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Thanks for the replies, all. I'll probably continue with this series.

Giallo has been a mixed bag for me. I've enjoyed all of the Argento films I've seen, as well as the not-quite gialli Madhouse (1981) and Alice, Sweet Alice. On the other hand, other gialli like Short Night of Glass Dolls and What Have You Done to Solange? have simply been fine. (I have yet to dive into Mario Bava's filmography.)

I predict the second volume will sell out in the upcoming Halfway to Black Friday sale, with a standard edition soon to follow. I may very well sell my copy of the first volume and use the money to buy the standard editions (including the SE of the first volume). The packaging is nice but sort of impractical; there are no physical extras to speak of, so why use three cases?

If you thought Short Night & Solange were just “fine”, then I’m not sure how you’re going to fair with the rest in the series, though as Gerald Christie noted, Autopsy’s really good. Still, I’ve found with gialli, as with thriller’s and mystery’s from anywhere else, uou can find enjoyment in any one of them where you least expect it, despite what the general consensus is. But you know, that’s true of everything, so maybe I’m just rambling.

I had not realised that Autopsy was being released in the third volume. That's a interesting film with a great Ennio Morricone score. I still love that slow motion, twisting, fainting fall that Mimsy Farmer does after almost being blown away by a shotgun!

The Halfway to Black Friday sale is live.

I got Televised Terror Vol. 1 and Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things. I was very close to ordering Home Grown Horrors Vol. 1, but I already have an unwatched set of low-budget horror films on my shelf and it isn't even discounted right now.

The presentations in the TT set look incredible. These are made-for-TV productions from as early as 1978? I never would've guessed from the image qualities.

They've announced an upcoming release of Norman Mailer's Tough Guys Don't Dance, tentatively scheduled for August. Can't say I saw that one coming.

Thornycroft wrote: Fri May 28, 2021 10:44 am They've announced an upcoming release of Norman Mailer's Tough Guys Don't Dance, tentatively scheduled for August. Can't say I saw that one coming.

Well, it’s at least as bad as Tammy & the T-Rex and should have been a forgotten straight-to-video relic, so it totally fits with this label.

can't believe Criterion never put this out

The Curious Dr. Humpp sure sounds ”something weird” so took advantage of the sale and ordered.

One of Jonathan Rosenbaum's top 1000 films, FWIW (Tough Guys Don't Dance, not Dr. Humpp).

I’m trying to imagine the flesh-searing tedium of compiling a list that long. I give up after picking a top three (and even that’s a chore).

Wow, Scanner Cop 1 & 2 in 4k. Really enjoyed the original renting on VHS in the ‘90s.

Cash Flagg wrote: Fri May 28, 2021 12:46 pm Oh man, oh God !!!

I'd seen this before as a YouTube clip called 'Worst line reading ever' (current views: almost 9 million); had no idea it was Norman Mailer. Terrific.

I wouldn’t really call that a bad line reading though. The repetition just makes it odd, dramatically.
There’s plenty worse, like this one.

Mailer himself admitted that that was a horrible line reading (I believe he called it “a disaster”) in a surprisingly honest interview on the old MGM dvd of Tough Guys.

Makes me wonder if he realized how fucking awful EVERY movie he made was.

I just foolishly browsed through the recent pages of the VS thread at bluray.com and got to experience the debate over the framing of a shower scene in one of their recent releases that obscured some nudity previously visible on a DVD release. Some guys really up in arms over not being able to see a few seconds of boobs. I can only imagine the emails that company must get on a regular basis.

From what I can make out, the DVD deliberately (and cynically) reframed those shots to emphasise certain body parts that would have been cropped out in a theatrical screening. Certainly, the notion that a label like Vinegar Syndrome would deliberately censor this material given what else they're happy to release is frothingly absurd.

I remember Anchor Bay reframed a shot on their Mischief DVD to expose more of Kelly Preston during her nude scene.

J Wilson wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:27 pmI can only imagine the emails that company must get on a regular basis.

(Especially) after Mondo Macabro posted last year about the horrible behaviour of a minority of customers that they regularly have to deal with, and noting how almost everyone working in the home video business have reveived at least one death threat, I try not to think about those sorts of things.

smokes wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:40 pm does anyone know what happened to the release of Intrepidos Punks? it had been announced back in march of last year, but i haven't seen an update since.

any word on Intrepidos Punks? was really hoping this would be by now, but now they're doing the 'partners only month' sale. [-o<

It's been confirmed on Twitter that Vinegar Syndrome will be releasing 'Flesh for Frankenstein' on 4K UHD and Real 3D.

August releases
Terminal Island (UHD)
Tough Guys Don't Dance (Blu-ray)
Girls School Screamers (Blu-ray)
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies (Blu-ray)
Fantasm/Fantasm Comes Again (Peekarama)(Blu-ray)
Whatever It Takes (VSA)(Blu-ray)

Tough Guys Don’t Dance is a complete piece of shit, but I have to give it to Vin Syn: their packaging looks gorgeous. If only they put that kind of effort towards good movies they’d be onto something.

Here are the August releases from Vinegar Syndrome's partner labels:
She Freak (AGFA)(Blu-ray)
Luz (Altered Innocnece)(Blu-ray)
A Dim Valley (Altered Innocnece)(Blu-ray)
Commando Ninja (ETR Media)(Blu-ray)
Beats (Music Box Selects)(Blu-ray)
Psycho Sisters (Saturn's Core)(Blu-ray)
Awaken (Gunpowder & Sky)(UHD)

Huh, I had no idea they'd partnered with Music Box too! Great news about Beats - I'd given up hope of it ever coming out on Blu here and watched it on Mubi, and it's a lovely little gem. Hopefully this bodes well for more of their lower-profile releases, like The Perfect Candidate.