I think that's the one that shows up the most frequently in terms of like critical discussions of Trauma as like one of the best.

Oh interesting, I have not thought of that movie much, and maybe this looks more to me.

I'm the like if you told me about Mount Rushmore, obviously Toxy would be the first, the first one, and then like Kabuki Man and and like Class of Newcomb High and and Tromio and Juliet.

I always think of those because whereas kind of what I was referring to, and this is my opinion on it, I feel like that was the turning point where Trauma kind of felt like I was like, all right, I think they've aged out of what they're what they're about.

But this is also opening my mind to like I didn't realize poultry Geist was an entry point for people.

I know a few people on the discord were like, hey, uh, I can't wait till they announced poultry Geist, which I don't know if they shot that on film or not, but so I don't know if that would get a mainline release or if that would be something more specialized.

But yeah, it's not when I think of very often when I think of trauma personally, I think of the ones I just named, and also you know, like terror, Firmer and death.

And then I also think of like death by Temptation.

But obviously we're talking about there's like the Kaufman ones, and then there's the non Kaufman ones, right, so like obviously when it's the non Coffman ones, death by Temptations usually at the top of the list.

And then like blood Sucking Freaks, and again these are like endorsements on my I think Death by Temptation is like a legit.

It's a beautiful film, like a great film.

But and and Bloodsucking Freaks unfortunately never did and did it for me, but uh yeah, and then I'm missing one.

I feel like I'm missing one acquisition.

But this is also what I love about VS.

They really went hard on the stuff that was like that they acquired from, like either that Trauma had in house that they paid for or so not just Death by Temptation, but like the children super fun pigs.

I think that was like one of my discoveries this year that I just loved.

And uh and and and you know, like early Mother's Day.

Oh, that's the one I was thinking of.

It was Mother's Day.

Yeah, Mother's Day.

I still watched Rabbit Grannies.

That's right, that's a fun one.

I still haven't watched Sugar Cookies, but I know that's like that was an early early VS release.

Mm hmm.

Yeah, And that's probably up there for one of my favorite from Trauma, like for like the distribution.

Oh hell yeah.

But anyways, I the it's interesting you're talking about Taraf Firmer, so James Gunn wrote that as well.

Really yeah, he was one of the writers on Tara Firmer as well, and then he so like it's just an amazing start to his career and obviously you know where he is now.

You know, there's an interesting going from talking about vinegar Syndrome titles to the largest blockbuster of the summer in Superman, which is where he's at.

Now.

Yeah, there's a there's a scene in that I thought was very interesting, probably auto biographical, where Superman and Lois Lane are arguing about who's more punk rock?

Oh yeah, yeah, and he says like, no, like sometimes being nice as punk rock or I forget exactly how he says it, but like sometimes being good as punk rock or something like that.

And I was like, man, I bet you that he has that conversation a lot, because I bet you he himself as an outsider, right, yeah.

How can't you you know what I mean?

Like, like, it's it's when you reach that level if you start thinking of yourself as like as like part of the machine.

Uh, what do you do?

You know?

You do you feel like an artist or do you feel like a money man or a you know, or just like a piece of the bad part of of the of the equation, you know what I mean?

So yeah, absolutely, and no, I think that's that's definitely part of it for sure.

I mean, you know, he obviously also synthesized the you know, some politics into it, and but yeah, I think about well I think about that too.

With some filmmakers.

And I also think we're at an because all of the people we grew up watching they're, uh, they're they've already reached the second half of life, literally, you know what I mean there?

And so so most of them, most of the films that they're making, whether they're these big blockbusters or you know, anything from Once upon a Time in Hollywood to one Battle after another, even the beach bum, Harmony Karin's movie, Koreans movie, Excuse me, those are all kind of dealing with like either them becoming softer with age or trying to feel like am I out of touch?

Am I right?

They become like the principal Skinner meme or like that kind of stuff, And so, yeah, you're right, But I mean, you know, the fact that he you know what I like though, is he never disowns it, right, He's always like been happy about, you know, coming having his trauma roots and his like exploitation roots and stuff.

Absolutely, and here he is on the disc one hundred times.

So that's gonna be.

I hope that sells well for them, and I hope they continue to give trauma movies this kind of deluxe treatment.

I do feel like it should be worth noting if you're in Region B and you don't want to mess with tariffs and stuff.

Refuse Film just put out their second collection of trauma movies.

Four more trauma movies, so it's they they put out or maybe three more.

I can't remember.

Maybe there's three more, but they just put out hold On.

Yeah.

So I was like, Kabuki Man and and.

Well, their first couple of their first collection was Taxi, Cannibal and Kabuki Man.

That one came out and that one is still in stock, which I'm a little surprised at, but hopefully it's selling well.

This one is class of Newcomb High, Franken Hooker, and Decampitated.

Oh okay, that's interesting.

It's a shame they're not four k's.

I think that's probably what we deter people, you know.

But but and what I will say, from my understanding, VS actually handles most of the import fees with their purchases.

They're one of the few companies that I don't know how long that will last economically, but like I know, especially with subscribers, I know they've always done that.

But I'm pretty sure even if you order from them regardless, I think they actually take care of all the right now, like the import duties and stuff.

They're still they're still you know, So not to say not to buy refuse obviously, we're all grown ups.

You do what you want.

But I'm just I know some people want like four k's and they want the booklets and they want the slipcover stuff.

So I think that obviously whichever one you want to go with, but yeah, I know that that.

That's just I wanted to call that out.

And then I think it was either Imprint or Umbrella just put out just released an announcement about a TuxBox that that same set that I think has been around since the DVD era.

Probably Imprint, because my god, their announcement levels for a company that's in Australia, I'm like, how they must be the fucking monopoly there, because that is it's crazy how much they announce and how many things they put out.

Is it.

Yeah, Imprint is the one that has via Vision as well, right, that's correct?

Yeah, yeah, and via Vision is crazy because they'll release like, here's a forty five disc set of everything that I got the Christie ever did or something.

Yeah, yeah, I mean I think most of it obviously is meant to be like because it's in Australia, so it's it's obviously meant for an entire continent.

So so that's I think that's part of it.

But you know the fact that I still would venture to say that even in with that, they still have a pretty big a lot of people like to order the shit overseas too.

It's just shipping from Australia, from my understanding, is even more of a pain in the ass than like Europe or other places.

Yeah, I mean so, well, well, anyways, it it's it's a bit more expensive, yeah, for sure, but they do they do a pretty good job of trying to get free shipping in if they can.

But anyways, yeah, so five fourteen.

Five fifteen is Tromeo and Juliet.

Of all the ones in the Trauma collection, this is what I expect to sell pretty well.

We're recording this four days after.

I'm not seeing anything selling out yet.

But they did make eight thousand of them, so they also are excited about this one.

Okay, So I think five sixteen was a little bit of a surprise for p book because everyone was trying to guess what the second stereo Argento film was going to be and I didn't hear this one.

Guessed a lot.

For what it's worth, it was one of my guesses.

I actually got this one right, nailed it well because they said it was a Jallo And as soon as they say that, I was like, well, the other ones are talking about they're either licensed by their companies still or they're not Jallo.

So like, you know, obviously was the code writer, whoever had the whoever did the ones for the Blu rays, those were clearly the upgrades.

But yeah, it's uh, go ahead and go ahead and tell us what it is.

No, it's okay.

Yeah, it's starring Mark max Fan, Sito Stefano d'nisi, which is the famous you know, on a lot of Italian movies, and it is two thousand and one movie called Sleepless.

So that was that was a good pause because I was like, are you announcing two thousand and one of Space Odyssey the alternate version or something?

What is it?

Two thousand ten, the you remake Contactors?

Yep, that's right, Yeah, this is twenty This is twenty twenty, the year of the pandemic keeps anybody from getting to space.

We should be on mars By now damn it.

That's right.

Goblin came back to do the score for this in two thousand and one, which was nice to them.

The movie is lesser discussed our Gento, but I think it's actually still a pretty effective one.

I think this was until he did Dark Classes, his last really good one.

I didn't care for Mother of Tears or and then I man, a lot of those other ones were.

But.

Yeah, I saw it.

I mean, here's the other thing.

When we were talking about, like how excited we were out this month, what I'm also excited about with these movies, particularly with Tromeo and Juliet and this one.

I saw them both in the same year, which was in two thousand and one for the first time, and I don't think i've watched either since.

Maybe, if not two thousand and one, could be a couple of years later, but it's it's been twenty years for both of them.

I remember Tromeo and Juliell a lot better.

But I also remember when I watched Sleepless under It's I think it was the Italian title which I'm in a butcher, but I think it was non non so no.

And I remember liking it quite a bit.

Yeah, I also remember being too long, but that's a that's even with our juntos.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, that's the that's the argentle promise when it's not when it's not Suspiria or or one of the other ones I'm forgetting.

I think it's Crystal Plumage, but like, yeah, it's always like a bit too long.

But still it just has a lot of what he is when he cooks.

He's cooking with gas, right, and this is one of those movies where it has that when he's really cooking with it, the dish is getting really well prepped.

So I'm h that was a terrible analogy.

But anyway, he h, I'm still I'm still stoked for this for that reason.

It's been long enough that I'm really excited to revisit it.

Yeah, yeah, no, I totally agree.

I think, yeah, like He's he's an interesting one because I think this film, like I think he does well with extreme images or extreme concepts, and this one is kind of tapping into that idea of like sleeplessness and how it impacts the crime chase and all this kind of stuff that I think is is there's enough like meat on the bones for him to kind of have some fun with it.

I think for me, my favorite argenta is when the plot is secondary to the visuals.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, It's why Suspiria and Inferno always are at like the top of people's lists.

And I've it's been long enough that I need to revisit the shorter cut of Deep Red, because every time I watch the longer cut of Deep Red, I'm like, ah, is this a great movie?

I like it quite a bit, but man, this is how two hours and seven minutes.

My god, And I'm not a running time snob at all, but I think that there's like an hour and forty minute cut that I know it's dispensing some of this the surreal imagery like of the Gore, but it actually makes for more satisfying viewing experience.

Still, I remember that much.

Yeah, if you're talking about Deep Read, yes, yeah, I think that's true.

Look, I think there's anytime somebody, like anytime a trauma editor would come along and slash up argenta movie, you get a much tighter movie, right, or like you get like some American International Pictures editor and there or something like that.

They'd make a much.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

That's that's what it is.

And I think with this one too, like he this was late enough in just movies in general that you didn't really have to make you didn't have to cut it up this way anymore.

Like censorship just really wasn't an issue after you know, I putt in two thousand and onward, even in the late nineties at that point.

But so they're unfortunately, well not unfortunately because the movie is still good, but you know, the only cut that exists is this like almost two hour cut, but it's still I'm really excited to revisit it and see if I still feel the same way that I did back then, which was I liked it quite a bit.

Yeah, no, I am too.

And I think my favorite thing when you get somebody like Argento, where there's been so much discussion about him, I think it's nice to hear from people that actually spend time with him, and because you're gonna have you know that you're getting a little bit more of a personal take there rather than just sort of his themes and his colors and his skills.

And like, I feel like I've heard that, like I know way more than I should about it, you know, like yeah, yeah, but people that are actually spending time with him, I really like.

So the fact that they get almost every actor on here has or the main actors have some feature are.

They get the editor, which is awesome, they get the Claudio Seminetti actually comes on to give an interview about the score, which is awesome, and then they have a bunch of archive interviews on there.

So this is another one that is stacked stacked.

Yeah, when you like when you look at it on the website, literally like if you're scrolling on a full screen page, it takes up like almost the whole page of just interview interview, interview, interview, commentary cut, you know what I mean, Like it has so much and like and I like that, you know.

Look, I I even though I'm subscribed, I am very thankful when even when it's just when it's just a slipcover sometimes at this point, because there's only so many booklets, there's only so much root, you know what I mean, Like it's and so I'm glad this is just like a nice just two disc slipcover release, nothing else, just uh, you know, I I'm very very happy about that.

True, true, true, true, and it is.

Yeah, it does make it a little bit more affordable if you don't have the subscription, because it looks like it would be forty.

Yeah, yeah, yep, that's right, forty yeah, so without without the subscription, and then when it when the halfway sale comes, it'll be thirty as opposed to like you know, Tromeo and Juliet and and Man who Could Cheat Death.

You're you're looking at like forty five.

It's like more of a VSU price.

And then when it's half off, it's going to be closer to like thirty three dollars, which again at the time, once the sale comes, that's that's great for something like that.

But yeah, I think that that's why if you know, if it's something where you're consistently buying from them, I know, the subscriptions a lot upfront, but that's where it's beneficial.

But also these discounted bundles, I think that they offer help because you pretty much get shipped right after all the subs get shipped.

True true, true, true, So even just those three it would be an awesome month.

But then they come off with what in my mind I might be most excited about, simply because it's one that is like lesser discussed, but I think people are going to really love mm hmmm.

Have you agreed You've seen Ruby before.

So I actually haven't.

I'm really excited for this reason because it's Curtis Harrington who Little Rocks.

It's a friend of mine saw it at I remember I was telling a friend of mine that I'm like, oh, I think this is going to be the four K and he was like, oh, I saw this on sixteen or thirty five when it screened at some marathon or somewhere like ten years ago in LA.

And everybody who has seen it says it's great.

And it's also a Florida based movie, which as a South Florida native, I always love whenever they get whether it's like where I'm from, which is more city life, you know, like Fort Lauderdale, Miami area, but if it's like even when they go to Swamptown or like North Florida, I always just love that shit.

So I'm like really excited to see the to see that in four K no less but yeah, I've heard nothing but great things about it.

I'm really really stoked.

And this is also my the thing I'm looking forward to the most of the four titles for the same reason.

Yeah, yeah, no, Piper Laurie, isn't it who I guess maybe her most famous role would be one of the one of the people that abuses Carrie.

Yeah, Carrie's mom.

Oh oh, oh, Carrie's mom.

Sorry, yeah, of course, sorry, Carrie's mom.

I mean she does abuse her.

You were right, yeah, Carrie's mom.

But she's been around.

She has one hundred and eighteen titles.

Like, she's a she's made a career as an actor.

So she's oh yeah, big time.

She And this was right after Carrie.

By the way, she did this.

This is seventy seven.

Uh, she just you know, Carrie was seventy six, so this was literally her follow up.

Yeah, that's right.

And I think most people on a movie podcast would be mad if we didn't mention that she was in almost well a lot of the episodes of twin Peaks.

Anyway, she's a very regular character.

And well she also was in she had a very small role in one of my one of my favorites.

She's in the faculty.

She plays one of the teachers.

Oh, she's she's the theater the theater teacher.

She's the one at the beginning who stabs the principal and then uh uh and yeah, that's that's I was just gonna say.

She also later shows up and like when they were when when the kids are spying on them drinking water, she like takes a big cup and just splat throws it in her face.

I always found that that was like such a fun comedic touch that Piper Laurie is just like, Okay, yeah, I'll throw a cup of water in my face.

That wasn't even in the script.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

But yeah, I mean it's a it's a movie that was sort of one of one of these ones.

It was playing into the Exorcist fame, mh and and sort of possession movies in general.

But I think it's really fun.

So Curtis Harrington, if anybody hasn't doesn't know that name by off the top of their head, was the director of Night Tide, which is just a wonderful movie, like really really great movie.

And he also I think directed he did The Killing Kind which was a VS release.

Yep, he did, uh and I think that's it.

Those are the only two they put out of his Killing Kinds unfortunately out of print, but the standard.

I think it's flowing around.

It's not too from what I'm looking at right now on eBay, it's not too pricey.

But yeah.

He also did Ah Who Slew Auntie Roue, which I just saw for the first time and enjoyed quite a bit.

That's awesome.

Yeah, he was.

He was definitely a prolific guy.

He had thirty seven titles under his thing.

But I think, you know, he's somebody that has a little bit of an artur voice when you let him, when you let him loose.

So because he did a lot of TV, but for the movies he did direct, they all have a similar kind of vibe.

Theam you can you can start to pick up that it's his movies.

Oh totally, Yeah, it's definitely the art house meets grind house ideal.

Is this guy's one of them?

For sure?

Yeah, exactly.

And so can't wait to see Ruby in four K.

This is another one that is to your point just to slipcover and release, which is great.

Interestingly, they pull an old commentary from Curtis Harrington and Piper Louri, which is fun to hear them talking.

And there's another archivaal commentary with David deval and Nathan Bell.

But the one I'm excited about is getting David devallor del val Or?

Is it del Valley?

I don't know anyways, Yeah, that's a good question.

I think it's Dell Valley.

Yeah, with David Dakoto.

David Dakoto, which that guy.

Have you ever heard a commentary with him on it?

Not in its entirety, but I've heard clips.

I have the guy.

I love hearing him talk in general.

He has such a great sense of humor about himself when he talks about his own work.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but he's a historian, dude.

Yeah, oh absolutely, yeah.

Like he really loves movies.

So it's fun to hear him talk because, like you can, it's it's clear as day that he knows, especially horror genre, because he's one of these guys that came up through porn, yeah, and or adult movies and then transitioned into sort of like you know, what's it called the video and then some theatrical Yeah.

Well he I think what it was is that he like I don't know that he did he do porn.

I think what he what he did was he like started in those like like like Charles Band movies if I remember correctly, Well, maybe I could be wrong.

Maybe it's under a different name.

I don't know, but but he was at least a cameraman for adult films because he there's a commentary on Oh shoot one of the I'm gonna It will take me a minute to remember which title, but he does a commentary with another guy who the director of the movie that they were watching, and they talk about their career in adult films together and the stuff like the Shenanigans that used to get up to, and he has like this really cool sort of experience because they all know the same people that kind of grew up and became editors and producers and art directors and all this stuff in Hollywood that came from that background in la which is so he's got to.

And you're you're right, my bad.

I I don't know why I confused it.

I must be confusing with someone else, But you're right, he did start working on porn.

Initially, I just was like, I had a moment where I was like, wait, he worked in porn, I feel like, And you're right, he I mean, but also going from porn to Corman, like that's what a what A what a pipeline for exploitation?

Huh?

Totally, totally yeah, And he just has a lot of these firsthand stories which I really love.

And interestingly enough, they get Kim Newman on here as well, so they're keeping Kim Newman busy, which is good.

Yeah.

And then there's an alternate TV version of the movie that they put on here, which is interesting.

Yeah, and it says its source from video, probably because it's the only version for the TV movies, like a beta master or something.

But like, yeah, it's longer.

It's ten minutes longer than the original cut, and I forget that like in the seventies and eighties, they sometimes would film extra parts for TV, or they would just include like some deleted scenes just so they could pad it out so it could meet the two hour requirement, like with commercials.

More often than not, it's like that Bloodline movie where they had the TV cut that they put in it.

It's I don't know that it's something I necessarily want to sit and watch in its entirety, but it is an interesting thing.

It's interesting to have to watch if it's like a movie especially you really love or and I always say, like for people who want to know what it used to be like to syndicate movies, or people who want to be filmmakers, who want to see what it's like to fuck up a story or not to fuck it up, but like to have to work within a way of like making it more digestible in a way that's like for you know, for commercial breaks.

These things don't exist anymore because even if you do make it for something with ads like on to be or whatever, you don't have to say when that's gonna happen.

The algorithm tries to detect it, and it does a very bad job of it.

Most of the time.

It'll just be a character in the middle of like, well, I'm gonna tell you who killed her it was, and then they'll say the person's first name in their first initial and then it cuts to commercial right Like it's never it never gets it right, or it'll just be like, hey, come into the house, and then suddenly boom, it just cuts the commercial.

So that doesn't exist anymore, and I think I think that's a key part of preservation too, you.

Know, yeah, no, it's great.

And then the other thing I'm interested in is a interview with David del Valley and Curtis Harrington.

It's an hour long from two thousand and one.

Yeah, which is really cool because I just, honestly, I've never heard an interview with Curtis Harrington, but he was around this world of production for so long.

I just I am fascinated to hear his stories.

Yeah, and also I want to see this other feature.

It looks like it's from like a from like a TV show probably maybe from the UK called Sinister Image.

It says it has two Sinister Image episodes with Curtis Harrington, hosted by David Del Valley, and they come out to fifty seven minutes.

So it sounds like it's a TV show that like would interview filmmakers or like you know, do like a thing for cult films or you know, kind of like a night flight type thing.

But it looks like it's probably for the UK.

Yeah, I can't find anybody to see.

Yeah, but it's it's it's just a cool thing because I'm like, whatever that is, it's I love that shit.

Oh it's interesting.

It looks like I wonder if this is a part of maybe this is a part of David Del Valley's history, because it looks like everything I can find just on a quick search is tied to him, So maybe this is something that he was the host of.

But anyways, very cool, very cool.

We'll learn about it.

But yeah, this is to me, this is like the most pure VS title I guess from the month other than Mama Movie.

No, I agree.

I agree when you when you factor out trauma or you know, and studio titles and stuff, this is I do think Ruby is the like that's a thing that you could totally see getting released, like back when they were kind of still making a name for themselves in twenty nineteen or whatever.

Yeah.

So so very pumped for this, And okay, that's it for the main line.

The sub labels will be quick and then I want to spend some time on mel scene because it's an interesting one this month.

Yeah, totally.

So two things to say on VSA title.

First of all, this VSA number fifty eight for those that are counting, so they will they're on a pretty good run.

I do hope they make it two one hundred.

Yeah.

Same.

I don't know if they would ever peel these off as separate like sub labels, but they may not need to because honestly, they're selling so well on the site, but peel it off, meaning like have their own company outside of Vinegar Syndrome.

But there's really no Oh yeah, I don't think so, yeah, No, I think it's I think part of the appeal is how it's all one site, you know what I mean, Like it's all one or I should say, like one thing.

It's its own like thing.

But yeah, it's it's strange because you can't gere right, you can't get these in stores.

Right right right exactly except for the vis store, I guess, right, the archive and then.

Oh totally and like and places that specialize in boutique maybe that order from OCN even that it's like because it says on there select indie retailers.

So like, I've definitely seen it at a few places around town, but it's either if it's secondhand or like a place that it specializes in that.

Yeah, there's so I don't know which one to call out first, but I think what I'll call out first is they call it out on the cover that this is shaw'sploitation number one, which they've masa.

So I'm intrigued at that.

Yeah, I I, oh, yeah, I guess we should tell people the movies.

Uh, do you mind if I intro the movie?

Oh please?

Oh yeah, yeah, it's uh it's called Men from the Gutter and yeah, it's their additional entry in Shaw'sploitation, uh, like Edition one.

It's funny because it's like I thought when they said they're like, we're gonna announce a new line with VSA, I thought it was gonna be like like a VSA S or VSA you know, like something like that where it's not even part of the proper VSA line, which I'm glad it's just this that it's just like it's technically just a VSA, but it's part of you know, every probably four months they'll have like a Shaw's Plaitation release or something like that in this line.

It's obviously I think for people, I think VSA is still my favorite sub label.

But I do think when when they do the Hong Kong stuff, I think you have a good idea now of what you'd be getting in the VSA line for for when it comes to anything Hong Kong related, whether it's whether it's Shaw Brothers or just you know, something from that canon.

Yes, I agree, and this is one that I'm very excited about because unrelated to veneer syndrome.

I just saw The Cat a couple of days back.

Oh love that movie so great, And they've released So the director is Night cham Loy, who did Ricky Oh, and he did Seventh Curse, which they put out, and then I recently saw The Cat, and so this is I think it's their second Night cham Loy movie.

I think that's they because they haven't done Ricky Oh, and they haven't done The Cat.

And by the way, Ricky still hasn't had a region A, and that's been one of my predictions for the potential November releases.

Yeah.

Oh, in a heartbeat.

But that's if you if you say you're going to do something big, that's like the kind of thing I'm I'm I'm picturing.

Uh yeah.

But they also did wait, I'm sorry, they did do one other one of his.

I can't believe we missed this.

Didn't he do her Vengeance?

Oh shit?

Which is like probably my favorite of his of his?

Yes, but yeah he did.

You're right.

So this is their third movie with by him.

Oh good, thank you for catching that.

Now.

That might be my favorite movie of his overall.

Like even I don't know, it's hard to say her vengeance is so good.

It is, yeah, yeah, but it's a champagne problem.

Like we're talking, we're all talking about a bunch of bangers, so like it's like whichever one's your favorite, it's like not a wrong answer, especially in this case.

Right, And this one is going to be a little bit more or I mean, I'm sure it's still gonna have some bat shit elements to it, but this one is more compared to a Michael Mann style movie.

Yeah, it seems like more of a direct like like a movie that's more story centric with a couple like breakout action scenes.

That's the vibe I get, which is kind of what like, like I said, it's with with with Hong Kong movies when whenever they put them out.

There's a few exceptions.

I think when they did one of the Ringo lamb Ones.

I'm forgetting which one got the VSA release, but I remember that one was just really over the top, like its shootouts for fucking like almost heroic bloodshed style, whereas this feels more like those feel similar to Iron Angels, where it's just doing like wild stunt work, but it just kind of groups them like you'll you'll get an opening with like a big action sequence and then you kind of have to hang out for half an hour, and then you get another one, and then the last fifteen minutes it's just, you know, everybody's safety has been thrown out the window.

Yep.

Yeah.

And as far as other reasons to be excited about the movie other than it's from this amazing direct Sam Degan does a full commentary, yeah, and Erica Schultz does a video essay, Oh awesome on the actor the main actor.

Yeah.

Yeah, And it looks like there's a documentary, a making of documentary that they commissioned for the for the release, and and they're including it's another VSA with a booklet.

They've been doing this for a little while with especially with the Hong Kong movies, and I know they did it with the Nick Millard one.

But Walter chaw, Arie l s deeban Ker, and Keith Allison have have essays, which is cool because I think these movies need context sometimes, Like you know, it's when you're talking about like a Shaw movie that's not like one of their top tier showscope movies that everyone would just know, like a like a shoul In or you know any of those.

I think these movies need that context.

So Walter Chaw is one of my favorite writers.

Maybe living the way that he like pens like the way that he like pens a phrase or penza paragraph is just like poetic and he's like, amazing it metaphor and I'm obsessed with this guy's writing.

So super happy to read that.

But do you know, do you recognize Ariel lest the Banker by name?

I don't think I do.

I feel like I have they Well, I want you to tell me more about them, but I also feel like I'm like, have they had other have they been on other discs?

It's half of Connie?

Oh okay, yes that is right, Okay, yeah, yeah, because it's pearl and And but I never see the full name.

That's why.

Yeah, because I see I see pearl and Erl.

Yeah, and he's he's a former programmer and historian and all that stuff, so I can't I'm super excited to hear or to read what he writes.

I guess, yeah, this is a fun one.

Yeah, I think the movie sounds I have not seen Men from the Gutter, but I can't wait.

I mean, I will see everything that's from that director, because I love him.

This edition is on exciting.

They have five thousand of these, which is a little bit low.

If this had been a mainline release, I bet you would have been higher.

But for VSA, that's pretty that's pretty standard.

I think, Yeah, I feel like if it was a mainline it would be part of a double like these other like the other titles that they got, you know, like like I feel like there'd be a second movie attached to it, because I think I don't think it's enough of you know, like I I didn't know the title, whereas like the other ones like Devil Fetus and and Her Vengeance and also Seventh Curse, like I've known, you know, those movies are kind of like that's almost like one oh one for everything from Cat three to like, those movies have their reputation right up top, which as of this recording, by the way, today, I mean, unfortunately, this isn't going to go up until after the fact.

But the Seventh Curse is the Sintober pick for this month or for today, so like it hasn't even been out for a year, and you could get it for the Black Friday price, and I'm sure.

I have a feeling because I think they made an error.

I have a feeling double Fetus will be one of the other picks that double fetus double.

So yeah, really really cool.

I'm really stoked for this one.

I I don't know, I know some people don't they want everything.

It can't be champagne and bullets, nor should it be or or you know whatever else Vice Academy, which, by the way, I did eat my own words.

I picked that one up.

I remember the last episode I set off no fucking way and then I'm like, yeah, you know what, Okay, I'm gonna yep.

I was at the grocery store and they got me, so to speak.

But anyway, uh yeah, I'm I'm stoked for this one, really really looking forward to it, and I'm glad.

I hope.

Yeah.

VSA is always what I'm most stoked on, so if they announce something, I'm almost always on board.

I don't think there hasn't been one that I haven't picked up yet since being a subscriber.

Even if I don't keep it necessarily, I've I watch it.

Yep, yep, um Okay.

I was just trying to think if I give a background on Jason Piepow.

I'll just say if you rather than go on and on about one of the actors, the lead actor in this movie, people don't talk about Jason piepal as far as probably as much as they should.

His choreography is amazing.

If you have a chance to go watch a movie called The Chinese Boxer and.

Just oh yeah, yeah, just.

Marvel at this dude's athleticism.

So that makes me excited for this movie as well.

All right, So Cinematograph, unsurprisingly has a release this month, the single Release, Single Release.

They are up to twenty five in their fourth month of being in business.

Wait no, no, no, their fourth month of being in business.

Noh oh.

I was like, that's it, you're right.

You're right.

For a second, I wasn't looking at the zoom, so I didn't see your face for a second.

I was like, wait what Yeah, No, you're right.

I mean, hey, twenty five and a year and a half, that's still a lot.

Man.

Yeah, I know they're doing great, And this is an other one that I'm really fucking excited about.

I you know, you're you probably defend Cinematograph more than me, although I do defend him.

But King of the Gypsies is a very exciting movie to have coming out.

I'm very very excited for this and thank you justin forgetting this one.

So okay, so this is one that should be like a must pick up then, you know, it's funny for all the defense that I do.

This was one of the few months where I, I mean, I like Eric Roberts.

You know, it's cool to see, especially during this period because like I still think Star eighty is like he's so that was that's one of the best performances of that decade.

And that's not that he's incredible in that movie.

It's such a specific part and like, so to see and even younger Eric Roberts in this, I'm I was intrigued by it, but I was gonna wait until like maybe the sale or when one of the pop ups hits LA to pick it up.

Sometimes I'll do that and uh so, yeah, tell please all this to me because I'm like, really, it wasn't one that I wrote off, but it wasn't one that I was like, Okay, it's a day one pick up because a lot of the cinematographs have been but you know, with a few exceptions, I know, sometimes which ones won't be up my alley, but yeah please.

So, first of all, I guess this is taken from a novel, which is the novels called King of the Gypsies as well, but the screenplay is done by Frank Pearson, who won a Screenwriting Award for Dog Day Afternoon.

Yeah, right before this, I believe.

I mean, Dog the Afternoon was like only three years before this came out.

Yeah, yeah, so he's a I don't know when's it just out of curiosity.

When's the last time you've seen Dog Day Afternoon?

Like, have you seen it recently?

Oh?

No, we're talking ten plus years.

But I love it.

I think it's a masterpiece.

I just never get around to seeing it because it plays here a lot in LA, Like the repertory circuit is very open to the movie, and I think that's what's kept me from rewatching it, because I just know it's always there.

I always try to prioritize, like the the only like if it's like, oh, it's a one time screening or it's a print that's never screened before, you know, something like that.

But I fucking love that movie.

It's a perfect movie.

Yeah, I've seen in the last two to three years.

I can't remember exactly when, and I just remember thinking, like wow, I because it's the silence.

It's the way that he treats silences, and like the way that I think he does because the other one he's really famous for is cool Hand Luke That's Right, which is in my mind, one of the best screenplays ever written, or at least like top five.

Like I just I'm so enamored by that movie.

And I think what he does well is movies with low dialogue and kind of making each each piece of dialogue count, yeah, and writing in what's going, like like building scenes around the actual vocabulary, like the words, like building all the non verbal parts of a movie sets.

And he builds suspense so well, and he builds tensions so well, And like this movie on paper seems like a little bit of a weird plot, like it's two gypsy clans, which I don't even know if you're allowed to say that to him anymore, But.

That's a good question.

I actually don't know.

But hey, it's the title of the movie, so we get I think we have a little leeway.

But it's two gypsy clans in New York.

They go to battle because there's like a breach of I guess, like what's the word, not more race, but like the way that these clans interact with each other, there's.

Right right, the agreement, the like silent agreements kind of.

Getting agreements, yeah, yeah, and so that leads like to an escalated conflict.

And it's quite a brutal like violent movie, but it's a human drama story under it all.

Just like he does very well, just like he does in Cool Hand Luke when you can like, I think he's at his best when he has a story kind of based around violence, but there's you really get to like he really taps into the humans underneath it very well.

Probably the best part of Dog Day Afternoon for me, like those scenes where you get to see the crowd sharing them on and stuff like it.

This seems like this seems like a good pair I just want to say real quick, this seems like a good like it would pair like as a good double feature with Mixed Blood actually like you in a way where like they're not identical movies, but that's kind of what makes a good double feature is Like you know, there's King of the Gypsies, which just kind of this serious version in the next Mixed Blood, which is almost like a this very self aware kind of not parody, but you know, like this very comedy about it, this like surreal comedy sort of.

Yeah, I don't so.

I do think that this movie would be an interesting double feature with Mixed Blood as like two different sides of New York that you don't hear about that what I mean, Yeah, there's not comedy in this one.

I don't think it's the main point here, but I hear what you're saying.

It could be a really interesting way to look at it.

The the other thing I'll call out to sell you on this is that the cinematography was by Sven Nickfist.

Oh so, like, yeah, it's just one of these movies that kind of fell in the radar a little bit.

But you look at the cast and the crew, you're like, holy shit, Like it's just a it's just a great movie.

I don't know, awesome, Yeah, I I I definitely will get it at some point.

I think because of how prolific cinematographspin.

That's why sometimes I'll get them a little later.

Like I remember, I didn't get joy Ride and Thieves Like Us until like four months after they were released, I think, and then and I ended up joy ride being up like ended up being one of the best surprises for me.

And so.

I mean may make some stuff that's like day one.

I obviously got a new Leaf as soon as it got announced, and and a couple other ones, but like another one for example, like I got banged the drum slowly I think a month or two later, and I ended up fucking like.

I still I think it's one of the best vs overall, Like whether you're talking mainline or sub labels, I think it's one of the best releases I've seen this year from them.

So anyway, all that to say, like, yeah, I will definitely be getting this one, but I might maybe I won't wait until a pop up or end of the year, you know, before my subscription expires.

Maybe I'll just uh, maybe I'll just go for it.

I love the the cover design, it's great.

The artwork, yeah, it's a really badass design.

And I don't know if so the partially like attached to this release is a journal and it says a journal of American cinema, and this is the first release for people that want to be skeptical or cynical or down on vinegar syndrome.

This bears a lot of resemblance to the Radiance Films journals that are coming out.

Yeah, I don't know region A versus Region B maybe.

But yeah, that's part of it.

But also, like you know, I mean these these are you know, the the I think the common phrase that this gets uses this is intended to be more the criterion part of vinegar syndrome, right, that comes up a lot, and so I think that also, you know, those releases usually have an essay as well, or like writing on it, and and yeah, I think that it's interesting.

You had a couple options here.

There was the option to get the slip case, you know, the cinematograph the usual packaging with Eric Roberts's autobiography.

And then you had the option with the cinematograph Journal of American Cinema, which is similar kind of like the zine that that VS put out a couple of months ago, which I actually liked a lot.

I thought that zine was great.

So I'm actually and you can buy this booklet a la carte as well.

But yeah, and then you can of course obviously just buy the movie on its own.

Yeah, that's right, but I will say cynicism aside.

If we're in two things.

One, if we're in an era of history with physical media where there can be multiple zines that are coming out, and the idea of film preservation moves beyond just the movies and the commentaries, but now into the written word, and people are paying for writing again, like all of it, right, like let's go.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

I also think it can justify selling certain things because I get it, like if you just put out a Blu ray or a four K of a certain movie that's just not super familiar right now.

One you need the context.

But two it does make it I think more appealing to take a chance on something because I used to think about it more as like, well, sometimes are they really putting perfume around shit?

But it's not.

I mean that, Look, that's still going to be true of anything in any market.

You could say that beyond movies.

I'll just say that, like, you can really take that to task in lots of places, but like, no, I think for a lot of these it does need that.

Like even I know some people don't like Nick Millard, but that VSA has a booklet, and I think that booklet needs to be there because you're talking about a very specific you know.

That's like when you go into like Ray Dennis steckler territory or Andy Milligan's territory with with Severn, you know they or even al Adamson like you have those booklets.

I think you need those there because you're making these big, comprehensive sets that are admittedly pretty niche like I love them, but I know for some people there they'd rather eat glass than have to watch any of those.

And I won't argue you can't convince people of that, but I think that for people who are curious, it gives them a good way of jumping into that.

And that's say the same for those indicator box sets too, because a lot of these aren't meant to be watched in order.

Sorry this is going off a little bit of a tangent with the box set, but some of them can't be You can't necessarily jump into the beginning to end.

You kind of have to jump somewhere in the middle, or you know, you have an idea of where your mileage varies.

But like I do think with Cinematograph specifically, we're obviously talking about an individual title, but how many people have been talking about this movie before Cinematograph dropped it, right, And and that's exactly the point.

He's it's right there in the in the mission statement for Cinematograph.

It's filling in the gap right of certain parts of the American film canon.

So so that's clearly this is part of it.

Yeah.

I don't think it's off topic at all.

I think this is like if Indicator can do it and seven can do it, Like why not yes, right, like yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, I love it, and yeah I don't.

Anyways, there's a lot, there's a whole different podcast we could do just on that topic.

Because you've got my mind going down that path.

No, I think you.

I think you nailed it.

And the second yeah, and wait, sorry, I just want to say one more thing off that where you're saying, like, you know, we could do a whole separate podcast.

I guess we should reveal that everybody.

Cinematograph keeps expanding, Folks, We're announcing we are co hosting the new Cinematograph podcast.

It is going to be on the main page, right next to the shirts.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

You think they're prolific now, wait until we get this, wait until we get into those.

Episodes official announcement.

That's right, that's right, And we'll be able when we announce the next movie.

It'll be a USB drive with the episodes.

We'll be part of the package.

See we can get Daylight to repost that.

Oh yeah, but yeah, I think look the other the other.

So that was the first thing too, is that the story inside this first journal is just one of these like holy shit, I gotta read it moments because they got Eric Roberts to sit down and just give a brutally in their words, a brutally candid memoir about his up and downs.

And anybody that knows anything about Eric Roberts knows that dude had some downs.

Yeah, big time.

So like that's must read territory.

Yeah, and I've heard from from what I've heard that he introduced a runaway train at a matinee screening at the New Beverly a couple of months ago, and apparently just like hung out afterwards on the sidewalk and just talk to people, answered questions.

He's like apparently very humble now and just really like a really chill guy and really really nice guy to talk to.

And and I like that he gets like he'll still show up in big stuff, you know what I mean, Like people forget like, yeah, he had a rough patch and then and then suddenly he was in the dark night and like a key role and then like you know what I mean, And he's great.

He's great whether he's doing that or he's recording on a voice notes recorder for a talking cat or whatever or you know whatever whatever, because he obviously he's like a he's like a tow be staple kind of the way to day David Dakoto is like he's in a lot of because he just wants to work.

And part of that might be a sobriety thing.

I know, when people get sober, they just they have to like you know, they have to stay focused, they have to stay their program.

It's just like it's like the equivalent of him making his bed every morning, you know what I mean.

So he'll probably do like a like if he does three days and he gets paid enough to go show up in in one of those Amityville knockoffs or whatever it is that he shows up on on on TB.

But you know this is also before any of that happened.

This was this was him you know, uh like really uh making a name for himself with this movie.

Oh yeah, absolutely, but this was his official on screen debut, so it's worth calling that out.

Wow as the lead fucking shit with like Sterling Hayden, Shelley Winters saying very young Susan Sarandon.

So that's a little there.

I mean, brook Shields is in it.

Linda Manns from uh, what's the Dennis Hopper movie out of the Blue, you know, the lead the lead girl from that, she's in this.

So that's that's fucking incredible, Like what a what a stacked cast and again stacked features.

Absolutely, there's any a video interview with him.

There's a video essay by a film history named Daniel Kramer.

There's a two hour long archival interview with Frank Pearson that was recorded at the WGA like a little more than twenty four years ago, somewhere around there, and and the editor and it looks oh, there's a trailers from Hell on it by Michael Schlessinger.

That's awesome that they included that, and then and then a bunch of text essays obviously in the because that's what the cinematograph it's a media book, so awesome.

Yeah, No, I think he's Yeah, I think they they went all out for this.

I think Eric Roberts, for me, fits into the category of maybe like Nable for or maybe a Mickey Rourke, people that have just had this crazy life and when you get him now, they're just kind of like, oh, fuck it, like I'll just tell it as it is, because like who cares, right right?

Right?

No, Because I mean at this point the world knows as much about their problems as you know, they don't have a say on their privacy up to a certain point, right, So, so they clearly I think, own it.

And I think that's you know, and I think there's no substitute for age on that too.

That comes with that wisdom comes with getting older, and you know, so I think if they're truly grateful to still be you know, that they survived it, they usually they usually are really happy to talk about it, and just you know, because it could be worse.

They could be they could have a different day job for them, you know, and for some of them, they wouldn't want that.

And I think that some some folks and again, you know, like I was, I was about to kind of dog on Robert Donny Junior for not being open about his stuff.

But then I then I kind of stopped myself because really it's it's their story to tell, Like, if they don't want to tell it, that's fine, right.

Yeah.

I think I think it's because it went the other way for him and he's worth like, you know, half a billion dollars or whatever because you know, he's playing doctor Doom or whatever.

Like I think it's I think he has the luxury of it because he he he he's had a second you know, his his second life so to speak of, or his uh, his second act was so much more successful, and I you know, and I think, yeah, and not even just that he just doesn't have to, you know what I mean, he can not that these guys don't have to either, but they you know, they clearly are just happy to and they're still obviously living very comfortably as well.

That's not to say even though they're not worth half a billion and they're doing okay, But like, but you know, I just think that's that's part of it with a lot of the guys who if they are at a certain level of success, they can just kind of they have the luxury of being able to so dog away because he's got he's got a half a billion dollar shield in front of it.

That's true.

No, I'm not that I feel bad for Robert Donney Junior.

I'm just thinking of like at the human level, like sure, not his story to tell, right, and that's fine, totally, yeah, story to tell for him, Like it's his story to tell.

And the fact that they do it just makes me like really love them because you get to see I don't know, it's like you get to see that pain, like there's a oh man, I'm not gonna remember the movie.

It's a movie we just covered on They Live by Film, and this dude brought in a lot of terror into the role.

Oh it was a Hitchcock movie.

It was a Hitchcock movie where they were trying to get each other to kill the other person's spouse.

Oh what is it?

Strangers on a Train?

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, and the lead villain, I guess, and Strangers on a Train it just had like some demons behind his eyes, like he just he just kind of had like an intensity behind his eyes.

And when you read this guy's personal life, you're like, Okay, I get it.

Like right, right, right, yeah, I know what you mean.

Well, yeah, because I think that with these guys too.

Some of them they bring that into the equation, but some of them they want to be so far removed from it that it's like the other way around, you know, where they're just it's like whenever they're not talking about movies or doing the thing that they knew how to do pre social media, there's like a there's like a can see there?

Yeah right right, you know, all right, well look, Kings of King of the Gypsies is the is the cinemagraph title we're talking about.

I'm excited for it.

Yeah, but I just like, maybe we can do just to run through the partner labels that are interesting rather than yeah, sure, deep into them.

Yeah, totally.

And also I just want to call out real quick the the Gouser announced to VHS's There's Haunted Wien and The Last Slumber Party.

We don't really have to jump too far into that because those movies obviously came out a while ago, and I have been talked about plenty, but like I I know, some people they like it.

Like I said, I've talked about it with the VHS, they don't really do much for me.

The few I have, I'm like, wait, why do I have these?

And so I'm probably going to sell them to someone who would who actually wants to have the VHS's because but then when they come out, uh not really.

I I always like the box art.

I think it would be it like, looks nice on a shelf, but I don't.

I don't watch VHS unless I absolutely have to, and even then it can get really it's more like not.

But if I am going to get them, I'm going to get the ones that were shot on VHS, like, you know, if it was Blonde Death or you know, Last Slumber Party.

I know has like a VHS Master, so that would that would fit the criteria.

I think that's that's what they do with a lot of these.

But yeah, I think I just thought it was I think those are always worth kind of mentioning.

No, No, I'm glad you did.

And before we move on to the partner labels, I just got to say, like we spent the last hour and a half just kind of you know, stroking the cock of vinegar syndrome talking about how good it is, but like what a month, like I'm just unpumped for this, like, I can't wait to watch all of these.

Yeah, yeah, it's it's great.

I think the only thing that held me off, like I said from King of the Gypsies, was like, well, I'll get to it.

It's not like I'm gonna watch it this month.

It's October.

But I literally have almost every title from the main page that would be there being shipped in this box, you know.

So yeah, I'm I'm really stoked.

Yeah, let's I think it's good too that we were able to spend more time on it, because Partners is always going to be stacked, but for me this month, there wasn't much to get, but I still think there's stuff worth calling out.

I'm sure you and I both ordered the same thing.

Though there's one particular title I'm almost positive we have overlap on all.

Right, let's see.

So there's a new cartoon in title and it's called AJ Goes to the Dog Park.

And I gotta say, like, I'm probably never gonna spend more than ten seconds talking about cartoona it's just not my thing, but I'm very happy they have animated stuff and they're celebrating animation and like that's fine, that's great.

Yes, I've heard great things about this movie in particular, so yeah, yeah, I'm actually really stoked about it.

Quite a few people have gone to bat for this.

Toby Jones made it, I believe, and I've heard a fellow Angelino.

Yeah, so really stoked on that.

Yeah, you're right, we don't have to like get too into it, but yeah, it's very cool.

I think the slip cover.

Actually they only did a small run.

As of this time, there's only eight slips left, but it's out of five hundred.

So yeah, yeah, but really really low budget.

This was like hundreds of beavers where it was on really like you know, like made very very cheaply but very resourcefully.

Okay, awesome, Well yeah, I maybe maybe you can convince me to at least stream it somewhere.

I will.

I will be picking up The Bleeding Skull this month as always Backyard Bloodbaths.

Yeah, this is one of the few ones where, like Cannibal, Orgy or I'm a little apprehensive, but not in a way that like I still think this fits the Bleeding Skull mission statement, but it just the titles look a little more like it's got a lot of newer stuff, which I should open my mind to that more, but even the older ones, I'm a little like, all right, I will watch this when that's a different question.

Well, it has.

It's not that that's not the name of the movie.

That's the name to a theme.

So the theme is these you know, kind of s ov horror, like splatter movies or backyard blood paths.

There's one, two, three, four, five, six movies on here.

But three features and three features and three shorts.

It looks like, yeah, three features and three shorts, and they all have some form of commentary on them, even the five minutes one, and it's just a chance to kind of explore a little bit more in the catalog.

Only.

I don't want this to come off as a complaint because it's not really a complaint.

Because AGVA put out bleeding skull stuff for so long, sometimes it's a little it's getting a little tricky to differentiate between the two.

This one feels like one that could easily be an AGVA titled as well.

Oh totally yeah, I mean yeah, it's kind of like the something weird thing Like whenever District Picks or AGFA or somebody puts out something weird, I'm like, wait, which ones which it kind of seems like an overlap, you know, But I mean, now it's it's more obvious in terms of district picks what they're when they do stuff with something weird, it's a little more obvious.

But still it's not to say that some of that stuff sometimes I'm surprised to see it on the AGFA I do.

So, yeah, that's I think that was a I think you're right to say that.

I agree.

Yeah, Okay, Now the first one that I'm super pumped about IFC Films released a movie called Barbarian Sound Studio.

Is this one that you know much about?

Yeah, I mean I know enough about Peter Strickland.

I didn't pick this one up in particular, just mostly again out of the accessibility aspect of it more than anything else.

I know.

I could watch it, yeah, you know, just just on a streaming service.

But yeah, I know, people are very excited about it.

It's it's selling real well.

They're already down to thirteen hundred.

Yeah they have, that's right, Yeah, they've.

The thing that is interesting to me about this is it's like a if you watch the trailer for it.

Actually, it was not going to pick it up until I saw the trailer, so they tell a horror story and like a surrealistic horror story through the lens of a sound engineer.

So it has a lot of folliyard in it.

Yeah.

And actually when I as I was watching the trailer, I was like, oh, that's kind of brilliant because when you're listening to movies, you don't know that they're just like slicing watermelon or squishing lemons.

Right right, punching, punching at a steak.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Yeah, But like, but that's so that what's that that blend of like where is it reality?

Where is it sound design?

That it be a pretty interesting horror movie.

So I picked it up.

Cool, I I didn't get let me see, I'm scrolling down.

Well, I think ones that are worth just calling out to Depraved.

You know, that's a Larry festend and one that got a four K through i f C Films.

Uh.

You know, I figured that was going to be a partner.

I didn't know if it would be through Glass Eye or through i FC directly, but you know, I know, because it was shot digitally and it's a fairly new film, I didn't think that would get a main line or even a sub label release.

I figured it would be more of a partner thing.

Did you get it?

I did not know, I've I've.

I That's one again where I'm like, you know, I know I could watch it at some point, and so I try to get more of the stuff that I know i'll watch more immediately.

What's going to happen is at Partner month because I don't have to buy anything mainline or sub label related.

That's where I go back and I look at each label and I see what I missed, and this will I'm about I want to say eighty percent sure I'll be getting this one then.

Yeah.

So, speaking of ones that I did not want to wait for, I don't know if curiously if you picked this up yet, but have you read about or seen a trailer for The Demon's rook.

No, And people have really gone to bat for this one too.

They were like really stoked that I got an announcement.

It's down to ninety five slips, so obviously it's a big you know, I know from like the post two thousands that this is like a big DIY kind of like people really talk about this one being being one of them.

Yeah, super pumped about it.

So it's by James Sizemore, which I don't until transparency, I don't know a ton about him.

I know he has a music background, like he's on.

I think it's the same guy, or maybe it's a different guy.

Anyways, I don't know a ton about James Sismore.

But when I see where is it low budget orgy of grew that can only be described as Return of the Living Dead by way of Yodarawski mm hmm.

Yeah, yeah, then let me know how it is because that might be one of those ones that even just the standard I'll get it, you know, closer to closer to uh you know, partner month.

Yeah, A very very pumped for this one.

So okay, I am curious about this label Kim stem so I picked up Creepy.

Yeah, I mean that's kurs Kiyoshi Kurosawa, so I don't think you can go wrong.

Uh, And it's it's not super pactive features, but it has a good commentary.

It looks like it's got a new one from Jasper Sharp and Amberte, who obviously cover a lot of Japanese cinema that's specifically in special features and stuff between obviously his Third Window and and even other stuff you know through eighty eight film.

Yeah, yep, that's right.

And then you already mentioned Depraved.

There's one that I just want to call out speaking of Connie.

So yeah, I think I know the one you're gonna call out because this is what I picked up.

Oh no, it was I was going to go with the other one.

But let's talk about this one because I'm curious about this one.

No, it's okay.

So Desert of Namibia, I think is an interesting one because this is a line of movies that they're putting out from Yoko Yamanaka, and I think this is one that it just sounds it really drew me in, especially if you watch the trailer.

It's like a very interesting the idea for how to put a story together.

She's just twenty one year old, works a disaffected job at a beauty salon.

She bristles against the beauty expectations of women of her age, and then there's her kind of chaotic mood leads to moments of the like but then can quickly shift into violence, and she continues to kind of look for more and more excitement in her life and looks more and more volatile, risky kind of behavior.

And I think the if I remember right, the desert of Namibia is some kind of metaphor for the soul or something like that.

I don't know.

Anyways, my point is this is a newer movie, but it had it blew up the festival circuit, like this is one that people were raving about.

And this is one of my favorite things about Connie where they're pretty good in like the ones I've seen from them about finding newer movies that say something interesting or have something worth kind of like I hate to say worth preserving, but like there's something in them that is truly like a film that can be discussed for you know, regardless of the era it's in.

Yeah, oh, no, I know exactly what you mean.

Because here's the thing.

I know.

I obviously I'm kind of a broken record on this where I'm like, you know, if it's a newer thing, I kind of won't you know, it's it's a little harder for me to pick it up sometimes.

But I think that Connie really meets in the middle with that, because here's the thing.

There are people who want newer movies because that's what they're that's the point of curiosity they're at, especially younger people, and so I think it's great that they're preserving stuff, but that they're also because especially now, it's so easy to get lost in the noise of like new releases.

There's so many because of their direct to streaming titles.

They're titles that just played in like three theaters.

It's very weird because one thing that did change kind of post COVID is like a lot of theaters like AMCs and Regals even will get those smaller releases that prior to the pandemic wouldn't have even ever seen the light of day beyond whatever, like fifty indie theaters across the country.

Now they like kind of get them for a handful of showtimes during the week sometimes, and so that's obviously when I try to catch them, but some people can't.

They're still in areas where they can't, And so this is something that I think, especially if it's a movie like this, because I think that's part of curation, right, It's like bringing you stuff that may have you may have missed back in the day or sorely needs to be restored, but also stuff that people missed because how the fuck can you keep track of half of these things?

Right?

Way impossible.

You can't even keep up with two behalf the time, let alone, yeah, right, let alone everything exactly Okay, So then let's why don't you introduce the one that you're excited about, because yes, I cannot wait.

Same.

So the my Kuhama trilogy they announced, which I didn't even know this.

I was familiar with the character and I somehow forgot this.

But it's a three disc release of obviously three movies.

It's a trilogy regarding a character, and.

That's what it's.

Yeah, it's a detective with this name.

And the movies are the most terrible time in my life.

And by the way, these are all in the mid nineties.

These all came out a year apart.

It's the most terrible time in my life.

The stair, raid of the distant past and the trap.

And this is what's crazy and why I got really excited.

I didn't even realize until I opened to read the description that it was that same character I actually saw the most terrible time in my life.

In film school, my film my intro to film studies professor showed it.

Oh nice, Yeah, so I watched it on like a single layer Netflix DVD.

Who knows if the transfer was even good or I'm sorry the subtitles, But I loved it because at the time I was twenty years old.

So I'm now seeing this movie for the first time that I'm like, oh, movies can be this, you know that kind of thing, like, this is what a movie's allowed to be.

This is the this is very cool.

This is very not what I'm used to seeing, and very creative, and it makes you want to mimic it.

And it's a very unique.

It's such an idiosyncratic movie.

And I never saw the other two.

I didn't even know it was a part of a series at the time.

But I still have the DVD somewhere in my I have like one of those disc folders because I sometimes would burn.

Back then, you could still burn discs.

DVDs were still very burnable, and I remember copy it to watch it and he was like, oh, I'm keeping this one.

I put it in the it's still in the booklet somewhere.

I'm looking up.

It's in my closet.

But really really excited to see all three of these.

Yeah, no, I think, and the world agrees because this is already sold out.

Yeah, the slips are gone.

It's crazy how quick.

It's funny because we're talking about like how slow it kind of is for some of the stuff, and as far as I know, for something that had a thousand or more slips, this is the only thing that's sold out.

The other ones that I think sold out were stuff that only had like five hundred, so that clearly as it's built in audience picking those up.

But this, yeah, it has like they're all restored in four K.

There's an audio commentary with like Jasper Sharp on one, there's like a scene commentary from the director and another and there's like a video essay.

Sam Degan has a commentary on the trap.

So there's like it's you know, it's not like jam packed with features, but what you get is very good context for what these are.

Absolutely then the only other ones in my mind, there's a few more that are just kind of worth calling out.

I mean, you know, ACVA has one called a true crime triple Ripper, which you know it sounds interesting.

Oh yeah, it just real quick to run through that one.

The Sadist, which is an arch Hall Junior movie.

If you don't know, ar Chall Junior is I just will let everybody look him up.

But he you know, we're very famously was in Wild Guitar, which was directed by Ray Dennis Steckler.

It's considered probably one of his more polished movies, and he's like, this is like a kind of I think, a really great piece of exploitation.

I'm really excited for this one.

I know for some people, if they already own the Code Red Blu Ray, I believe they use the same transfer and then it looks like the just to be completely honest, the other side of Bonnie and Clyde, and then a noir version of The Zodiac Killer, which they already put out.

It's just a black and white color grade in the movie.

Not thrilled about those.

Feels like it's just a way to kind of put together.

As much as I love Agfas comps and I've talked about it on here before, I really go to bat for those comps.

I think they're fucking great, and the mixtapes and all that, this one's a slightly weaker release, but nonetheless I picked it up.

Yeah, it'd be good.

There's two new labels that came out for the first time.

Oh Horror Section is one that is their first release, that's right, and the first movie is Jimmy and Stiggs, which I need to come back to that in just a second.

Well, actually we just talked about it now.

But is it a like a mean movie?

I couldn't figure out.

No, No, it was just like a self financed it was.

I think I have a feeling I could be wrong about this.

I don't know how long it was it was in production for, but I know that, like, I think it was like a really not homemade so to speak, but definitely handmade, but very small cast.

I think it's just two people in the movie, a lot of practical effects.

It's the same guy who made Bliss and VFW and Christmas Bloody Christmas.

And Yeah, I'll be honest, I'm not too familiar with this one.

I know is I just know it shot on film and they're putting it on all four k Okay.

The intriguing thing about the label the horror section is this is financed by Eli Roth.

Oh, this is that thing, the Kickstar.

It's kind of like not a kickstarter thing, but it's like a thing where people can invest directly.

Robert Rodriguez had a similar thing, Got it.

Okay, So, I mean there's some celebrity attached to it.

I know people, I know Eli Ross is the polarizing figure.

But then the other one, which I was actually a bit surprised at.

So I think one of the coolest exploitation labels period is Visual Vengeance.

And I don't know how their sales are doing, but like it always seemed to be like they had a cult following, Like they have this amazing cover art that always hooks people in super interesting movie titles, like they find clever titles and like great art and good releases lots of features.

But the company that sponsors them or kind of pays for their bills or whatever to get them started was Wild Eye Releasing, which has been around for that yeah yeah, yeah, And so Wild Eye Releasing is now a partner label of Vinegar Syndrome, which I don't know what that means in terms of Visual Vengeance, but I I mean, yeah, I don't know.

I mean, look, the guy that runs Visual Vengeance, Matt came on They Lived by Film a year or two ago and was talking about how they're just like there's just no money, Like he has a full time job and this is like a Passion Project.

But these independent label like these boutique Blu ray labels, like there's just you're putting out six movies a year.

You're not making money, right.

Right, No, totally because you have to pay obviously for the work that goes into making them and obviously licensing.

And I'll say that's even more commendable because Furious is fucking incredible.

I love that movie.

I loved it.

I just saw it for the first time earlier this year.

And you know, that's just one of a couple of releases that they put out that are just fucking great.

You know, I think they did Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder.

Yeah, I mean, they just they really that's that's that's very a real sign of the times that that I'm learning this guy's got a full time job and he's he's doing this is like for Passion that that really bums me out because these titles are fucking great.

But I mean, I know I know some of them.

Some of these guys, they they run their their warehouse from their fucking garages and stuff.

And that's that's awesome.

That's the good ship that is that is the punk shit.

So exactly, you know, yeah, yeah, And I Matt is not if I remember correctly, it is not directly involved in wild I.

Like it's sort of like a sub label of that, so I don't But anyways, I don't know how.

I don't want to get I don't mean to get into all that.

How all that kind of plays into each other.

But it's interesting because wild I loves these kind of regional They go for the very similar type of title like they love like crazy titles and crazy marketing.

That's kind of their thing.

Yep, So maybe they'll have some fun with this.

I don't know, but yeah, those are the partner labels that I wanted to mention quick.

And there's eighteen that we didn't talk about.

Yeah exactly.

There's Saturn'score had one.

You know, there's Yeah, there's a bunch.

But but to be honest, I I the ones I picked up were the Connie one, the Agful one, and I think the Bleeding School.

I kept it really low key this month, mostly because I had just had to put my money elsewhere.

But like, even on that level, I just I and you'll see this pick up next month too.

The closer we get to partner month, the less I will jump into partners right away, unless it's something I need to get because it's going to sell out or something.

You know, there's some stuff that's day one.

But like what I usually do is when partner month gets announced, I pick up whatever is the big title I need to get right away before you know, before it sells out, and then I go back for seconds and that's when I go through my I do my whole year end review, and I pick up.

I'll pick up usually about another half dozen.

Nice nice all right, Well, that is everything that you could potentially buy from the Vinegar Syndrome website in October first.

But they have a sister company that they do called Maliu Scene, which also puts out titles every month, and this one is pretty special.

It's one of the biggest months in a while.

And there's one that I think you're going to be excited about.

But I want to see if I can, if I can, if I'm guessing correctly.

Yeah, go for it, throw throw it right out.

Jennifer Wells, right.

No, actually, that's my least excited of the three, believe it or not.

Oh yeah, okay, tell me I'll tell you the most.

Well, you know what, let's jump into that one though, because it's it's a quality X release it And don't get me wrong, but I am I am gonna.

I got all three, all three releases this month.

This one in particular, though, I it's so Joe Sarno directed it, which is very appealing for me personally.

I love his stuff, you know, for people who don't know, who are kind of newer to vading your syndrome.

Before they were doing slip covers, they did a couple of his titles.

They did all the Sins of Sodom and Red Roses of Passion, and they were these like very inky black and white, like really artistic exploitation films, you know, almost chamber pieces.

But like, you know, he's just a great He directed porn as well, but he also did a lot of exploitation, and he was kind of considered one of the more like high minded ones at the time, so to speak.

There's a documentary about him and his wife and their their partnership and their marriage like business partnership in their marriage that was put out on one of the partner labels about a month or two ago.

And but he yeah, so Jennifer Wells was in a distripits movie that came out a couple months ago called Career Bed and she ended up doing adult films and this was like her last.

This was kind of for you know, there was a whole series there was like you know, Inside Little Oral, Annie, Inside, Anny Wrinkle and someone were called Deep Inside, and you know, they weren't like comps, they were original films and they would kind of find an excuse is to like streamline them into different sex scenes and they would kind of be these confessionals.

For like Annie Sprinkle, it was almost like a documentary where she addresses the camera.

She's like, well, I like this and this is how I earned my name Annie Sprinkle, and then you know it'll show kind of a scene that goes into that.

But this is her and I've seen this before.

I actually saw it years ago because when I first started getting into watching Golden age adult stuff, what I love the most is just the kind of like b roll of the footage, like what a time capsule it was.

And this one she's in New York being chauffeured around town from what I remember, and like you see all sorts of areas of her driving through New York and then it's like, oh, I remember this building.

I had a gang bang in this building or you know whatever it is, and then it will then cut to a sex scene that that talks about it and Carter Stevens who directed a roller Baby and I'm forgetting the second movie on there.

I think it's Mount of Venus.

He actually shows up in this in a sex scenes with Jennifer Wells where she's like, I prefer a guy with like a big belly, and then Carter Stevens shows up as the titular big bellied fella and they have a scene together.

It also has a very racist scene at the ununfortunately where she has sex with a bunch of Asian men, and it has very condescending musical cues among other things.

But it's a it's I think the reason this feature, this one's worth picking up is because it has some it says here, It has liner booklet notes with say by Ashley West from the Rialta Report.

But it also has a short called box Ball, which I actually got to see this short on thirty five.

There was about a year and a half or two years ago the New Beverly did a double feature that was introduced by Rubin from Vinegar syndrome to Prince that he owns of Farewell Scarlet and a movie called Kitty's Pleasure Palace.

And before the movies, usually the new BEV will show a cartoon or some kind of themed short.

Instead, they showed the short called box Ball, which has to be seen to be believed.

I actually don't want to spoil it for anybody.

The stuff that happens with this guy's testicles is, even by the standards of even by the standards of what is available on porn today, kind of has to be seen to be believed.

It's it's a crazy five minutes.

It's nobody in it seems to be enjoying what they're doing whatsoever.

It's so it looks equally painful and cringey.

So that's that's the thing I wanted to call out for that.

So that's my least excited of the three that I'm excited about.

But the second one is The Violation of Claudia and Hot Honey, which is a double feature by William Law, director of Maniac Maniac Cop, great exploitation, filmmaker, owner of Blue Underground.

He's just a key figure for us.

We owe a lot to him.

He also directed a few adult films, and uh, the one of these two that's considered kind of like the Marque titles Violation of Claudia, which has Sharon Mitchell and of course everyone's favorite Jamie Gillis, and it also Hot Honey, I think is considered the lesser of the two, but he went under the name Billy Bag when he directed these, and they're both very short, I think.

I think Violation of Claudia is barely over an hour and Hot Honey is like only five minutes longer than that.

But they're newly restored, which is awesome.

From the from the OCNS, and there's a really cool two feature length audio commentary, so one for each movie with William Lustig and Nicholas Winding Refino, which is awesome.

I know Refin at some point was supposedly going to direct the Maniac Cop remake and it was possibly going to be like a TV show on HBO, but it just didn't happen.

But you know, I know Refin can be polarizing as a filmmaker, but what I will say as a preservationist, you know, the stuff with the Ormond family that Indicator put out with their box set and the ray Dennis Steckler stuff.

He was responsible for a lot of those restorations.

He paid for a lot of them.

The guy is and he's been a big fan.

Like when I saw Maniac on thirty five, Refin actually moderated the Q and A and they clearly have a great friendship.

So that's an awesome dynamic.

And then the last one, this is the one I'm the most excited about.

It's been a long time in the works.

The fireworks woman.

Are you familiar with this at all?

Yeah, this is actually going to be my guest, but I didn't.

I wanted to bury the lead.

So the people have been talking about West Criven It's adult side for years, but I would be fascinated just to find out how they even got this, because I thought he was kind of trying to distance himself from it.

Well, you know, I think what it had more to do with, particularly with this movie, is I think it was more of not just a rights issue, but I think the big problem was the elements were and it even says here on the restoration that it's a four K restoration, but it says from the best surviving film elements, So it's definitely going to have probably a little bit of a grindhouse.

Sheene to it, like, I'm sure some of it will look really good, but I'm guessing the OCN wasn't available, so it's probably a Frankenstein combination of different reels from different prints, similar to I just watched Star Angel, which was the last month's Command Cinema release.

Yeah, and it got a It was the same thing they put in the intro.

They said, we could only find three prints of this movie, so they were we sourced them together as best as we could, which is fucking awesome.

They don't have to do that, you know what I mean, Like when you think about like the preservation work, obviously they want to.

They they take their preservation for this just as seriously as they do for Ruby or Tromeo and Juliet, right, Like it's when they can get the oc end great.

But yeah, this was the film he directed between Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes.

And it's been a long time.

Like people who buy from the Malusine side and have been with VS from the beginning because of their adult films, it's been because they like this is one of the ones they keep talking about.

It's up there with with Last House on dead End Street, where it's like there's supposed to be some better version of it coming out, and finally it's here.

I mean to the point they printed out three thousand slips for this one.

You know, they usually don't.

They usually only do two thousand slips max for their for their titles.

If they go beyond that, it's because it's it's you know, they're anticipating a big sales.

It hasn't dropped below two k yet, but I guarantee this at least it's If it's not, it's very close to probably dropping below that number.

Probably they're probably waiting for next month.

You know, people probably are waiting to bundle it.

But yeah, really excited for this.

It has h It has a visual essay by a Craven biographer named Joseph Madri and kind of the and talks about kind of the making of the movie and Wes Craven's relationship to it, which, by the way, if you watch the trailer, Wes Craven's in it.

He actually is in the movie as an actor.

And then it has an interview with Roy Frumkiss, who I believe wrote Street Trash and he worked on the set and helped Craven recut the movie, and then it has the trailer, So not like a jam packed feature by any means, but I think it has enough there to contextualize the movie.

And yeah, I'm just really stoked for this.

So the last thing I'll say that's worth calling out and we'll obviously talk more about this in November.

They just announced.

If you go to Vinegar Syndrome or Melusine's YouTube page, Steven Morowitz does a big breakdown of what the different companies mean, which I know we've talked about it mountple of times on this podcast, trying to figure out, well, what'sity X, what's peak aarama and self explanatory as some of it is.

He really clears the air.

But he also announced that there is a new line called the Mitchell Brothers line.

They Vinegar Syndrome.

Ashley West helped this apparently he was the kind of the guy who helped complete the sale.

But Vinegar Syndrome got the entire catalog of the Mitchell Brothers, which is huge.

So next month, Behind the Green Doors getting a four K like a three disc set, and there's a lot of other movies they have, I mean there's the they you know, it's funny.

Behind the green door, I think is more of a historical document in terms of the I think their line has a lot of much better stuff there.

But that's a super important release and I'm glad it's finally happening, and so I think it's crazy, you know, as great as the main line and all the partner labels are.

That's the other reason I sometimes hold some of my money because I know that Malucene is probably gonna get most of it, if not all of it.

That's awesome.

Well, I'm glad you have the background on that.

This is a reason number one hundred why excited for you to to be joining awesome Eli, thank you so much for today, for for doing this and for agreeing to be on.

I can't wait to see where we go with this and and kind of what Punkification becomes in the next version two point zero.

Hell yeah, no, I'm super stoked to be part of it.

For that same reason, I'm excited or that our outros and intros will be uh will be with we and saying things like that, and like I said, I hope I hope people are I hope people enjoy it and if you know, like Chris always says, you can shoot either of us a message or let us know what you think or what you want us to do differently, or any any feedback.

Compliments are always great, but also anything on the other side of that, we're happy to hear it.

We're big boys, we can handle.

You can see awesome.

Well, yeah, thank you, and I'll be seeing a lot of you.

Hi, K, thank you for listening.

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