In my time spent working on screeners from Vinegar Syndrome, I’ve found that they never cease to impress me. While companies like Criterion focus on the preservation of “the film canon,” VinSyn will preserve lesser known works, many of which remind me of my dad’s assorted VHS collection he had …
Read More »“As You Wish:” Looking Back At Robert Kurtzman’s ‘Wishmaster’ (1997)
As of September 19, 2022, Robert Kurtzman’s (The Walking Dead franchise) second directorial project, Wishmaster, is 25 years young. Starring Andrew Divoff (our interview) and Tammy Lauren, the film is about a young jewel appraiser (Lauren) who is given a stolen jewel to look over, one that happens to have …
Read More »They All Float: Looking Back At Andy Muschietti’s ‘IT’ (2017)
Stephen King's It was a 1990 mini-series that got a re-boot in 2017 to tell the original stories with a new cast and a new attitude.
Read More »Michael Findlay’s ‘Shriek Of The Mutilated’ (1974) Vinegar Syndrome 4K Restoration Blu-ray Review
Yeti movies typically don’t do anything for me, and I was skeptical about Shriek Of The Mutilated. Similar to my review of Voyage Of The Rock Aliens, I watched the trailer and wasn’t completely sold. I enjoy low-budget drive-in B-movies, but I’m not sure if a Yeti low-budget drive-in B-movie is really my …
Read More »Chris Butler And Sam Fell’s Terrifying And Brilliant Animated Film, ‘Paranorman’ (2012) – Retro Review
Through the decades, we have been given all different kinds of ghost stories transformed into films. Some are great and some are, well… not so great. But even the mediocre ones have something admirable about them, whether it be the cinematography, the acting, or just the overall passion of the …
Read More »Steve Miner’s ‘Friday The 13th Part 3 3D’ (1982) – Retro Review
In 1982, we were still at the height of the slasher boom period of the horror genre. Bloody murders from boogeymen lurking in the night were commonplace. But Friday The 13th Part 3 wanted to kick things up a notch. For the third installment of the successful Friday the 13th …
Read More »James Fargo’s ‘Voyage of the Rock Aliens’ (1984) Vinegar Syndrome 2k Restoration Blu-ray Review
When I was first approached about reviewing Vinegar Syndrome’s 2K restoration of James Fargo’s Voyage of the Rock Aliens, my initial reaction was, “No chance.” I watched the trailer and just could not imagine a world where this ends in anything other than me saying mean things about it. So I …
Read More »Don Coscarelli’s ‘THE BEASTMASTER’ (1982): Swords, Sorcery, and Nostalgia – Retro Review
The massive success of George Lucas’s Star Wars in 1977, coupled with the growing popularity of TSR’s Dungeons and Dragons role-playing systems (basic and advanced) gave rise to a new era of filmmaking in Hollywood: Sword and Sorcery! I’m not saying Sword and Sorcery films were invented in the 1980s. …
Read More »Rick Rosenthal’s ‘Halloween: Resurrection’ (2002) – Retro Review
“And now, he’s back…” After terrorizing poor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis: Terror Train 1980 – our retro review) at Hillcrest Academy in 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (our retro review), Michael Myers (Brad Loree: The Day of the Living Dead 2014) came back for more stabs in the franchise’s …
Read More »Joseph Sargent’s ‘Jaws: The Revenge’ (1987): It’s Still Not Safe To Get Back In The Water – Retro Review
Joseph Sargent’s Jaws; The Revenge turns 35 this summer. Released on July 17, 1987, this film came out it what was inarguably one of the most epic summers for film in recorded history. The summer of 1987 was unique in that it had some of the most epic films regarded …
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