SWEET YOUNG FOXES/THE YOUNG LIKE IT HOT (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

Back in September of last year Vinegar Syndrome released this pair of films on Blu-ray in a limited edition of 2,000. That release sold out quickly as limited editions tend to do and is going for big bucks on the secondary used market. While I think if you dropped the $75-80 it'll cost you to get the limited edition Blu-ray you wouldn't be disappointed in the work done by Vinegar Syndrome because it is a truly beautiful job done by VinSyn, I'm totally on board with this DVD release of the films.

Fans commonly complain in situations like these when a limited edition is re-released but VinSyn is keeping the Blu-ray edition special by re-releasing the films for those that missed out on them the first time to get them at a reasonable price but not giving them the entire package that the people that bought the limited edition get. It's a fair trade off in my opinion and the Blu-ray editions are still out there on the secondary market if you want to pay the collector prices to get it. It's gorgeous and worth it if you need these films in HD. Otherwise this DVD release is a very nice release that carries over the special features from the original Blu-ray.

You can read the original Blu-ray review HERE but just note that the A/V takes a small step down in quality as we're talking about a DVD instead of an HD presentation here. The films are still a blast, Hyapatia Lee is still sexy as hell and a legend of adult films and I hope you'll give this one a chance if you previously missed out on the Blu.

SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1978
Directed By: Richard Kanter
Written By: Richard Kanter, Harold Lime
Starring: Serena, Lesllie Bovee, John Leslie
Color/76 Minutes/X
Region FREE
Release Date: February 23, 2016

The Film
An ancient alchemist developed a talisman with a special power that its owner will experience their ultimate sexual fantasy. The catch is that you can only use it once and then it must be passed along to someone else.

Things start out with a sexually frustrated wealthy woman who allows herself to be forcefully ravaged by the landscaping crew, the powerful politician who finally gets to nail his sexy mistress and a gym coach who gets it on with his students and much more.

SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND is a perfect title for this lovely piece of smut. There's seemingly endless skin, a bit of taboo and some purely breath taking scenes with some of adult film's most recognizable faces. This sexy romp doesn't stick around too long but while it's here it is like a whirlwind of ancient sexual dreams coming true.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome deliver this piece of sexploitation on DVD with a 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer scanned in a new 2K scan from the original negative that looks quite good for the vast majority of the duration. There's a couple instances of damage to the source material in the forms of tears and scratches but they are towards the end of the film and only happen a few times for a total of a couple seconds worth of screen time. The rest of the film looks quite good, with a clean look with just minor speckling and a warm natural color palette and strong detail for a standard definition release. The mono Dolby Digital track is crisp and clear free of any distortions or background noise. It's not much more than a standard mix job but it gets the point across perfectly. There's no need to tamper with it or try to create a false surround mix.

The Extras
The lone extra is an audio interview with actor Jon Martin.

The Bottom Line
SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND is a fun one, it may not have the lasting impressions of raunchier or more outlandish adult films but the scenes included here are seriously good stuff.

SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND is available HERE

HOLE (DVD Review) - Wild Eye Releasing

USA/2010
Directed By: Joaquin Montalvan
Written By: Eunice Font, Joaquin Montalvan
Starring: Paul E. Respass, Jim Barile, Randall Barnes
Color/94 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: November 24, 2015

The Film
Ed Kunkle has recently been released from prison against his own wishes and is now a suspect in the disappearance of several women from his area. He has started a relationship with a woman damaged by the tragic death of her infant son who has no idea of the demons that haunt Ed or the secrets he hides in the shed out back.

HOLE is a noitcably low budget indie horror picture from 2010, finally given a home on DVD by Wild Eye Releasing in 2015. It features ideas that don't fully pan out, stilted acting, and too much (and totally unnecessary) slow motion photography during some of the more graphic violence scenes. It is flawed at best, imperfect and amatuerish at worst. The real film falls somewhere in the middle of those extremes.

The film has a rawness about it that makes it a more interesting watch than it would be as a polished product. It's gritty and dirty in a way that reminds me of a low budget Rob Zombie flick. And I mean that in a good way. The editing leaves the film feeling a bit disjointed, but it has a personality to it that is undeniable, even if that personality isn't wildly original.

The Audio & Video
Wild Eye Releasing gives HOLE a nice home on DVD with a 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The color palette is often cold and saturated on purpose and the disc reflects that nicely. The movie was obviously filmed on less than professional level gear so the transfer is only going to look so sharp - luckily it does look good. It has a raw quality that matches the film itself. The image is clean and handles black levels decently as there is some light compression and artifacting issues. The audio sounds as good as you would hope given the low budget production. The levels have a good mix and dialogue never gets lost amongst the music. There's no distortions or audible annoyances to speak of.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary with the Director
-Making Of Documentary
-Ed's Journals
-Trailers

The Bottom Line
If you're digging for something new, something outside what the studios are throwing at you on a weekly basis and want to give a low budget picture a chance HOLE has a certain quality to it that allows it to rise above its shortcomings and be an interesting watch with plenty of violence.

HOLE is available HERE

PIECES (Blu-ray Review) - Grindhouse Releasing

Spain, USA/1982
Directed By: Juan Piquer Simon
Written By: Dick Randall, Joe D'Amato
Starring: Christopher George, Linda Day George, Edmund Purdom
Color/89 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: March 1, 2016
2x Blu-ray/CD/Replica Jigsaw Puzzle (First 3,000 copies only)

The Film
In the 1940s a young boy is caught putting together a nudie jigsaw puzzle by his mother who comes down hard on him. The boy responds by attacking his mother with an axe and dismembering her body with a hacksaw. Fast forward 40 years and there's a murderer on the loose at a local college and they're using a chainsaw to murder and maim their victims.

PIECES is a gloriously exploitatative piece of horror from director J.P. Simon who takes a more is more approach. More gore, more nudity and more red herrings. Simon's direction is competent but not very flashy. It doesn't need to be as he lets the murder set pieces and special effects be the glitz and glamor of the movie. Oh and the nudity, did I mention the nudity?

The cast has a surprising amount of recognizable names from Edmund Purdom to Paul L. Smith. Purdom and Smith give a couple of the better performances of the movie as you'd expect but much of the rest of the cast hams it up and overacts to comedic delight. The dialogue in the script is clunky at times but that leads way to some classic scenes such as the "Bastard!" scene.

You shouldn't tune in to PIECES for a subtle, atmospheric horror film with a tight script and strong performances, you should tune into PIECES for a glorious exercise in excess. There's a reason PIECES is a classic example of drive-in era horror and was a staple of the seedy grindhouse theaters on and around 42nd Street in New York City and that is because PIECES not only approves of the type of things a mother who would force you to burn a nudie jigsaw puzzle forbids but it relishes those dirty things and even encourages you to dabble in them. I love PIECES a little bit more with each subsequent viewing.

The Audio & Video
Grindhouse Releasing nails the 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on PIECES with a brand new 4K scan from the original camera negative, maintaining the original aspect ratio. Colors are vibrant with deep crimson reds that pop just a bit to lush greens. Skin tones are fleshy and natural without a hint of waxiness. Detail level is nearly off the charts from textures to surfaces and especially in facial closeups with facial hair and skin details. The picture is crystal clear, it's immediately evident that there was significant effort into making sure the print is squeaky clean. There's no DNR or edge enhancement to speak of and PIECES has never sparkled like this.

The new DTS-HD Master Audio mix is exceptional with sparkling clarity. The mix gives a strong boost to the soundtrack that manages to slice through the various screaming and chainsaw buzzing of the film and become complimentary without ever fighting for the foreground. There's no background noise or imperfections such as crackling or popping. PIECES looks and sounds like perfection.

The Extras
Disc 1:
-Audio Commentary With Star Jack Taylor
-Music Re-Score By Umberto
-The Vine Theater Experience
-Still Galleries
-Liner Notes

Disc 2:
-42nd Street Memories: The Rise And Fall Of America's Most Notorious Block - A feature length documentary on the mecca of exploitation film
-Interview With Producer Steve Minasian
-Interview With Paul Smith
-Interview with Director Juan Piquer Simon
-Bios and Filmographies
-Grindhouse Releasing Prevues
-Production Credits

A CD soundtrack is also included along with a replica jigsaw puzzle to the first 3,000 copies.

The Bottom Line
Grindhouse Releasing has become synonymous with delivering the most beautiful looking and sounding releases that the cult film market has ever seen and they always pack them with special features. They seem to outdo themselves with each release these days adding something special to the mix of superb A/V to make the fans scramble with excitement. All hail Grindhouse Releasing! PIECES is an essential part of your horror Blu-ray collection.

PIECES is available HERE

E.N.D. (DVD Review) - One 7 Movies

Italy/2015
Directed By: Luca Alessandro, Allegra Bernardoni, Domiziano Cristopharo, Federico Greco
Written By: Luca Alessandro, Allegra Bernardoni, Domiziano Cristopharo, Federico Greco, Roberto Papi, Antonio Tentori
Starring: Regina Orioli, Antonio Bilo Canella, Francesco Sannicandro
Color/85 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 9, 2016

The Film
Day 0:  The Outbreak starts from a batch of bad cocaine
Day 1466: Italy is in ruins as the epidemic is only getting worse.
Day 2333: There are humans and there are monsters and there isn't a lot of difference between the two.

E.N.D is a quasi-anthology horror film taking place in three different periods of a zombie outbreak caused by bad cocaine. The 80s would have been hell with this coke. The first entry takes place inside a funeral home just at the start of the outbreak. Dull describes this entry fairly well. A miss opportunity at funeral home hijinx the night after the mortician held a party with his friends there.

Follow that up with the fight for survival as an American soldier and pregnant woman board themselves up in a wooded cabin as the zombies chase them and try to break in the woman gives birth leading to an interesting finale. Some action and suspense make this one a mildly entertaining chapter.

And finally after over six years of the outbreak the zombies have evolved into a communicating, functioning group of monsters, making their extinction by humans that much more difficult. The most interesting chapter of the bunch if not significantly flawed in various areas. Easily the most action and gore packed section of the movie.

E.N.D. isn't great. There are a lot of slow spots that just drag out to nothing, the effects are cheap and the CGI is awful. There's also some practical effects that look good and zombie makeup that is a throwback to the 70s and 80s reminding me in particular of the ghouls from Oasis of the Zombies and Zombie Lake. The acting, like the rest of the production is amateurish, and clunky. I appreciated it for being a coherent film with an interesting take on an increasingly dried up, dull and lazy subgenre.

The Audio & Video
E.N.D. finds its way to DVD courtesy of One 7 Movies with a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The digital photography looks okay, with a soft but clean image quality. The PQ is middle of the road, nothing great but not notably poor either. The 2.0 Italian language audio features optional English subtitles. The audio is mixed well and is reasonably full bodied. Levels are steady and there's no distortions or hiccups in the audio. The English subtitles are timed well and read fine but any time there is a break in dialogue the subtitles of the last word spoken hangs on the screen until someone else speaks. It's not very distracting once you realize it is going to happen every single time, and sometimes that break lasts several minutes but it is a lazy over sight.

The Extras
-Interview with writer Antonio Tentori
-Backstage Footage
-Trailers
-Photo Gallery

The Bottom Line
Recommended for zombie superfans only.

E.N.D is available HERE

THE BEES (Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA, Mexico/1978
Directed By: Alfredo Zacharias
Written By: Alfredo Zacharias
Starring: John Saxon, Angel Tompkins, John Carradine
Color/92 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 23, 2016
Blu-ray, DVD

The Film
Corporations have smuggled highly deadly bees from South America to the US to profit from their royal jelly and honey despite the obvious dangers to the ecosystem and human life. And to make matters worse common techniques to subdue and exterminate bees don't seem to be working.

THE BEES is drive-in fare through and through. It's cheaply made, features a major disaster caused by bugs or animals and features a cast including John Saxon and John Carradine amongst its stars. Writer and director Alfredo Zacharias creates this B-movie (I'm being very generous calling it a B-movie... more like C or D) that has so many plot twists that you'll eventually stop trying to follow along. There's also as many plot holes as there are plot twists so there's no chance a coherent movie.

There's also no chance at a flowing rhythm to the movie as the majority of the film is just one scene after another with nothing at all connecting them until we get back to our main characters who are talking about one of the many plot points. This gives the film a very choppy and all over the place feel.

To the film's credit there's absolutely no shortage of killer bee action. I don't think there's more than a single five minute stretch where swarms of bees aren't attacking someone or something. Of course there's no real bloodshed or graphic violence but it's entertaining nevertheless and really saves the movie making it mildly entertaining.

THE BEES is too long and tries to fit 100 pounds of crap into a 10 pound bag. Luckily they managed to fit the same amount of killer bee fun into the same bag so that it isn't all bad.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome's 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer comes from a new 2K scan and restoration taken from the 35mm IP and frequently looks quite good. The staged set pieces with our stars are sharp and highly detailed with good color representation. Surfaces and textures reveal their detail and depth nicely. Facial closeups reveal a natural skintone with no waxiness. The transfer is worse in scenes that show the swarms of bees as these are generally dirtier, and expose a bit of damage while being overly grainy. The DTS-HD Master Audio track features a mono mix that sounds crisp and clear. There's no buzz or hiss in the delivery and there's no background noise. VinSyn took the original audio mix and made it sound beautiful on Blu-ray.

The Extras
-Video Interview With Writer/Director Alfredo Zacharias
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Reversible Cover Art

The Bottom Line
I can't call myself a fan of the movie but Vinegar Syndrome gives THE BEES a nicer presentation than perhaps it is deserving of. That's just what they do and I applaud their efforts.

THE BEES is available HERE

ROBIN'S NEST/BELLA Peekarama Double Feature (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1979, 1980
Directed By: Victor Bertini, Alexander Kubelka
Starring: Arcadia Lake, Eric Edwards, Tracey Adams
Color/166 Minutes/X
Region FREE
Release Date: January 19, 2015

The Films
In ROBINS NEST, Robin and Alan are on the verge of separating less than a year after getting married. Their sexual chemistry is gone and the sight of each other seems to bring out the worst in them. Each of them reconnect with old friends who have some ideas in mind in how to get their lust and sexual craving satisfied and perhaps it will bring them back together.

I feel that ROBINS NEST ran a bit long and could have easily been a more slickly paced feature at around 70 minutes. Even at 80 minutes the film drags a bit but there's plenty of action from straight to lesbian and some call girls to keep you entertained. That is before the big finale that makes your efforts worthwhile when Alan gets to scream "I just fucked my own wife!?". Yes Alan, you sure did. ROBIN'S NEST is a middle of the pack runner that doesn't set itself apart.

BELLA is a bit more interesting straight out of the gate as we get to see the sexual romps and drama of Bella and her family including but certainly not limited to blackmailing your mother's lover to have sex with you, kidnapping and forced sex at gun point. Yeah, BELLA goes there when she wants someone to herself. She's tight and young and will tell you she's not a child and then show you for proof.

Again running a bit longer than I think is ideal for the picture BELLA has a few slow moments but is otherwise filled with incredibly sleazy, sexy and entertaining moments. Tracey Adams is ultra desirable as the titular character going far enough to threaten her mother until they come to a great compromise that satisfies them both and takes things to the land of taboo. BELLA is a wild ride that you'll enjoy in all the right ways.

The Audio & Video
This double feature DVD from Vinegar Syndrome features similar technical specs for both features including 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital mono audio tracks. The audio tracks are both in nice condition with very little background noise or imperfections such as popping or crackling. They sound very good overall with a crisp quality and steady levels. The 16x9 transfers have good color, marred only by light speckling of dust and a single moment of heavier scratch damage. Detail is solid for a standard definition release and these films likely haven't looked this good since they were originally filmed.

The Extras
-Video Interview with filmmaker Carter Stevens
-Original theatrical trailer for BELLA

The Bottom Line
This isn't my favorite release in VinSyn's Peekarama collection but there's plenty of entertainment to be had. Come for BELLA and get the bonus of ROBIN'S NEST.

ROBINS NEST/BELLA Peekarama double feature is available HERE