Tuesday, January 07, 2014

New This Week 01.07.14

Finally, after a few weeks of nothing we finally have some new releases worth picking up.




Few sexploitation filmmakers were as bold, daring and bizarre as Walt Davis, the enigmatic auteur behind some of the wildest X rated films to come out of Hollywood.

In EVIL COME, EVIL GO (1972), traveling Evangelist preacher, Sister Sarah Jane (Cleo O’Hara), is hellbent on ridding the world of evil, sex-obsessed men. Taking to the streets of Los Angeles, she quickly befriends a gullible young woman and the two embark on a mad, sex-filled killing spree.

Cleo O’Hara returns in OH! YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL (1974), an almost surreal blend of madcap improvization and low-rent thrills as over-the-hill film starlet Gaye Ramon lounges around her cluttered Hollywood home, molesting bananas and conning innocent men into taking her carnal acting courses. Meanwhile, a con-artist photographer manipulates beautiful hippies into revealing poses.

Finally, in one of Davis’ hardcore efforts, WIDOW BLUE (1970), a homosexual affair results in a gory decapitation and a living room orgy. But more bloodshed is afoot…Featuring an all-star cast, among them John Holmes and Sandy Dempsey, as well as gore effects straight out of H.G. Lewis’ playbook, WIDOW BLUE is a demented masterpiece of sex and death, which is coming to home video fully uncut for the very first time!
Vinegar Syndrome presents all three of these mind-numbing X rated classics newly transferred and restored in 2K from their original negatives.
EVIL COME, EVIL GO
1972 | 73 minutes | Color | 1.33:1
OH! YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL
1974 | 60 minutes | Color | 1.33:1
WIDOW BLUE
1970 | 78 minutes | Color | 1.33:1
Features Include:
+ 2 Disc DVD Set | Region Free | 1.33:1 | MONO
+ Scanned and restored in 2k
+ Video Interview w/ Producer Bob Chinn
+ Theatrical Trailers for EVIL & DOLL + Outtake footage from WIDOW
Get yours directly from Vinegar Syndrome




Two regional sexploitation rarities that showcase the seedier side of the USA.
JUDY (1969)
A sex killer is on the loose, terrorizing working girls in Boston’s seedy ‘combat zone.’ Will a rogue ex-detective solve the mystery before more buxom beauties meet an unfortunate demise?
Director: David W. Hanson
75 minutes / Color / AR: 1.33:1
THE NIGHT HUSTLERS (1968)
In this Florida lensed sexploitation oddity, a group of Vice cops trade stories of their sleazy, sex-filled busts.
Director: Bobby O’Donald
57 minutes / Color / AR: 1.85:1
Features Include:
+ Dual Layer DVD-9 | Region Free | 1.33:1 Full Frame & 1.85:1 Anamorphic | MONO
+ Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm elements
Get yours directly from Vinegar Syndrome


Vinegar Syndrome debuts their new X-Rated Peekarama line today with their double feature of Abduction of an American Playgirl and Winter Heat.


ABDUCTION OF AN AMERICAN PLAYGIRL (1975)
Two lonely men kidnap a beautiful woman and subject her to their shocking carnal desires. But much to their surprise, she loves every minute of it and soon the hapless men realize that they are incapable of satisfying her lustful urges!
Director: Unknown
71 minutes / Color / AR: 1.33:1
WINTER HEAT (1976)
In this notorious roughie, a group of ex-cons terrorize and abuse a trio of helpless young women who are held hostage in a snowbound cabin.
Director: Claude Goddard
70 minutes / Color / AR: 1.33:1
Features Include:
+ Dual Layer DVD-9 | Region Free | 1.33:1 Full Frame | MONO
+ Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm elements
+ Original theatrical trailer for ABDUCTION OF AN AMERICAN PLOWGIRL




Birth of the Living Dead



In 1968 a young college drop-out named George A. Romero directed Night of the Living Dead, a low budget horror film that shocked the world, became an icon of the counterculture, and spawned a zombie industry worth billions of dollars that continues to this day.

Birth of the Living Dead shows how Romero gathered an unlikely team of Pittsburghers policemen, iron workers, teachers, ad-men, housewives and a roller-rink owner to shoot a revolutionary guerrilla style film that went on to become a cinematic landmark, offering a profound insight into how our society worked in a singular time in American history.

Get it at Amazon. And in case you're wondering, Amazon is sure to point out that yes, this release is Packaged in a 100% Certified Green Forestry Practices Eco Pack




Out today from Scorpion Releasing is The Power from writer/director Stephen Carpenter (the man who brought us The Dorm That Dripped Blood). I've never seen this one before, though Carpenter's involvement certainly has me interested, and that hypnotic cover art is sucking me in. I'm feeling saucy. I think I'm going to buy it.


"An Aztecan idol is stolen from a professor and ends up in the experimental hands of three high-school students who use it to get in touch with the spirit world. Things start to go wrong when a cemetery worker dies during one of these spirit sessions, and everything goes wrong after the Aztecan god possesses the body of a young man who steals the idol for his own purposes as the horrors of Destacatl is unleashed . Now see THE POWER from a brand new master!"  Amazon



Entertainment One's We Are What We Are is loosely based on the 2010 Mexican film "Somos lo que hay", though from what I've read it's quite a bit different than the original, so much so that it can barely be called a remake.

"The Parkers, a seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, keep to themselves, and for good reason. As they struggle to keep their ancestral customs intact, local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that they have held closely for so many years."

Bonus Features: An Acquired Taste: The Making-of We Are What We Are.
Interviews with Director Jim Mickle, Bill Sage and Julia Garner, Audio Commentary with Cast & Crew.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD, pick up a copy today.

The comedic masterpiece that is Neil Labute's The Wicker Man has been on Blu-ray pretty much since the format began, and finally Robin Hardy's excellent original (you know, the one that isn't universally considered to be a cinematic abortion) hits Blu-ray from Lionsgate. For those of you who are big fans of the film, according to the review at Blu-ray.com the UK release by Studio Canal has two additional cuts (UK Theatrical and Director' cut, in addition to the Final Cut offered on the Lionsgate disc) plus more bonus features, so that will probably be the version to go for. Get this release at Amazon.