Vinegar Syndrome releases a stunning double-feature with two ridiculously fun and sexy flicks from a B-movie icon and horror queen.
Vinegar Syndrome re-releases their 2016 Blu-ray offering of Murder Weapon/Deadly Embrace double-feature with a brand new collectible slipcover. This double-feature release contains two Linnea Quigley starring and produced movies from 1989. While most genre fans know Linnea for her horror titles, Murder Weapon and Deadly Embrace fall squarely into the erotic thriller category. These are the kind of movies that cable channel Cinemax would show late at night.
THE MOVIES
The first movie of this set is Murder Weapon.
Dawn (Linnea Quigley) and Amy (Karen Russell) are patients in a lunatic asylum, having been placed there after stabbed a lover in the shower. Upon their release, Dawn and Amy throw a party, inviting all their old boyfriends. Soon after the party starts, the murders begin, and the boyfriends begin to be dispatched in extremely violent and bloody ways.
The first half of Murder Weapon plays out like a straight erotic thriller, focusing on the two women, their nightmares (both erotic and violent), and their therapy. The second half takes a 180 turn into the slasher realm, as a mysterious figure in black kills all the men at the party.
There is plenty of nudity throughout the film to satisfy fans of Linnea Quigley, and a ton of gore in the second half of the film to placate her legion of horror fans.
The second movie of the set is Deadly Embrace, though it was shot and released before Murder Weapon (both were made in 1989).
In this film, Mindi (Charlotte Moreland) is a lonely, neglected wife. She hires a live-in pool boy (Ken Abraham) and begins to lust for his hard body. Mindi’s husband Stewart (Jan-Michael Vincent) is having an affair with his assistant Dede (Ruth Collins).
Michelle Bauer is in the film, credited as the Female Spirit of Sex. The Spirit of Sex shows up when Mindi is watching the pool boy, Chris, and her sexual desires begin to rise. The hornier that Mindi gets, the more naked The Spirit of Sex gets in her mind.
As Mindi becomes more obsessed with Chris, she starts to plot the murder of her husband and Chris’ actress girlfriend Michelle (Linnea Quigley).
Neither Murder Weapon or Deadly Embrace are particularly good, but they are fun.
Both films feature plenty of nudity, male and female.
Deadly Embrace goes light on the violence, leaning into the erotic thriller genre, while Murder Weapon is part raunchy rom-com that flips into an American Giallo, complete with grisly murders and a black-glove-wearing killer whose identity is hidden until the very end.
Both movies are entertaining and are representative of late 1980s era movies that flooded cable channels’ late-night programming, to which I am forever grateful. If you go into these two movies expecting hard-boiled mysteries, or a dark gritty slasher, you will be disappointed.
If you’re looking for a pair of fun, late-night, cheesy, trash flicks, then Murder Weapon and Deadly Embrace will delight.
THE DISC
Vinegar Syndrome gives these two films a 2K scan from their original 16mm negatives, and they look sensational. There is a feature that contains outtakes from Deadly Embrace so you can see what the movies looked like before Vinegar Syndrome did their restoration work.
The highlight of this disc is the commentary tracks for each movie by Linnea Quigley and director David DeCoteau.
They both have a blast talking about the movies and the many ridiculous scenes they were involved in making. It is a delight listening to them make fun of themselves and the nudity/sex scenes during Deadly Embrace. The two have great chemistry and make commentary tracks that are a fun listen.
The trailer for Murder Weapon is included, and it almost plays like the movie is a raunchy comedy, even when it introduces the murder aspect of the movie.
This Vinegar Syndrome re-release has the same features as the 2016 release, but now has a new slipcover, which is limited to 3,000 units.
THE VERDICT
Murder Weapon and Deadly Embrace are a pair of fun movies.
If you’re looking for boobs and blood, this double-feature will definitely satisfy. If you already have the 2016 release, there’s no particular reason to double-dip for the re-release unless you’re a collector of Blu-ray slipcovers. The Ralf Krause-designed slipcover is a beauty.
Take One
Take Two
Average
THE SPECIAL FEATURES
● 
Newly scanned and restored in 2K from their 16mm original camera negative
● Commentary track with director David DeCoteau and actress Linnea Quigley on both films
● Director introduction for Murder Weapon (2:26 minutes)
● Director introduction for Deadly Embrace (1:55 minutes)
● Video trailer for Murder Weapon (1:24 minutes)
● Outtakes for Deadly Embrace (2:53 minutes)
● Reversible cover artwork
● English SDH subtitles
● Limited edition slipcover (designed by Ralf Krause — limited to 3,000 units)
For more information and to purchase Murder Weapon/Deadly Embrace, visit Vinegar Syndrome here.
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