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Having now received the disc, it is amusing that the packaging of 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy takes great pains to keep Abel Ferrara's name off the packaging, instead describing it as "the notorious debut feature from future acclaimed filmmaker 'Jimmy Boy L.' ", but then ruins the mystery for those in the know by celebrating the "throbbing, jazz-infused original soundtrack composed by Joseph Delia (Bad Lieutenant, The Addiction)"!

I'm quite excited to see the other Vinegar Syndrome films I picked up with it: early Shannon Tweed erotic thriller In The Cold Of The Night looked quite interesting, and is presented in its "uncut NC-17 version", and the film also features a cameo from Tippi Hedren! It was mind boggling to discover that Bill Paxton's first film role was a sci-fi black and white film set in South Wales loosely based on a William Burroughs short story, and which remained partially completed for almost a decade. That's Taking Tiger Mountain. I would be surprised if anything more bizarre than this trio of films gets released this year!

I love Vinegar Syndrome, but always skip on the monthly sets. I'm going to pull the trigger on the August one as the one I've seen is a hoot (Let My Puppets Come) and I'm intrigued by the other three. I've only known about 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy via Ferrara talking about it briefly in interviews like how embarassing it was to see someone poorly have sex with Ferrara's then girlfriend on camera and get paid for it. How does it hold up among his early films? I think those early, sleazy New York films like Ms. 45 and Driller Killer are some of the best American independent films of the 70s and wonder how it compares. Does Samm Deighan commentary also skirt around mentioning his name?

I'm sure the commentary will talk about Ferrara by name, otherwise they would have nothing to talk about! I think it is probably just a nice packaging conceit to keep the pseudonym on the cover. It should also be interesting when looking for thematic through lines for the later films to note that this was Ferrara's first work with screenwriter Nicholas St. John as well, who wrote most of his films up to The Funeral, with exceptions of Cat Chaser (based on an Elmore Leonard novel) and Bad Lieutenant (written by Zoe Lund and which St John apparently refused to work on due to its content).

So the Black Friday Secret Preorder is on until Friday at 11:59p EDT, which means we get hints about the secret releases.

Tammy and the T-Rex was already announced. It's an early film starring Denise Richards and Paul Walker where he plays her girlfriend and then he gets killed and then his brain is put into a dinosaur's body. Already sounds like a VinSyn release, but this version has all the gore that was cut out of the original release.

There will also be the standard two secret releases, plus a secret 3-film box set. VS's copy for those reads as follows:

Now for the 3-film set...We're gonna leave this one somewhat of a mystery for the moment, but this extraordinary trilogy of films is one we've been excited to bring back together for a long time. The first plays like a cross between a seedy urban sorta-slasher and an after school special (if only all after school specials were set in sleazy Hollywood and involved serial killers). The second is an over the top mid 80s action film, and the third is an 'everything but the kitchen sink' styled trash-fest loaded with just about every exploitation trope you can think of.

And the secret titles...well...those are special. Guaranteed without a doubt to be two of the most incredible and unexpected genre films to hit Blu-ray this year, and both well deserving of their notoriety, or should that be infamy? One's from the 80s and the other from the 70s. One a mean spirited shocker, the other an almost unclassifiable jaw dropper. Both of them together...like nothing we've ever had the privilege of releasing. **Note: before the rampant guessing begins, these are NOT studio films**

Any guesses? I've been seeing the (Avenging) Angel trilogy for the box...

agnamaracs wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:58 pm Any guesses? I've been seeing the (Avenging) Angel trilogy for the box...

This would seem the most likely, though there were four Angel movies in total (the third sequel was non-New World Pictures, though), but Anchor Bay did release the first three as The Trilogy way back when.

I'm afraid that I only know Tammy And The T-Rex from the Best of the Worst episode featuring it. It looked a bit better than critic Nathan Rabin's favourite film Theodore Rex, I suppose!

That Tammy and the T-Rex is being sold as a major event release tells you everything you need to know about how fucked boutique label priorities are

Given that Vinegar Syndrome are a label devoted entirely to cult/exploitation films, I'd say lavishing a deluxe edition on a movie about a implanted-brain dinosaur that bites people's heads off is exactly where their priorities should be!

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:47 pm That Tammy and the T-Rex is being sold as a major event release tells you everything you need to know about how fucked boutique label priorities are

On the other hand, VS are the guys who restored Hobgoblins and Hell Comes to Frogtown. I'm not sure if one can extrapolate to boutique labels as a whole.

Unlike Arrow who branch out more, this is what they have access to and where their interests lie, and they've never claimed to be anything more than what they are. That being said, I don't own a single VS release

It wasn’t a fair attack, but I am in general just depressed at the sheer volume of releases like this while countless other non-exploitation films languish away in a closet somewhere. Yes, this is what this label does, and there’s a big market for it. That does little to make me feel better about it, especially since VS’ offshoot label gave up on their attempt to release non-trash after like, what, two or three titles?

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:47 pm That Tammy and the T-Rex is being sold as a major event release tells you everything you need to know about how fucked boutique label priorities are

i'm curious; but why is that "fucked" about boutique label priorities?

personally, i'm just grateful there are labels giving such niche films the respect mostly afforded to classic cinema with new/custom releases

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:26 pm ...especially since VS’ offshoot label gave up on their attempt to release non-trash after like, what, two or three titles?

I feel you there. I loved Etiquette Pictures' release of Some Call It Loving and had hoped they would continue releasing overlooked gems like this. I'm glad at the very least VS still released Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song which had been forthcoming from the Etiquette line.

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:26 pm It wasn’t a fair attack, but I am in general just depressed at the sheer volume of releases like this while countless other non-exploitation films languish away in a closet somewhere. Yes, this is what this label does, and there’s a big market for it. That does little to make me feel better about it, especially since VS’ offshoot label gave up on their attempt to release non-trash after like, what, two or three titles?

I'm with you in hoping that Arrow or somebody else puts out some Chabrol or Deville

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:26 pm It wasn’t a fair attack, but I am in general just depressed at the sheer volume of releases like this while countless other non-exploitation films languish away in a closet somewhere. Yes, this is what this label does, and there’s a big market for it. That does little to make me feel better about it, especially since VS’ offshoot label gave up on their attempt to release non-trash after like, what, two or three titles?

We're clearly in a world in which VS will sell 2000 copies of this Hell Comes to Frogtown LE but Criterion probably doesn't sell more than 500 copies of their Lubitsch.
However, I do wonder how many VS titles sell well because of all their limited slipcovers stuff. This being written, exploitation always seemed like a cash cow in video, even more so that the rest of the market is progressively dying. I'm not surprised that in the end, exploitation seems like the one last standing genre to seemingly sell well on video.

And indeed, their Etiquette label was particularly short-lived. And I think their releases are now OOP on top of that.

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:47 pm That Tammy and the T-Rex is being sold as a major event release tells you everything you need to know about how fucked boutique label priorities are

I can't believe I'm saying this, and I honestly thought it was a joke at first, but this was just announced as VS's first UHD release.

Grand Wazoo wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:32 pm

domino harvey wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:47 pm That Tammy and the T-Rex is being sold as a major event release tells you everything you need to know about how fucked boutique label priorities are

I can't believe I'm saying this, and I honestly thought it was a joke at first, but this was just announced as VS's first UHD release.

I expected better from the smut peddlers.

I will forgive the Tammy thing if they release a 4K disc of Madman.

r/boutiquebluray going bonkers over the announcement with members encouraging people to buy it so VS might release something else in UHD is the state of home media in the year of Our Lord 2019

Is Tammy and the T-Rex that popular in the States ?

What the actual fuck

Well, now I pretty much have to buy this, since so many people are complaining about it. And I don't even have 4K.

What a time to be alive.

Have even all of the Paul Walker Fast & Furious films come out on UHD yet?