Ranking The July 2026 Vinegar Syndrome Releases

Thanks for checking out this video. So, I'm going to go ahead and rank and review all of the July Vinegar Syndrome releases that I ended up picking up. Disclaimer, this is not every single release that they put out for July. This is just what I ended up getting. That's through my subscription that I have with them and then also anything additional that I purchased. So, I have seven releases right here to go through uh ranked from the what I thought was the least greatest to the greatest at the end. So, just going to jump into it with number seven. And we have the VSSL, which is Vinegar Syndrome Labs. This is The Hand of Knights Blu-ray. This is an older film. When's it from? 68, which is about a guy who ends up uh having a tragedy in his life. His wife and kids were killed in a car accident, and he is at least partially to blame for that. Well, he ends up trying to get away. He goes to Morocco. He meets an archaeologist on his flight and then the archaeologist they kind of become friendly and he's like why don't you come to this party I'm throwing. Well, while he's at this party he meets this mysterious woman uh who he is very much drawn to now. Uh it becomes this thing where he's talking to people about this woman woman but they're just like you've been drinking too much. We don't think you're really talking about what you think you're talking about. So anyway, it is a vampire film in the end and it is um and it is kind of an interesting take. There are some interesting aspects to it that I'm not going to go into if anyone does want to watch it, but it it is a more unique take on a vampire lore, especially for the time uh in 1968. So uh really cool visuals in this good performances. Oh, one of the it has one of the really cool visuals on the back right here. like this is really awesome done practically because obviously it really wasn't CGI back then but really cool visual practical effects in the film which is one of my favorite things really interesting cool shooting locations I don't know that I've seen a whole lot shot in Morocco honestly and it looks very interesting and it looks very beautiful and it fits the film really well. Um it's a slow film though. It's very slow and it kind of feels like it would have done great being more shaved down, but uh rel relatively interesting. I think it could be worth checking out for the right people. Um relatively interesting. Uh as far as the um special features go there is a appreciation by author and film critic Kim New uh Newman who does it's called a new breed of vampire. kind of talks about like the vampire aspects of the film which is interesting and then associated with British path a it's a featurette on associated British path the production company behind the hand of night with sound editor Roger Voss and ABP production accountant Fron von Hobsberg. So yeah um not a lot of special features on it but it's probably because it's a much older film but they got some people involved with it which was good. I it's an it's it's a decent release. So that's my number seven. Coming in at number six. Oh, and this is one that I purchased in addition. I do like to say that whether it was included in my subscription or not in case people are thinking about getting subscriptions and it kind of helps to know that stuff. So not included. Uh number six, which is included in my subscription or was is the 4K of Night School. And I was glad to watch this. Uh it's something I had not seen before. This one, when is this one from? Oh, 81. 1981, my birth year. Um, so this one is uh Gallalo inspired. It is not a Gallo film. It is an Americanmade film. Uh, but it's very heavily Gallo inspired. It's about a bunch of women who end up uh being found with their heads chopped off. Uh, this is the killer. Always wears this motorcycle mask or motorcycle helmet and uses this what I believe is called a Girka knife uh to decapitate the people. Now, this is shot in Boston. Uh, I have been to Boston, so it was kind of cool to see a movie shot there. I like Boston. I think it's cool. Including a scene at the aquarium there, which is um really cool. Very cool use of it. Uh, in the special features, they talk about how they kind of did something they weren't really supposed to when they were shooting there. And that's kind of an interesting aspect of the special features that I quite enjoyed. But really cool shooting locations. It's a fun story. It's just kind of like who's the killer type thing. You know, Jallo inspired obviously. Some pretty solid acting, some decent kills in it. Um, it's a good time. It's not like a great film. It has a little bit of pacing issues here and there. Uh, but it's a fun enough time. I I do recommend this one. It was it was decent as far as the special features go. Like I said, there was some really interesting information. Um, there's an interview with one of the actors or sorry, two of the actors and one of the stuntmen. Uh, which the interview with the stunt man was not as exciting as I hoped it would be. If you want a really exciting stunt man interview, uh, JJ Perry interview for the Arrow video um, Mortal Kombat collection, I think it was on the the disc for Mortal Kombat Annihilation. really great interview there. Very, very great. So, anyway, yes, Night School pretty solid. It was, it was it was a pretty good time. That's my number six. Now, coming in at number five is something I did not expect that would be this high up, and I did not necessarily expect to like it this much, but it is Revor 3. I didn't like the first Revivor release. I thought both the films were very uh uh hard to get through, not a good time. Now, Revivor 2 I thought was better. Definitely better. Two films that were kind of interesting. I I did kind of enjoy it, but [snorts] this is the best Revivor release so far by far. It is 24 short films from a bunch of different years, very different genres, very different types of short films. So, just to give you an idea, like they say like what type of film it is, but not what the name of it is on the back to make leave it kind of a mystery. Uh there's like a psychedelic film, a comic book film, an experimental film, a film about death, two cat films, a patriotic puppet film, like things like that. It's just like a really wild mixture of stuff. And um it was a lot of fun. I do like short films. I find them to be very interesting, especially when there's a collection of them that are so eclectic. It's hitting so many things and it's just a really interesting view into different artists visions and in a very short capacity. You know, you don't have to put in like an hour and a half or more to see what this person was thinking about. And there's some really cool stuff on here. Honestly, there is a special feature which is the winding through of Revivor 3 with Oscar Basher and some guests which was cool and they had put that out beforehand before this was ava well when it became available to purchase before anyone got it which I think was a good idea. They threw that up on YouTube because I watched it then and that's what got me interested in getting this because it showed little clips of a bunch of the shorts. So, you kind of got a flavor for what the release would be and that got me interested and I think they should do that more often honestly, but for for these for the Revor releases, they do it for their other releases, but um yeah, so this is a lot of fun. So, I will go ahead and go through I went through and ranked every single one of the shorts as I was watching them because that's something fun I like to do. But I'll read off for you like my top ones. I'm not going to read you like my entire ranking, but like the top ones for me. Let me do one, two, three, 10. Like that. My top 10. So, like a one that was a UCLA student film, uh, a comic book film, a romance film, an action film, a sponsored art film, an animated film, Oscar winning, looked really good. Uh, animated film about America. A lot being said in that one, and it looked great. A stop motion children's film. Very interesting, very intriguing one that one is. and a psychological puppet film was actually my favorite. My top three were a psychological puppet film, a stopmotion children's film, and an animated film about America. Those by far like stood out as being like really, really, really interesting and unique and well done. So, I'm not going to, you know, like tell you too much about any of them because they're really short, so there's not a lot to talk about without giving things away. But, if you do like short films, definitely check this out. Really good. So, that's my number five. Now, going into number four. Oh, and I forgot to say, not included. I had to purchase this in addition. Not included with my subscription. Real quick, get some hydration. Okay, my number four is the Able Ferrer film body snatchers. Now, this was included with my subscription, and I would not have purchased it if it wasn't included. I'm not going to keep it, but I am kind of glad that I got it just because it gave, you know, with all the special features and the essays, there are essays included here. It gave me it gave me some extra things to think about with the film, some extra context. Um, but it's a body snatcher film, but it's it's a guy who works for like the EPA. he needs to go to this uh military base in Alabama where they're having some sort of like chemical leak that he needs to assess and [clears throat] it's having an effect on the on the the soldiers who are on base. But is that what really is going on or is it this situation? I you can obviously guess because it's a body snatcher film. Um there I think pacingwise it's not great. Um, it feels a little dull at times for me personally. There's really cool practical effects and there are some good performances in it, but it's just kind of like a hohamish film to me in general. I I had seen it prior to watching this, but I think I liked it a little bit more the second time around than I did the first, but you know, and this it is a 4K, so it looks really good. Great restoration on that one. But to get into Oh, and I love this artwork. That's fun. Um, to get into like the special features, there is an interview with Abel Ferrer. Love that. That it's always great to get an interview with the actual director. Um, the editor, second unit director, and composer, you know, and the composer was that was a pretty interesting interview, too. Now, essays. The essays are where this release was shining the most in my opinion. The essays were the best part of the release honestly better than the movie in my opinion. Like this first essay, No One Like You Left on Meg Tilly and Body Snatchers by Willow Caitlyn Mcclelay. That was a excellent excellent excellent excellent uh essay. that's a must readad if you're interested in getting this um release just about like the amazing performance that Meg Tilly gave in this film and yeah very very right on and kind of like breaking that stuff down. So love that one. Uh who are you? The inescapable alienation of Abel Ferrer's body snatchers. That was a good um essay just kind of talking about Abel Ferrer's twist on it and what you know this individual saw in that. And then the last one is Same as It Ever Was by Did I say who who did the other one? I'm sorry. Sometimes Glenn Kenny did the other one. Uh Same as It Ever Was was Elena Lazic. Um, this was also a good one just kind of about like Body Snatchers and um, this particular version of Body Snatchers and how it kind of compares a little bit to the others. So, yeah. I mean, it's a good release. It if you like this movie already, I think it's a must buy for you. If you didn't like the release, I don't think it's going to change your movie experience, but it will give you other things to think about with the special features and the essays. So, make up your own mind on that. I don't I'm not going to keep it, though. So, but as a release is my number four for the month. I think I think there's a lot that good that was put into it. All right, coming into number three. Uh this is one that had been delayed and then finally got its release and that is The Lady in White or sorry, just Lady in White. And this is an interesting film. It has a very interesting feel to it. It's about a kid who lives in this kind of like small town who is uh is stuck at his school one well he's in his school late one night when he's really not supposed to be and some guy shows up and he uh there's like a ghostly vision that this kid ends up having and then this guy ends up showing up and then he tries to kill the kid uh but he doesn't see his face. He doesn't know who it is. Actually, neither of them see each other's face cuz the kid it's around Halloween time, which it has really good Halloween vibes for anyone who's into that, me included. Um, and so the kid is wearing a mask at the time. So, they don't see each other. Kid ends up surviving this the situation. And then it's they're trying to figure out like who killed him, but also who had killed some other kids in this town. And the kind of like ghostly thing that happens with the kid early on is tied into other kids who had been killed in town. So, who is this killer basically? And then there's someone who's kind of being brought to trial and there's a big question like did this person actually do it? And so you're trying to figure out what's going on. It's it looks really good the way it's shot. It's a really great 4K restoration. There are like I think three different cuts of the film on here. I only watched one which was the director's cut which is typically what I'm going to go for. Um and yeah, it's an interesting um film that's very well acted. I do feel like it feels a little bit too busy at times, like they tried to do too much in the film and it feels like some stuff's just kind of thrown together. But overall, a very interesting, enjoyable film that I think I will rewatch again at some point, especially around Halloween. Um, so yeah, as far as special features go, let me see if there's any that jog my memory as being particularly great to call out. There are a lot of interviews with people who worked on the film and who acted in it and it showed a lot of passion from these people like they really believed in it. They had a really good time like a positive experience making the film and they thought it was something a lot better than the actual um attention it ended up getting. So that's always great to see that lets you know that the director did a great job. like it was just a good experience for everyone and it's it's a worthwhile film for sure for that reason. But yeah, um nothing in particular to really call out. It's just very interesting to hear from a lot of the um personal experiences from people actually involved with the film. And then the essays were quite good as well. Uh there was Growing Pains, Trauma, Life Lessons, and Racial Injustice and Lady and White written by Molly Henry. That's a great um great essay. really good essay. I think probably I I think the best Yes, the best one in here about it and it is quite good. Um yeah, I really like that one kind of talking about the racial aspect in it which isn't like it's there but it's not like they don't spend a ton of time on it in the film and it's kind of good for that reason for there to be like an essay kind of calling it out more. Uh the next one is Lady in White and the Man in Black. Uh written by Mark H. Harris. And this one's kind of about the um kind of like the black experience watching the film, which is very interesting um from a a person who is um who is black themselves. Um really good at breaking down the film from that perspective. And then Between Gothic Dreams and Rochester Memories by Heidi Honeyut. Um, this one's also good to kind of talk about like the the look and the feel and just like the overall interesting aspects of the film itself that people may not have like picked up on when they were watching it. So quite good essays that I think add a lot. Special features add a decent amount. Three cuts looks great. Interesting film. It's a good it's it's quite a good release, I will say. And and if this is one Oh, this is one that was included in my subscription. And if this is a movie that you remember liking, then you should really pick this up for sure. All right, coming in at number two, uh, is I'm not sure I thought that this would be this high, but I'm going to get you, Sucka. The Kenan Ivory Weighins, um, black exploitation parody comedy film. And you know, I say it's like a parody comedy film, but it's like it's parody of Black Exploitation Films, but it feels like it's lovingly done. It's it's like a mixture of parody and homage. And that's actually talked about with the special feature interviews and also the the essays as well. And I fully agree with that. It felt that way watching the film. I'd never seen it before. This is a 4K and it looks really great. It's it is legitimately funny. And if you've seen any black exploitation films or an okay amount, like whether you've seen just a few or a lot, there's a lot for you to identify with with it and be like, "Oh, this reminds me of this film and I see where they're paying homage to this and I see where they're riffing off this." Like, it's legitimately funny. There's some really fun and awesome performances in this. Great gags. It's really good. It's really, really, really well done. I'm I'm I'm a fan. I'm a I'm a fan of I'm gonna get you sucker. Um and yeah, let me get into Oh, so it's just basically about a guy. It follows a lot of the same type of stuff for these types of films. A guy who is um he was in the military. He comes back home. His brother ended up dying from getting too many gold chains. Uh and it was all the, you know, Mr. Big, this bad guy, Mr. big who got him hooked on gold chains and it's like this epidemic. Um, and so he decides he's going to get a team together of all these other guys who remind you of other big names in other black exploitation films and he's going to go take it, you know, handle this. He's going to take them on and it's just really funny and it's really good. I will be watching this film again, maybe even kind of soonish. But as far as special features, um, re like good interviews, people involved with the film, a lot of passion there from those people, another it's another one of those that you can tell people had a really positive experience with it and thought a lot of the film itself. Uh, but one thing I want to call out in particular, uh, defying genre, re re-examining I'm gonna get you sucker. That's an interview with film scholar Raquel J. Gates, associate professor of film at Columbia University. That was an excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent interview. Love that. One of the best special features I've seen so far this year. Very good. Very good. Kind of like appraising this film for what people should be seeing it as. So, that's a great one. And then the essays, all quite good in my opinion. Uh, I'm going to get you sucka a different black image. It was really good by Robert Daniels. just kind of talking about a little bit about like the um how it is like parody but also homage and how this this like played off of black exploitation and the importance of black exploitation and how Keenan Ivory Wayans uh approach this and the other people involved obviously. Um, the next one is Building a Dynasty with a sucka and a dream by um hopefully I get this uh Catatoya uh Quatoya um Murray. That one was good and that one was kind of about how um Kenan Ivory Wayan's like career and like building a dynasty and how this film kind of fit into that. And then Kenan Ivory Ways, architect of the all black studio comedy. And this is just kind of talking about like the importance of this film and the history of black comedy and other black comedies that kind of came after this and how you know this one played a part. So really good special features, really good essays, really fun film, good film. Uh so yeah, I'm going to get you sucker is a very clear number two. Well, not clear number two. I this was I was going back and forth with my number one. And I was like, cuz at times I was like, maybe this is number one, but maybe this other one's number one. So, this ended up in number two, but it was like razor thin margin. This was one I had to purchase in addition, unfortunately. I wish this was included because it's pricier. Uh, and then the last one, my number one, is another one I had to purchase in addition. That's the Cinematograph release of 54. So, what ended up happening with this is there there's a 4K and a Blu-ray in here. It's three discs, 4K, Blu-ray, and then all the extras, which there are a lot of extras, honestly. So, it's jam-packed. If you like 54 or interested in this, but here here's how I'm going to sell this on you, uh sell this to you. If you saw the original theatrical cut of 54, in my opinion, it's a two and a half out of five star film. It's not bad. It's not particularly good. It feels like there's a lot of stuff missing. It feels like a missed opportunity. That's because the studio got very involved and a lot of people talk about that in the interviews passionately and the essays also talk about it passionately basically. And it's a cautionary tale about how terrible studios are for the experience of an artist making their art and needing to take money from a studio because then they can step in and be like, "Yeah, well, this is all good and well, but we think we the non-artists think that we're smarter than you and we're just going to hack this up." And that's what happened with this. So, I made the mistake of initially watching the theatrical cut, but then it ended up being a good thing in my opinion. So, I watched a theatrical cut on the 4K, not really looking into this too too far and being like, "Oh, it's what's on the 4K. It's what you should watch because it looks the best is the best restoration." And I was like, "Eh, to the movie." Then I started going through the special features and everyone's like, "The director's cuts where it's at. That's what the film is supposed to be. It's a far cry from what the theatrical cut ended up being. And the essays were harping on that, too. And I'm like, "Yeah, I gotta watch the director's cut," which is only on the Blu-ray. It's not on Blu-ray. And part of the reason being is there were parts that were only on VHS that they had to put in for the director's cut. So, those parts don't look good. Like, they legitimately don't look good. But, the director's cut is a lot better. So, like I said, I would give it two and a half stars. a theatrical three and a half almost four for the director's cut. So, it is a big difference. A big difference. So, it's about a character played by Ryan Phillippy who's kind of just in New Jersey. He's kind of a bit of a nobody trying to figure out his life, trying to figure out his sexuality, honestly, which you don't really figure that out in the theatrical cut cuz all that stuff was pretty much cut out. And it they're like remnants there and then you're kind of like why is this like stuff there but it doesn't go anywhere you know. So he ends up getting into Studio 54 a very important place in in the late 70s and culturally but also like partywise and this dude trying to figure out his life. So it's about him. It's a character piece about him. Well, in theatrical version, it's not so much a character piece, but directorial uh the director's version, it is a character piece about him trying to navigate this life there, like getting money and fame and drugs and friendship and sex and like figuring out his sexuality and like all this stuff and like the liberation of it. And there were really great characters around him, very interesting, great performances in this film. The problem is the the theatrical cut screwed this movie over. so badly because it made it just an eh film. It's not bad, but it's just an eh film. If the director's cut had been put out in theaters, people would be comparing it nowadays to Boogie Nights. I think it has a very similar feel. I think it has almost the same quality to it. I would I would put Boogie Knights a bit above it, but I don't think The Director's Cut of 54 is far from it. So, I think this definitely needs a reappraisal, and that's why this is my number one. Uh, and it's high up there for what's been released by Cinemat Cinematograph and Vinegar Cinema in general this year because I love it when they do important releases like this to get reappraisals for films that are kind of screwed over. And this is a very clear example of that. Just to give you an idea, one of the things that was talked about is there were 33. Okay. So, the the director's cut was cut cut down a bunch by the studio and had 33 minutes reshot and put in that were not supposed to be there initially with the script. So, for the director's cut, they took those 33 minutes that the studio put in out and put in 44 minutes. So, the runtime difference is only 11 minutes, but the swing of footage is 77 minutes, which is wild. This is one of the most drastic film uh differences I have seen like ever between like a theatrical and a director's cut. So, you know, do with that what you will. I just honestly think you should just get this and experience this for that reason. But anyway, really well acted. Really love that aspect of it. Um, really good. I think it really screwed over Mike Myers. It screwed over Ryan Phillippy. Screwed over Breen and Meyer, Selma Mahayek to a degree. Some people could have had even better careers had this gotten the love that it deserved by the studio just putting out the original vision, honestly. Okay. So, I'm I'm not going to spend too much much more time on that, but special features wise, a lot of interviews. There are a lot of special features on here. A lot of interviews with people who were directly involved with the film. And there's a lot of passion from those people. You can tell they're upset about what I must say Harvey Weinstein in particular did to the film. And we already know he's a piece of garbage anyway. But this is just another garbage thing that he did. And I'm sure there are plenty of other things that we have no idea about that maybe we'll find out eventually. Um, there's also a in the trenches together a video interview with Oh, oh, sorry, that wasn't the one. Uh, finding yourself a new video essay by film historian Alexander Heler Nicholas, who's always great. But all the interviews I think are mustwatches because of the passion from these people, the importance of what they have to say and the information. and it's just like it's a lot. It's it's really cool. Then the essays are great. Uh when do I get to screen my way? The cuts and calculus of 54 by Alex Gutter. Uh that was my favorite of the essays. I thought it was phenomenal. Uh really getting into the problems of what happened to this film and why it was going to be something a lot better than it ended up being with the theatrical cut. Then we have, where's the other one? Welcome to my party, handsome 54's very American death and rebirth. Kind of about Ryan Philippy's character and kind of the the changes that he goes through and kind of his his whole metamorphosis in a way through life. Uh, and then we have Extinction level event on a Disco Planet 54 director's cut. Just kind of talking about the cut itself and giving you a lot more of that kind of uh, important information about what actually happened with the film and also saying, you know, getting into some more analysis about it and pointing out why it is a very worthwhile film director's cutwise. So, that's it. That's my number one 54. obviously very highly recommend this one. Whatever you want to talk about, if you want to talk about any of these releases, put it in the comments, go ahead. Uh if there's anything else you want to get into, go ahead and do that. Do me a big favor and do all the free things to support my channel. Subscribe, thumbs up on the video, hit the uh notification bell button, and just watch the videos. I really appreciate that. Just spending the time watching it, that helps me out the most. But if you want to get a little more involved, I am uh doing memberships with the channel. There are perks, three different tiers to it. You can check the link in the description. If you have a few dollars laying around, you want to throw it my way each month. Sure. Uh, but regardless, thank you so much for taking your time to watch this, especially if you made it all the way to the end here. And until next time, keep it brutal.