As the clock ticks down to Halloween, genre fans each
year are rewarded with home entertainment treasures that make their way to
market in late September and throughout October on the lead-up to the big
night.
It’s like a ghoul’s paradise of guilty treasures —
this new Blu-ray and that new DVD, oh that one too — and none better this
Halloween-season, with their new slate of film restorations, than Vinegar
Syndrome.
Genre fans are you ready? Not one, or two, or even three, but five new
horror treats that will be ready as Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack product offerings on
Sept. 24. All new film restorations …
like we said, “it’s a ghoul’s paradise!”
Where does one begin? Let’s start with the new 2K restoration
(from the original 35mm negative elements) of the late director Jim
McCullough’s (senior, that is … not to be confused with f/x whiz Jim
McCullough, Jr., who teamed with his father here with his screenplay) 1986
horror tale, Mountaintop Motel Massacre. The alliteration just rolls off your tongue
… mountaintop (suggesting isolation), motel (a place where something might
happen, like “Bates Motel”), massacre (need we say more).
Mountaintop Motel Massacre was
released as part of Vinegar Syndrome’s mid-year “surprise package” promotion at
the end of May and will now be available for the general public on Sept. 24.
This gem of a film was “in the can” (so to speak) in
1983 and was self-distributed in Louisiana and Mississippi and titled variously
Mountaintop Motel and Horror at
Mountaintop Motel (which was not uncommon) and
then along game New World Pictures, which picked it up on the condition that
the McCulloughs rework the ending.
The film, if just judging from the title, would seem
to be your typical haunted house slasher film complete with a self-service victim
pool (guests randomly checking in), but this little gem offers all sorts of
twists and turns.
Topping the list of “twists and turns” is the
recently returned proprietor, Evelyn (Anna Chappell), who has been spending
time at the local nut house. Upon her return she gets into an altercation
with her daughter Lorie (Jill King) and one thing leads to another and before
you know it we have one dead daughter, which is passed off to the local police
as an “accident.” Really?
Well, once you get going there’s no end to it … and
Evelyn picks one particularly gruesome night (it was a dark and rainy night, as
horror stories go) and goes off the deep end.
The “victim pool” is a treasure chest of odds and
ends, which makes it fun, and this little roadside rest stop has hidden
passages and a tunnel complex (don’t ask), which gives the crazed killer access
to the rooms … first for tricks and mischief and then for whack, whack, whack!!
Bonus goodies include an interview session with
David Akin, the assistant cameraman, which is titled “Under the Influence,” and
a second video session with production designer Drew Edward Hunter that is
titled “Mountaintop Motel Memories.”
WOW! That is
just one of five genre gem from Vinegar Syndrome on Sept. 24!
In no particular order, there will be a new 2K
restoration of cult filmmaker Herb Freed’s 1980 ghostly aberration thriller, Beyond
Evil, starring John Saxon and Lynda Day George as
newly weds who end up staying in a haunted mansion that has been abandoned for
roughly 100 years. Can anything
possibly go wrong with that?
Of course, plenty can go wrong … that’s the correct
answer. Janice Lynde (long-time soap
star) plays Alma, the ghost possesses Lynda Day George and tries to kill John
Saxon.
Bonus features include a newly-prepared video
session with filmmaker Herb Freed (titled: “Origins of Evil”) and a second
newly-minted session with producer David Baughn (who teamed with Freed the
following year, 1981, for Graduation Day) …
this session is titled “Evil in Paradise.”
Next is writer/director and star James Hong’s 1989
“wine-making” chiller, The Vineyard. A new 4K restoration from the film’s 35mm
original camera negative is in store for fans with this first-time Blu-ray
release.
Dr. Po (James Hong) is a world-renown winemaker,
with a secret. He is actually
centuries-old and has accomplished this with a “magic potion,” but something is
amiss of late. But, being a resourceful
fellow, he thinks he might be onto a new formula … his prized wines mixed with
youthful blood!!!
In a clever “victim pool” arrangement, Dr. Po
recruits young actors to work on his winemaking film, which of course is
nothing but a ruse to get a ready supply of young blood!
Bonus goodies are toplined by a new video session
with James Hong and producer/actor Harry Mok (as “Warrior”), which is titled “Welcome
to the Vineyard,” plus there are video sessions with co-director William Rice
(titled: “Zombies from San Jose”) and cinematographer John Dirlam (titled: “Sacred
Earth and Restless Souls”).
Not done yet.
Getting a new 2k restoration from its 35mm original camera negative is
prolific director Paul Ziller’s 1990 debut film, Pledge
Night.
New pledges to Phi Epsilon Gnu are the “victim pool”
as the “ghost” of a long-dead pledge (played by Joey Belladonna in a flashback
sequence) — who was boiled alive in a vat of acid (a prank gone wrong) — comes
back for revenge (with a twist ending).
We have four new interview sessions variously titled
“Hell Weeks” (with director Paul Ziller), “Graduating to Horror” (with
writer/producer Joyce Synder), “Hazing from Hell” (with actor Robert Lentini …
as Silvera) and “The Bad Man” (with actor Arthur Lundquist … as Dan) and a
locations featurette.
Rounding out the Sept. 24 Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
horror parade from Vinegar Syndrome is a new 2k restoration from its 35mm
original camera negative of Spanish filmmaker Ignacio F. Iquino’s (aka: Steve
McCoy) 1982 horror tale Secta Siniestra. This is a rare one that Vinegar Syndrome has
unearthed … and for many it will be a first time to see it come Sept. 24
(rumors of VHS copies floating around).
Secta Siniestra is
presented in Spanish with English subtitles and comes with commentary from film
historian and author Kat Ellinger.
No comments:
Post a Comment