A PLAGUE SO PLEASANT (2013)

A PLAGUE SO PLEASANT (2013) 

Label: Wild Eye Releasing
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 80 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo 
Video: Anamorphc Widescreen 
Director: Benjamin Roberts
Cast: David Chandler, Max Moody, Eve Boehenke, Kaylee Bridge, George McDonald, Mandy Riley 

It is damn rare that I open up a bubble-wrap package and come face to face with  a zombie movie that I am honestly excited to tear into. I am not saying that they're all awful, just that the really good ones which do something different are few and far between. Wild Eye Releasing's release of A Plague So Pleasant sort of caught my attention on just the name alone, but even that stopped me from sitting on it for a week or so before I peeled off the shrink wrap and gave it a watch. With very low expectations I popped it into the player and was drawn in right from the start. It begins as a slightly art school black and white movie centered around a young man named Clay, his strangely persuasive roommate, and Clay's sister Mia. The roommate has a thing for Mia and somehow convinces Clay to put in a good word for him with her, but poor Mia is hung-up on her ex boyfriend... who just so happens to be a zombie. 

In this version of the world zombies are a certain reality, it s established that there was a short-lived zombie apocalypse which lasted all of twelve hours. In the aftermath zombies have become a protected species of sorts, allowed to roam free through the streets and cities or protected in large fenced-in reservations. It is now illegal to kill a zombie, they're more a nuisance than a threat to the living, causing traffic issues not unlike a herd of cows who have escaped the pasture and are blocking the road, only we have shambling Romero-styled zombies instead of heffers. 

We have some strange narration by way of Clay and his roommate, the movie has a sort of Richard Linklatter Slacker (1991) vibe about it at first, offbeat, lo-fi and spunky. Through some poor decision making the zombies are provoked and in an instant the black and white turns to vibrant color and the shambling zombies turn into the Dawn of the Dead remake styled runners out for blood and guts, and our protagonist Clay is the reason why. 

It might not be a classic in the making or even have any sort of cult-classic prospects but at least this slice of zombie cinema offers something a little different and marches to it's own drummer, which I sort of loved, even if I don't see myself re watching it anytime soon, I admired the originality and spunk of the filmmakers. 

A Plague So Pleasant (2013) might have some pacing issues, and some low-budget movie making constraints but it never did lose my attention from the beginning right up to the end, which for a contemporary zombie movie is actually pretty damn special. 2.5/5 

 

VINEGAR SYNDROME NEW RELEASES IN APRIL!

LITTLE MISS INNOCENCE (1972) / TEENAGE SEDUCTRESS (1975) DVD

Label: Vinegar Syndrome
Release Date: April 14th 2015
Run Time: 155 Minutes
Color Widescreen 1.85:1
English Dolby Digital Mono Region 0
Director: Chris Warfield
Cast: Sandy Dempsey, Sondra Currie, Terri Johnson, John Alderman

Prolific producer and director Chris Warfield carved out a reputation as one of the most daring filmmakers on the exploitation scene.

These two early features represent the most hard hitting and shocking films from his extensive career.

LITTLE MISS INNOCENCE: Two beautiful teenage hitchhikers are picked up by a wealthy older man and brought to his mansion, with lustful intentions.

However, his erotic dream soon turns into a horrifying nightmare as the seemingly innocent girls begin to reveal their own deadly intentions...

Starring Sandy Dempsey in a career performance.

TEENAGE SEDUCTRESS: Sondra Currie stars as Terry, a young woman determined to find her estranged father, who abandoned her as a child. After arriving in the small New Mexico town where he lives, Terry sets about planning her revenge: seducing her loving father.

Bonus Features:
- New 2K restorations from 35mm negatives of the Uncut Versions
- Original Theatrical Trailers

NEW EROTIC ADVENTURES OF CASANOVA 1 (1977) / NEW EROTIC ADVENTURES OF CASANOVA 2 (1982) 

Label: Vinegar Syndrome
Release Date: May 14th 2015
Run Time: 165 Minutes
Color Widescreen 1.85:1
English Dolby Digital Mono Region 0
Director: Carlos Tobalina
Cast: John Holmes, Danielle, Mimi Morgan, Blair Harris

CASANOVA 1: The great grandson of famous lover Casanova discovers his erotic charms and embarks on a sensual journey.

CASANOVA 2: Set in the renaissance era, this prequel to CASANOVA 1 finds the great lover battling villains and saving maidens in a variety of hilarious experiences.

Bonus Features:
- New 2K restorations from 35mm negatives of the Uncut Versions
- Original Theatrical Trailers

SUPERSOUL BROTHER (1978) DVD 

Label: Vinegar Syndrome
Release Date: April 14th 2014
Run Time: 74 Minutes
Widescreen 1.85:1
English Dolby Digital Mono
Region 0
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Rene Martinez
Cast: Wildman Steve, Jocelyn Norris, Benny Latimore

When a duo of criminals pay an evil doctor to create a serum that gives people superhuman strength, they fool a naive wino named Steve (Wildman Steve) into getting an injection to help them pull off a jewel heist. When Steve discovers that the serum kills whoever takes it within a few days of its ingestion, he hides the stolen jewels and begins a frantic quest to create an antidote as the thieving masterminds are in hot pursuit!

Part low-rent comedy/crime caper, part sci-fi weirdness, and all Miami shot regional filmmaking insanity, Rene Martinez' SUPERSOUL BROTHER blasts onto home video in its first ever authorized DVD release!

Austin's American Genre Film Archive houses one of the world's best collections of 35mm exploitation prints and now Vinegar Syndrome is digitally restoring and releasing the weirdest, rarest and most outrageous movies in their archive!

Bonus Features:
- New 2K scan from The American Genre Film Archive's 35mm print!

LITTLE SISTERS (1972) / POWDER BURNS (1973) DVD 

Label: Vinegar Syndrome
Release Date: April 14th 2015
Run Time: 140 Minutes
Color Full Screen 1.33:1
English Dolby Digital Mono
Region 0
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alex deRenzy
Cast: Clair Dia, Kandi Johnson, Tyler Horne, George McDonald

LITTLE SISTERS: Alex deRenzy's hippy themed fairy tale tells the story of Mom and her two young daughters who live in a trailer in the woods.

Although warned to stay out of the dark and dangerous forest, the sisters do not heed their mother's advice and are kidnapped by a gang of pirates who live in an abandoned swimming pool. When she discovers that her daughters are gone, Mom goes on a journey to find them, meeting singing cross-dressers, a lesbian gang, gay monks and an elf named Derek. Will she save the day and bring her daughters home safely? Find out in what may be the weirdest film deRenzy ever made.

POWDER BURNS: In Alex deRenzy's meta western, a trio of outlaws, The McNasty Brothers, wreak havoc on a frontier town in the desert.

With the help of the former sheriff, will a buxom go-go dancer be able to save the day?

Bonus Features:
- New 2K restorations from 16mm archival elemnts!
- Uncut versions of both films!