Nothing says fall like curling up with a good movie, and our fave indie distributors have a bounty of new-on-blu treats to satisfy.
It’s the beginning of the Fall season, and there is a slight lull of releases before the big Black Friday sales that are coming. Fear not, fellow horror fans. Labels such as Vinegar Syndrome, Synapse Films, and more are still making mouths water and wallets creak open with some amazing releases.
INDIE RELEASE
This month’s Indie Release radar kicks off with the sequel to fan favorite The WNUF Halloween Special. Writer/Director Chris LaMartina has used crowdfunding to make and release Out There Halloween Mega Tape (aka WNUF Halloween Sequel). Available initially to fans who contributed to the crowdfunding campaign, the DVD is now available for purchase.
Out There Halloween Mega Tape
Available officially for the first time ever. It’s Halloween in your VCR!
Gorge yourself on candy corn and hunker down for a haunted house party filled with aliens, vamps, and phantom tramps via this hard-to-find flick from an infamous East Coast ’90s bootleg video operation.
Straight from the archives of Trader Tony’s Tape Dungeon, the Out There Halloween Mega Tape was assembled from the highest quality source materials available and presented just as it was sold via Trader Tony’s mail-order catalog in the 1990s.
RONIN FLIX
Ronin Flix is releasing two new-to-Blu movies in the month of October, Nightmare Man and Becky (first time on BD-50). Make sure to check out the impressive catalog of movies available on Ronin Flix.
Nightmare Man
From writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky comes “a brilliant gem of independent horror…” (Jane Magazine).
After receiving a demonic African mask in the mail, Ellen Morris (Blythe Metz) is attacked in her dreams by an evil being she calls ‘Nightmare Man’ and is labeled a paranoid schizophrenic by both her Doctor and her husband. When Ellen is brutally attacked again, this time after being abandoned on the side of the road while being transported to the hospital, she flees for her life and stumbles upon a remote cabin filled with friends. Unsure if the demon is real or not, everyone at the house unknowingly falls prey to Ellen’s mysterious and ever-elusive killer.
A throwback to the terrifying slasher films of the 1980s, Nightmare Man is “one hell of a fun ride” that will keep you guessing until the very end (Horror-Asylum.com).
Starring one of Playboy’s 50 sexiest scream queens of all time, Tiffany Shepis (The Hazing, Sharknado 2), Blythe Metz (The Craving Heart), and Richard Moll (TV’s Night Court, Scary Movie 2).
Becky
Spunky and rebellious, Becky (Lulu Wilson) is brought to a weekend getaway at a lake house by her father, Jeff (Joel McHale), in an effort to try to reconnect. The trip immediately takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts on the run, led by the merciless Dominick (Kevin James), suddenly invade the lake house.
“Featuring strong performances, whip-smart dialogue … and some of the most gruesome horror to ever come from north of the border, Becky is a pleasant little surprise. But make no mistake: it is straight-up gleefully irresponsible revenge horror and is definitely not for the squeamish” (Frank Wilkins, Reel Reviews).
Starring Lulu Wilson (TV’s The Haunting of Hill House, Annabelle: Creation, Ouija: Origin of Evil), Kevin James (TV’s Kevin Can Wait, Grown-Ups), Joel McHale (TV’s Community, Happily).
VINEGAR SYNDROME
Vinegar Syndrome is gearing up for its legendary Black Friday sale by releasing some heavy hitters on 4K Ultra HD Blu, including classics The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Werewolf Versus The Vampire Woman (a Paul Naschy flick!), Don’t Open Till Christmas, Blood Delirium, and Moon Of The Wolf.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
In the dozen years since the original massacre, countless more people have vanished without a trace, and, despite fears from the locals that Leatherface and his family of cannibals have resumed their murderous ways, the police seem disinterested in looking into the disappearances. But everything changes when a couple of yuppies are attacked by Leatherface while calling into a local radio show hosted by DJ Vanita “Stretch” Brock, thus blasting their ghastly murders over the airways. Fed up with the inaction from local law enforcement, ex-lawman Lt. “Lefty” Enright decides to go rogue and sets out into the Texas Hill Country in a bid to finally put an end to the terror which has been gripping his community. Meanwhile, Leatherface sets his sights and chainsaw on Stretch…
Director Tobe Hooper’s (Eaten Alive, Poltergeist) sequel to his own 1974 masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, is a wild, outrageous, and unbelievably gory mix of southern fried terror and surreal humor. Starring Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, Blue Velvet), Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses), Caroline Williams (Rob Zombie’s Halloween II), and Bill Johnson (The American Scream) as Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has gained legendary status as the wildest and bloodiest entry in the franchise, so gruesome that Cannon Films chose to release it unrated to avoid needing to censor its nearly non-stop carnage, courtesy of effects master Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead). Vinegar Syndrome is proud to bring this quintessential 80s horror classic to 4K UHD, newly scanned and restored from the never-before-accessed for-home video 35mm original camera negative and featuring hours of both newly shot and archival extras!
The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman
Infamous werewolf Waldemar Daninsky has been brought back from the dead after a mortician carelessly removes a silver bullet from his heart. Unable to stop himself from viciously killing anyone in his path, he begins a search for a sacred cross that can finally cure him of his monstrous affliction. Meanwhile, Genevieve and Elvira are scouring the French countryside for the final resting place of Countess Wandesa, who, according to legend, was a vampire who thrived on the blood of young virgins in order to retain her beauty.
One night, they encounter Waldemar, who offers to aid them in their quest and leads the two women to Wandesa’s tomb. However, while in the process of opening it, a drop of blood falls onto her skeletal remains, thus reanimating and rejuvenating her desire for blood and revenge from beyond the grave. Now faced with an evil capable of even more brutality than his own, Waldemar realizes that he is the only hope in defeating Countess Wandesa…
The third released film in the Waldemar Daninsky saga, León Klimovsky’s (The People Who Own the Dark) The Werewolf Verus Vampire Woman (aka Werewolf’s Shadow), is considered one of Paul Naschy’s crowning achievements, and co-stars Gaby Fuchs (Mark of the Devil), Andrés Resino (Holocaust 2: The Revenge), and Patty Shepard (My Dear Killer).
Brimming with a gothic atmosphere, brutal violence, and an underpinning of eroticism, Vinegar Syndrome is delighted to present the world UHD debut of The Werewolf Verus Vampire Woman, newly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative and including three different cuts of the film: its international export “nude” version, its “clothed” Spanish version and an integral “nude” Spanish version.
Don’t Open Until Christmas
It’s just days before Christmas in London, but not everyone is full of good cheer — as a maniac with a pathological hatred of Santa Claus stalks the streets, butchering any man that’s unlucky enough to be wandering around dressed as Old Saint Nick.
Not restricting themself to any one method of murder, this twisted killer dishes out stabbings, gunshots, castration, and even burns the face of one poor Santa on his own roasting chestnuts! As the bodies of slaughtered Father Christmases pile up, Chief Inspector Harris finds himself under increasing pressure to crack the case before the holiday is canceled for good!
The product of an extremely troubled production, Don’t Open Till Christmas was the second stalk-and-slash collaboration between legendary exploitation producer Dick Randall (French Sex Murders) and former matinée idol Edmund Purdom (The Fifth Cord) after 1982’s deliciously bonkers Pieces. Originally conceived as Purdom’s directorial debut, the resulting footage was considered such a mess that much of it was rewritten and reshot by director Alan Birkinshaw (Killer’s Moon) under a pseudonym.
The end result is a fascinating and endlessly entertaining patchwork of a slasher film and super-sleazy thriller, punctuated by shocking moments of gore that appear almost out of nowhere, as well as an entirely gratuitous musical number from horror icon Caroline Munro (Maniac, Slaughter High) herself! Finally restored from original 35mm negative elements by Vinegar Syndrome and jam-packed with new bonus features along with a selection of archival treats, including long-lost scenes discovered in a rough cut, this is one present you won’t want to leave under the tree!
Blood Delirium
Pieter Fales is a renowned psychiatrist who is unable to reconcile his relationship with his teenage daughter, Alison. Julie, one of Pieter’s patients, is a successful advice columnist in the midst of a messy divorce, and she has also started receiving threatening letters. When a black-clad, scissors-wielding killer begins murdering people in Julie’s life, she begins to suspect that her unknown writer and this mystery assailant might be one and the same…
Saint Simon, a deranged and manic painter, believes that he is the reincarnation of Vincent van Gogh. When his beautiful wife dies unexpectedly, Simon suffers an emotional breakdown and insists that his necrophiliac butler, Hermann, help remove her corpse from the cemetery and bring it back to his castle to help him retain his creativity, placing the body on display inside of a hidden crypt.
Still struggling with his art, Simon soon meets a young woman named Sybille, who bears a striking resemblance to his late wife and lures her back to the castle with the intention of making her into his new muse. Trapped inside, Sybille must find a way to escape the horrors within the castle walls, as Simon has recently discovered that human blood may be the key to unlocking his true creative potential.
A sublimely twisted shocker from late 80s Italy, Sergio Bergonzelli’s (In the Folds of the Flesh) Blood Delirium is a non-stop assault on good taste, with gut-pulling murders, graphic sex, and a whole host of other perversions. Starring John Phillip Law (Danger: Diabolik, Barbarella), Brigitte Christensen (Quiet Days in Clichy), Olinka Hardiman (Lingeries Fines et Perverses), and sword-and-sandal star turned Eurosleaze character actor Gordon Mitchell (Emanuelle, Queen of Sados) in the most demented role of his lengthy career, Vinegar Syndrome is overjoyed to present the world Blu-ray debut of this twisted and stylish gem, newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative and presented in its fully uncut and uncensored version!
Moon of the Wolf
Strange events have been going on in the small Louisiana town of Marsh Island. Local residents are shocked when the body of a young woman is discovered mutilated in a nearby swamp. Sheriff Aaron Whitaker is convinced he is dealing with a murderer like any other. However, some of the more superstitious locals think there may be a supernatural explanation. As more bodies begin turning up, it becomes evident that the Sheriff may, in fact, be hunting a mythological creature known as a lycanthrope, or in other words, a werewolf! With the help of a prominent socialite named Lousie, Sheriff Whitaker must uncover the identity of whomever or whatever is responsible for the killings before the next full moon claims another victim.
A brooding, made-for-television werewolf chiller from director Daniel Petrie (Fort Apache the Bronx), MOON OF THE WOLF stars David Janssen (TV’s The Fugitive), Barbara Rush (It Came From Outer Space), Bradford Dillman (Escape From the Planet of the Apes), John Beradino (TV’s General Hospital), and Geoffrey Lewis (The Devil’s Rejects).
Shot entirely on location in rural Louisiana, which adds an air of bayou authenticity, Vinegar Syndrome Archive presents this standout piece of movie-of-the-week horror on Blu-ray for the first time, newly restored from its 35mm interpositive and featuring a freshly recorded interview with its editor, Richard Halsey.
SYNAPSE FILMS
Wrapping up our Indie Radar Releases is the announcement from Synapse Films that they are releasing the Bigfoot drive-in classic, Creature From Black Lake! You can get your copy on the Creature From Black Lake (LE) limited edition Blu-ray with a slipcase. Or, you can pre-order the Creature From Black Lake (DVD pre-order) mass-market DVD (releasing in December 2022).
Creature From Black Lake
A hairy humanoid beast is lurking in the Louisiana swamps, but only trapper Joe Canton (Jack Elam, Once Upon A Time In The West) has seen it and lived to tell the tale, and the other residents of Oil City, Louisiana, don’t talk about it. But that’s not about to stop intrepid grad students Pahoo (Dennis Fimple, House of 1000 Corpses) and Rives (John David Carson, Empire of the Ants), who are determined to track down the Bigfoot-like creature. Defying local sheriff Billy Carter (Bill Thurman, The Last Picture Show), the duo trek deep into the wilds of Black Lake, and a series of frightening encounters make it clear the monster is no mere legend.
Following in the footsteps of The Legend of Boggy Creek and similar docudramas, 1976’s Creature From Black Lake is a fictional Sasquatch saga, albeit one inspired by real reports. It features a colorful cast, including Dub Taylor (The Wild Bunch), plus plenty of rural atmosphere courtesy of cinematographer Dean Cundey (Halloween, Jurassic Park). Scripter Jim McCullough, Jr. — who also co-stars — and director Joy Houck, Jr. bring touches of humor and humanity that complement the mystery of the monster and the terror of its attacks.
A longtime late-night TV favorite, Creature From Black Lake now roars onto its Blu-ray debut with a new 4K restoration and a boatload of special features!
