Vinegar Syndrome
announced this past week it’s October slate of new film restorations headed to
the home entertainment marketplace on Oct. 30 as DVD and Blu-ray product
offerings.
Topping the list — and
yes, that is always a subjective evaluation — is a new 4K restoration of
director John Hough’s 1982 film adaptation of Ray Russell’s horror/mystery novel,
The
Incubus.
A crazed rapist killer —
introduced to us in the opening sequence — is on the prowl in the sleepy hamlet
of Galen (filmed on location in Guelph, Ontario, Canada — about 20 miles west
of Toronto) and somehow a local teen by the name of Tim (Duncan McIntosh) is
connected to the “creature” through a series of recurring dreams.
The first attack involves
a couple by the name Roy and Mandy (Mitch Martin), who are out camping in the
nearby woods. Roy is murdered and Mandy
is viciously attacked, but manages to survive the assault.
She ends up in the local
hospital under the care of Dr. Cordell (John Cassavetes), whose daughter just
happens to be dating the aforementioned Tim (a small world). In any case Cordell is shocked at the
brutality of the attack upon his patient, who remains in a coma.
Mindy is the first and
soon there are more — not so lucky — women, who are raped and brutally
murder. This sets up both a horror tale and a clever
whodunit mystery, where the sheriff (John Ireland) is befuddled and a local
reporter by the name of Laura Kincaid (Kerrie Keane) thinks that she might have
a lead as to who or what might be behind the attacks. Her premise is that some mumbo jumbo related
to the town’s history might be the root cause … it all sounds sort of
silly. Meanwhile, the body count mounts!
A surprise twist at the
end — didn’t see that one coming — reveals who the creature is, which is a
shape-shifter known as the Incubus … as the credits roll “it” is ready for more!
This Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Pack release for The Incubus features commentary from the blog group known as The
Hysteria Continues!, “trims” and alternate shots, plus three separate video
sessions — one with director John Hough, a second with actress Kerrie Keane
(Laura) and a third featuring cinematographer Albert J. Dunk.
Next up is director
Curtis Harrington’s 1974 theatrical release of The Killing Kind, which
will also be a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack … a new 2K restoration from the original
35mm camera negative. This is the
first time the film will be available on Blu-ray.
Harrington was on a roll
during this period with the 1970 MOW starring Anthony Perkins, How
Awful About Allan, the 1971 AIP theatrical release of Whoever
Slew Auntie Roo? — starring Shelley Winters — and in 1972 United
Artists handled the theatrical distribution of What's the Matter with Helen?
(teaming Shelley Winters with Debbie Reynolds).
Somehow he ended up with
a fly-by-night indie by the name of Media Cinema Group as the distributor for
his next film, The Killing Kind. It
opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973 and then went dormant. Finally in March of 1974 it got a quick
in-and-out theatrical launch in the L.A. area (and maybe some other markets)
and then dropped out of sight.
Harrington and producer George
Edwards were then caught up some sort of unspecified “legal issues” and the
film disappeared for almost a decade. The
Killing Kind got a VHS launch in the 1980s and over the years there
have been a number of DVD editions floating around from various sources. Toss’em, this Vinegar Syndrome presentation
is the one you will want!
The Killing Kind falls right in with How Awful About Allan, Whoever
Slew Auntie Roo? and What's the Matter with Helen? as
Harrington creates these closed-off, weird worlds, populated by dysfunctional
people. Here we have Terry (John Savage),
who is returning home from a rape conviction (he is actually innocent) and
heads straight to his mother’s rooming house (played by Ann Sothern).
Mom and son spend some
creepy time together catching up and then he shifts his attentions to a new
lodger named Lori (played by Cindy Williams, who had just hit it big with American
Graffiti … not sure in what order the films were shot, The
Killing Kind might have come first in production order).
Terry is just plain
creepy — he has a sexual rage; an itch he literally cannot scratch — and after
working his way through a cat and a rat, he eventually moves up to killing people,
including the vixen, Tina (played by Sue Bernard — Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,
Necromancy, Machismo: 40 Graves for 40 Guns), who was responsible for
his prison stint.
The big question is how
long does Lori survive — she gets plenty of sexually oriented warnings. And what of mom? The crazy fruit doesn’t fall far from the
tree, metaphorically speaking! Does
Terry turn on mom? Who will rent the
rooms and take care of him?
Bonus features include a
vintage commentary track featuring writers David Decoteau and David Del Valle,
a vintage video session with Harrington and the featurette titled “Harrington
on Harrington.”
Also heading home from
Vinegar Syndrome on Oct. 30 is Tiny Tim’s turn as the mentally deranged Mervo
in the 1987 direct-to-video release of Blood Harvest (4K restoration) and a new
2K restoration of DEF By Temptation — both are Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs — and
adult filmmaker Emilio Portici’s 1973 erotic horror entry, The Bride’s Initiation,
starring Carol Connors and Marc Brook (available on DVD).
