Abduction Of An American Playgirl / Winter Heat (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1975, 1976
Directed By: Claude Goddard, ?
Written By: ?
Starring: Jamie Gillis, Susan Sloan, Eric Edwards
Color/141 Minutes/Rated X
Region FREE

The Films
“She tastes sweeter than venison!” - ABDUCTION OF AN AMERICAN PLAYGIRL may be the funniest porno I’ve ever seen.

A couple buddies decide they need to get laid this weekend, having no money, and even less game with the ladies they cook up the half assed plan of kidnapping the first beautiful girl that comes their way. When they get her undressed and go through her things they find out she comes from a wealthy background and the light bulb in their head goes off that they can get ransom for her along with getting their fill of her body. Turns out the girl is insatiable, wanting both men endlessly, at the same time and even more, hell she even wants her sister at one point! Yeah, these bumbling idiots aren’t ready for the trouble they just brought upon themselves.

ABDUCTION OF AN AMERICAN PLAYGIRL is centered around a nasty plot, kidnapping a woman to rape her. However these men are no Krug and his gang, they’re not mean or even really despicable. Well, they are despicable for carrying out this act but their stupid nature is almost lovable. This film is genuinely funny, sexy as you’d expect and isn’t just another excuse for the old in-out.

And while ABDUCTION isn’t just an excuse for some close up shots of penetration WINTER HEAT pretty much is. Not to say its bad, it does what it aims to do quite well. A quartet of nasty individuals, 3 men (including adult film legend Jamie Gillis) and a woman who is a sex toy to the men, stumble upon a house filled with 3 young women, with the youngest looking barely 18, if even legal. You can guess what happens next… a lot of forced sex. It eventually turns to consensual sex which eases the sleaze factor just a bit to ease the viewer into a lighter mindset. The girls are all attractive, the plot is thin and the nudity is plentiful. A couple characters disappear for the last half hour of the film which is unintentionally hilarious to me for some reason. I’ll assume they just exploded into thin air from sexual bliss. WINTER HEAT isn’t art, it’s barely a movie, but it is an enjoyable piece of vintage erotica. And like I said, it does that quite well.

The Audio & Video
Both films are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 for a full frame picture from Vinegar Syndrome. ABDUCTION looks very good with very minor print damage in just a few spots. Colors and flesh tones are strong and natural and is as nice looking as one could hope for. WINTER HEAT is also in mostly good condition, there are some scratches, and some dirt and dust on the print but overall it looks nice. The audio tracks are simple stereo tracks that have a bit of background noise such as crackling and popping as you’d expect from old XXX titles such as these.

The Extras
A trailer for ABDUCTION is the only extra on the disc.

The Bottom Line
This double feature of 1970s porn flicks is of course full of sex, skin and all sorts of kinky stuff. What is a very nice surprise is how funny ABDUCTION is and even WINTER HEAT gets some great humor in at times. This is my favorite Vinegar Syndrome erotica/porn release to date.

Riddick (2013)

Article written by Jordan Reeves-

RIDDICK is the third film in the cult hit series starring Vin Diesel as the titular character.  Though this film is made 9 years after Chronicles of Riddick ,it only takes place 5 years later.  Riddick as the new Necromonger leader is in search of his birth place Furya and when he agrees to give up his role as leader in exchange for finding his home planet, he is betrayed by Vaako played by Karl Urban from the previous film and, is left for dead on a unknown desolate planet and he must survive the planets looming creatures, and 2 separate groups of bounty hunters, one group led by Boss Johns, who is played by Matt Nable.

I had the great pleasure of getting to do a phone interview with Matt Nable and was able to ask a few questions regarding his bad ass character of Boss Johns, who as fans of the series should know is the father to Cole Hauser’s character “Johns” from Pitch Black. 

I asked him whether he had taken anything special from Cole Hauser’s role of Johns in Pitch Black and used it for his performance in Riddick, and he said really the only thing he took was that the line of men that family was and that they are  just ass kickers and good men and tough bounty hunters

In RIDDICK the entire planet is a desert type atmospehre, with it always looking humid and dry, and then later in the film the planet has a torrential down pour that never lets up. I asked Matt about what shooting scenes were like with that weather aspect to the film, and having to wear heavy body armor while carrying heavy guns most of the time, and he said “basically it was shot in studio with control climate, so they weren’t really affected by weather, but with the equipment and long days of shooting made it very tiresome, though it beats digging holes for a living.”

I commented to him on how, as an audience, we are always rooting for Riddick in each film, and how this film in particular was interesting because we have our hero Riddick, who is our guy, and that he not only has to face the monster threat of the “mud demons” in this film but he’s also being hunted down by two separate groups of mercenaries. One group is a rag tag group of wildcards, and the other group, headed by Matt Nable, is a very organized militant group. I found it very cool to be able to root for Boss Johns (Nable) as well because of his characters intentions. Nable said he agreed that it was very clever of the director David Twohy to have Boss Johns be this very stoic man, who couldn’t care less about the enormous bounty placed on Riddick’s head and has been searching for Riddick for the last 10 years and just wants to know what happened to his son from Pitch Black and make Riddick pay and give him the answers he’s been searching for.

On the Blu-ray release of this film, there is an unrated cut which comes with an extra ending that’s about 5 minutes long. Fans of the film like myself will greatly appreciate it, because it directly sets up a 4th film. Nable told me, when I asked him what do we see from his character in a possible 4th film, because his business is concluded with Riddick, he told me “space is big, and we see Riddick at the end go back to the Necromonger world and who knows, we could always see the possibility of Boss Johns coming back into Riddicks world.”   As a fan that had me beyond excited.  

Matt Nable plays such a cool character in this film, and it was my first exposure to the Australian actor,  I asked him “like your character, and mercenary team, you yourself in real life are a jack of all trades person.  You went from being a Rugby star, to boxing, to writing novels and it has only been in the last 8 or so years you have been acting. Whats it like doing all that? And do you have any big film projects in the future for us?“ He replied that its all been really fun for him, and because of his exposure in Riddick, its really been great to him, and as for the future he is currently finishing a novel he’s working on.

For my first interview with someone in a film I fucking loved, Matt Nable was insanely nice and super humble, I enjoyed the time I spent interviewing him, and shared some laughs and appreciation for his performance in Riddick.  Even if you’re not a fan of the first two RIDDICK films definitely check this film out. Its great fun, and features really cool action and special effects.

Vikingdom (DVD Review) - Epic Pictures

USA/2013
Directed By: Yusry Kru
Written By: James Coyne
Starring: Dominic Purcell, Natassia Malthe, Craig Fairbrass
Color/112 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1

The Film
Thor is on a warpath to collect three ancient relics, the Horn from Helheim, Mary Magdalene’s necklace from Midgard in addition to his own hammer. Obtaining the other two relics would give him control over all three kingdoms if he is able to use each during the Blood Eclipse to take complete control over mankind. The only man that can stop him is Eirick The Bloodletter, and undead man who was blessed with life by the goddess Freya due to her love for him. Eirick recruit’s a squad of several other Vikings of varying abilities and skills for his quest, including a wizard, a small man who fights like a Valkyrie, brute warriors and archers. Their journey takes them across snow covered lands, into the mouth of Hell itself and deep into the dangerous seas. There is no shortage of bloodshed and violence before Eirick’s final showdown with the God of Thunder himself.

VIKINGDOM is a highly stylized adventure flick from director Yusry Kru. I liken this movie to be a mix of 300 and The Matrix but set in a world of Norse mythology. Many of the fight scenes have frantic, high speed editing, and slow motion is used quite a bit. I’d prefer a more straight forward fight scene but I’ve seen these techniques used in far more annoying ways in similarly toned films. The acting is so-so from the cast, including lead Dominic Purcell. Much of the cast is a bit wooden in their delivery but these aren’t complex characters and no performance is ever bad enough to take you out of the film. Thor’s appearance was a bit jarring at first, becoming very used to the Marvel Comics depiction of the God as a blonde haired, more youthful son of Odin, the slightly older, fiery red headed Thor of VIKINGDOM took a bit to get used to but it is very fierce and strong look for the villain.

Far from great, and certainly not a piece of art, VIKINGDOM did proide me with almost two hours of popcorn entertainment when all I wanted to do was turn of my brain it helped me do that. It isn’t amazing but if you like action/adventure flicks and Vikings you can do worse.


The Audio & Video
Epic Pictures gives a nice 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer to VIKINGDOM on DVD. The digital photography looks nice, but there are several moments where the sets are obviously sets or the CGI looks weak. That is something a film such as this has to deal with when it doesn’t have a mega Hollywood budget. The crispness and the clarity of the DVD are almost a detriment to the film for that reason. The audio track is rather good, with a 5.1 surround track handling the sound duties. There are plenty of sound effects of swords clashing and tearing through flesh, and there isn’t really much downside to the track.

It is interesting to note that VIKINGDOM was obviously shot in 3D but this release has no option for 3D.


The Extras
-25 Minute “Making Of” featurette
-Music video by MOJO for the song “Dark Clouds” from the OST
-Trailers
-TV spot

The Bottom Line
If you’re a fan of Matrix style action or fantasy adventure films such as 300 you’d probably enjoy VIKINGDOM and I’d suggest it enough to give it a rental if you fall under that blanket.

Judy / The Night Hustlers Drive-In Collection (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1968, 1969
Directed By: David W. Hanson, Bobby O’Donald
Written by: , Bobby O’Donald
Starring: Andrea Barr, Margo Billings,
Color/132 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE

The Films
JUDY is a sexed up thriller where the plot is more of a way to show off the bodies of some beautiful women than anything that will really pull you in. Detective Sloane is hired for a private case when a wealthy family’s daughter is sexually assaulted in a park. Of course while Sloane is working the case several other women are sexually assaulted in a similar manner. Each assault is shown, mainly from the naked torso up on the female. Occasionally the girls bare it all for the viewing pleasure of the audience. The attacks are rarely graphically violent, leaving their disturbing nature to be enough to get under the audience’s skin. The police force that Sloane was kicked off of is also on his back as they don’t like his tactics in handling his own case and interfering with theirs. It is a case of private detective vs.. dirty cops in a bare all nudey romp around the city.

1968’s THE NIGHT HUSTLERS is about a rich womanizing writer as he talks to a pair of police officers to get details from their juiciest cases and busts to use in his new book. From a female cop going undercover in a drug den, to a live stage show of sex, we get to see these events play out and since that isn’t enough we get to see the writer’s admirers try to seduce him for the night in all of their naked glory. This is a simple sexploitation skin flick and that is all it was ever meant to be.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome presents JUDY in a full frame 4:3 aspect ratio. The overall picture quality is good, and the 2K scan seems to be taken from a source that has been kept in good condition. The audio track has a bit of background noise, mostly crackling, at times. There are also some pops and hissing but it is very minor and won’t pose any issue to your enjoy of the film.

THE NIGHT HUSTLERS is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with an anamorphic widescreen transfer taken from a 35mm blow up negative. The picture quality is decent, with scratches and speckling throughout which adds to the charm of these films. Colors and detail are decent overall. The audio is okay, sometimes a bit muffled when the writer is talking, though that is partially due to his odd accent. There’s very little annoying background noise to deal with so it isn’t at all a bad track with all things considered.

The Extras
Bare bones.

The Bottom Line
Vinegar Syndrome brings us a pair of regional US skin flicks for its next entry into the Drive-In Collection set of double features and it is worthy of a spot right alongside the rest of the titles that range from horror to hardcore. This double feature would make a great warm-up for some of Vinegar Syndrome’s harder releases but is also completely enjoyable as a stand alone disc.

Carrie (Blu-ray Review) - Fox

USA/2013
Directed By: Kimberly Peirce
Written By: Stephen King, Lawrence D. Cohen, Roberto Aguierre Sacasa
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Judy Greer
Color/100 Minutes/Rated R
Region A

The Film
In 1976 the film adaptation of Stephen King’s acclaimed novel about a sheltered, religiously oppressed and bullied teen taking revenge on her tormentors after discovering telekinetic abilities was released. Brian De Palma’s CARRIE went on to worldwide success and has since become widely considered a classic of the horror genre. Sissy Spacek starred as Carrie White, the teen in question who was eventually covered in pig’s blood at the senior prom. Reaching her breaking point, Carrie’s powers reached a boiling point and she brought the school to its proverbial knees after opening up the gymnasium floor to expose the pool beneath and engrossing the building in flames.

Skip ahead 36 years and while the remake trend move on full steam ahead it was only a matter of time before CARRIE got the remake treatment. This time instead of Sissy Spacek in the titular lead role we get Chloe Grace Moretz, a true star on the rise who I’m sure will be winning an Academy Award before too long. Moretz has been starring and co-starring in motion pictures for several years now, from 500 Days Of Summer to Kick-Ass, she is no stranger to big parts. Her abusive, bible humping mother is played by the great Julianne Moore (previously played by Piper Laurie to near perfection). Carrie is very conservative, wearing frumpy homemade clothes, studying the bible after school and having no social life, the kids at school tease her and talk behind her back. When Carrie has her first period in the shower after gym class she freaks out not knowing what is happening to her and of course in the age of social media every girl there whips out a cell phone to record the show. Carrie’s torture continues. When one popular girl feels bad and has a change of heart she has her boyfriend ask Carrie to prom to make it up to the poor young girl but another popular girl who has been banned from prom has other plans and sets up a trap for Carrie. When a great night at prom takes a horrendous turn for Carrie the school will burn and everyone inside will pay.

Ah CARRIE, the wonderfully accurate tale of how awful high school can be to some kids. Of course with all sorts of fire and brimstone added in for our enjoyment. Moretz is good in the lead, as expected the main problem here is that she simply doesn’t look like a teen that would be getting harassed endlessly. She’s a normal looking girl, with clear skin, she isn’t fat and she tries to be normal. The only thing really weird about her is that her incredibly religious mother is fucking crazy and pushes it on Carrie which has sheltered the poor girl. In an age where movies rarely star someone that isn’t attractive they really should have went a different route than Moretz. Sissy Spacek had a very particular look to her in the original, she looked beaten down and frail, scared and unfortunate. Moretz, good acting or not, simply doesn’t have that look. And that is the look I associate with Carrie White. Julianne Moore did a decent job as the mother, a bit over the top at times but never becoming a parody of the nut bag she was portraying.

CARRIE is an okay film. It does very little to separate itself from the original and even less to try and improve on it. To put it bluntly, CARRIE is a pointless film that simply was not needed. It is a shinier, newer version of a superior vehicle. While it is prettier to look at it won’t ever reach the mileage that the original has.

The Audio & Video
CARRIE comes to Blu-ray in a gorgeous presentation from MGM/Fox. As you’d expect from a new Hollywood production being released in HD the film shines. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer shines, with the big budget special effects in the climax looking great. Detail is rich, skin tones are natural and black levels are deep. There is plenty of texture visible throughout. The 5.1 DTS HD audio track is full and bold and will use the entire spectrum of your sound system. This is a fantastic looking and sounding release.

Please note: Screen shots do NOT represent Blu-ray quality.

The Extras
A long with excellent A/V quality the disc features quite the slew of extras and a DVD copy and Ultraviolet digital copy of the film.

-Audio commentary with director Kimberly Peirce
-Alternate ending
-Deleted and alternate scenes
-”Creating CARRIE” featurette
-”The Power Of Telekenesis” featurette
-Telekenetic Coffee Shop Surprise


The Bottom Line
While I don’t find the film to be at all necessary or as good as the original it certainly has its fans. It isn’t a terrible film by any means, it just exists in a world where a more complete and better version of the film exists. MGM/Fox did create a winner of a home video release however and if you’re curious about the film and special features surrounding it the Blu-ray is worth checking out.

CARRIE is available HERE

Black Water Vampire (DVD Review) - Image Entertainment

USA/2013
Directed By: Evan Tramel
Written By: Evan Tramel
Starring: Bill Oberst Jr., Danielle Lozeau, Andrea Monier
Color/82 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1

The Film
Raymond Banks is a convicted killer responsible for murdering four women, a decade apart, to the day,  from each other over 40 years. The problem is Banks’ conviction was based on circumstantial evidence and he may not be responsible. A group of young filmmakers who grew up in fear of the Black Water Killer set out to discover the truth behind the murders and potentially free and innocent man.

The film makers set out to the area surrounding Black Water Woods to interview all sorts of eccentric locals, politicians and those associated with the case surrounding the murders. Eventually the crew heads into the woods to hike for days to find the area the bodies were found. When Rob, the annoying hipster douche soundman goes missing, the rest of the group begins to panic until they come face to face with the true monster in the woods responsible for the killings.

BLACK WATER VAMPIRE is yet another entry in the incredibly popular cycle of found footage horror films. The films are cheap and fast to make and require little in the way of set design or shooting locations. All of the clichés are here, from the arguing group getting lost in the woods, to the map disappearing and random symbols and spooky things happening at night. BLACK WATER VAMPIRE manages to freshen things up a bit by actually showing us something. While this is obviously largely influenced (and I’d go as far to say rips off) The Blair Witch Project, we actually get a good look at a monster here, which is a rarity in this genre. Unfortunately that takes a terribly fucking corny turn really fast. Sometimes less really is more.

This film also fails to do what needs to be done to make this a realistic film. The found footage genre is one that requires the viewer to suspend all disbelief. What we are watching is supposed to be real. This is the job of the filmmakers. When the sound recording quality is exactly the same all the way through the film, despite the sound man either not being introduced yet, or after he went missing, it is hard to believe that this was all recorded live. Hell, after Rob the soundman goes missing, the director of the group even begins to bitch about how shitty the camera’s on board microphone is and how it will sound like shit. Well good fucking job following through on that. Is that a minor nitpick? Possibly. It is just one that stood out to me the entire time I was watching the film. Also did they really need to create a serial killer rhyme that is a blatant ripoff of  “One, two, Freddys coming for you”? No, they didn’t and all it managed to do was make me groan in disapproval. BLACK WATER VAMPIRE is a typical example of the found footage genre, in that while it does manage to craft a story, it does so an a lazy uninspired way that is full of plot holes, annoying characters, clichés and “borrowing” enough from so many other films that I’m not sure I can count it on both hands. It is a shame because BLACK WATER VAMPIRE could have stood apart from the pack with a bit more inspiration. Taking a dozen popular modern horror films and throwing them into a pot together really isn’t the way to go about making a movie. I do have to mention that Bill Oberst Jr. is quite effective, giving an unsettling performance as the convicted killer.

The Audio & Video
Image Entertainment gives BLACK WATER VAMPIRE a rather gorgeous DVD treatment. I don’t think this anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer could look any better without being on Blu-ray. Colors shine and details is strong. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track sounds terrific as well, even if it is detrimental to the film itself at times. You can’t fault that on the technical side of the disc though, and this is an excellent job.

 

The Extras
The lone feature on the disc is a very short behind-the-scenes featurette, where the cast members are interviewed and some outtakes are shown.

The Bottom Line
If you’re a big fan of the found footage genre you’ll probably enjoy BLACK WATER VAMPIRE. Give it a rental to test the waters. Pun absolutely intended.

BLACK WATER VAMPIRE is available HERE

Dead Weight (DVD Review) - Horizon Movies

2012/USA
Directed By: Adam Bartlett, John Pata
Written By: Adam Bartlett, John Pata
Starring: Joe Belknap, Mary Lindberg, Michelle Courvais
Color/90 Minutes/Unrated
Region 1

The Film
Charlie awakens on his day off to eat cereal and read comic books as he typically does until he receives a frantic phone call from his girlfriend Samantha who lives several hours away in Minnesota telling him to turn on the TV to see the chaos that is happening around the country. A viral outbreak is widespread and terrorizing the entire country, turning its victims into violent, bloodthirsty maniacs. With the major cities being overrun and highways jammed and at a stand still Charlie tells Samantha to meet him in the small town of Wausau, Wisconsin where they first met.

As the days turn into weeks Charlie meets up with a trustworthy group to travel with. As they head to Wausau they encounter the struggles of survival in an apocalyptic environment. Food and water supplies are low, other survivors are usually dangerous and maniacal, and the task of finding a safe place to sleep sometimes seems impossible. As the tension builds around them, it also builds within them and Charlie begins to succumb to the rage building inside him as all he wants is to desperately find his love Samantha. When Charlie hears that Wausau fell victim to the virus he won’t let anyone stand in his way of getting to the meeting spot even if it means murdering people that helped him but when he arrives in Wausau he finds that things aren’t what he had hoped.

The writer/director duo of Adam Bartlett and John Pata took a low budget film and make it look far more expansive and costly than their budget would likely normally allow. DEAD WEIGHT is a minimalist film, we barely see any of the infected zombie creatures, there are practically no special effects and there is no CGI. The snowy scenes were filmed in the snow while the cast and crew were getting wind burn. This is gritty, real film making. It is well written and for the most part, well acted. DEAD WEIGHT is simple but successful because it pulls on real human emotions, and real situations set within a hellish version of reality. And remember to ask yourself “Why’d you jump out of the goddamn bushes?”

The Audio & Video
The Horizon Movies DVD release of DEAD WEIGHT is a very nice looking and sounding release. The anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer is sharp, with top notch clarity and detail for a standard definition release. The stereo sound mix is good with no pops, crackling or other audible annoyances. The soundtrack never interferes with the character’s dialogue and overall I have no complaints about the A/V.

The Extras
DEAD WEIGHT is a pretty loaded release with a pair of commentary tracks, one with the writer/director duo and the other with stars Joe Belknap and Mary Lindberg. Also included are extended scenes, a 55 minute making of featurette and trailers.

The Bottom Line
Combine the loaded release with the fact that DEAD WEIGHT is a well executed horror film dealing with real life themes in a world run amok and you’ve got a DVD that is well worth your time and money to check out.

DEAD WEIGHT is available HERE