WEBVTT 1 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:45.799 Hey, welcome back Episode two of Punk Vacation and Unofficial 2 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:50.560 Vinever Syndrome podcast. This is Chris Haskell. As I said, 3 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.719 you may know me from They Live by Film, you 4 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.719 may not know me either way. Please join me on 5 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.320 this journey. I want to use this podcast as a 6 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.640 way of finding joy and unfettered creativity, which I associate 7 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.439 with the Vinegar Syndrome titles. I want this to be 8 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.959 a podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies 9 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:15.400 of any budget, from anywhere and during any time. This 10 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.319 is what I hope is the only episode I'm not 11 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:20.719 going to have a guest. I already have some exciting 12 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.640 guests lined up for September and even one in October, 13 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.400 which i'll promote his channel here in just a moment. 14 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.879 But yeah, I thank you so much for joining. What 15 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:35.480 I want to do with these mid month drops is 16 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:38.560 this is dropping in the middle of August, so I 17 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.439 want to go through all the July releases. I've watched 18 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:47.079 thirteen movies since I got my subscriber shipment in so 19 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.879 it's been a marathon, and as typical Vinegar Syndrome fashion, 20 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.560 seen a ton of movies from all over the board, 21 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:57.239 and I can't wait to get in and talk about these. 22 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.640 It's been a fantastic journey. So the way I want 23 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:03.480 to go through these with y'all, I want to do 24 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.879 the mainline titles first. Then just the way my brain works, 25 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:11.719 I want to go alpha through the sub labels so 26 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:16.199 it'll be cinematographed. Then we're gonna do Degausser. There's no 27 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.240 distribt picks from July, and I hope I didn't mess 28 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:23.159 that up. I don't think there's any. Then Vinegar Syndrome 29 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.000 Archive Labs, and then pictures, so we'll go through all 30 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.240 those titles. I'll give you my review. I'll tell you 31 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.039 what I thought about it. Who would tend to like 32 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.439 this kind of movie? What I thought? You know, if 33 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.400 it's something that you have to just rush out and get, 34 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:40.919 or if it's something that is more of just like 35 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:45.280 for a specific audience. As this is a podcast dedicated 36 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:48.199 to the love of Vinegar Syndrome, I'm probably not gonna 37 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:50.960 just straight up shit on any of the movies. There's 38 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.680 one this month that I didn't love, but even that 39 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:56.960 I can tell it's more of like a style thing. 40 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:59.520 And everybody I told about why I didn't love it, 41 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.039 they were like, oh, that sounds interesting. So sometimes it's 42 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:04.560 just a matter of preference. So we're gonna go through 43 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.360 them all. We're gonna go through spine number four seventy two, 44 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:13.400 four seventy three, and four seventy four, and I'll talk 45 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.919 a little bit about the letterbox views just to give 46 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.080 a sense of kind of how many other people have 47 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.520 seen this. I'll talk about what I can tell in 48 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.400 terms of how it's selling from them. This is not 49 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:28.520 inside information. I'm just getting it from their website. But 50 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.800 we'll kind of go through that and then talk a 51 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.319 little bit about the films themselves, what stood out to me. 52 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:36.800 And there's gonna be some I'm just gonna be a 53 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.280 fair warning. There's gonna be some that I'm a huge 54 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.240 homer for this time. There's some that I think are 55 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.960 must owns, especially for Vinegar Syndrome fans, really for any 56 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:49.280 fans of any movie. So be prepared for a little 57 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.919 bit of homersm coming up. And I will try to 58 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.919 get to the four partner titles that I saw as well, 59 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.560 so we'll get to that at the end. As long 60 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.080 as this does take too long, all right, let's jump. 61 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:06.520 In somewhere in the forbidding. Tundra mountains of Lapland, high 62 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.759 above the Arctic Circle, a group of mining engineers were 63 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.680 prospecting for copper, but what they on earth was a. 64 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.000 Story title Number one Spye number four seventy two in 65 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:21.720 the VS mainline is a movie that had an English 66 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:25.639 and a Danish movie filmed at the same time and 67 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.759 released separately. And although they have a ton of overlap, 68 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.439 it is actually two separate movies. Although it's commonly quoted 69 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:37.360 as one and the movie is reptilicous, there is two 70 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:41.240 directors on this. The Danish director is Paul Bang and 71 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.879 the English director is Sidney Pink. Again, it's a little 72 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.000 bit confusing, and it does sound like semantics, but these 73 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.480 are two separate movies that were filmed at the same 74 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:55.759 time with the same cast about roughly the same subject matter. 75 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.360 But they were determined and intended to be two separate films, 76 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.439 not one, not one with just like a language translation, 77 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:06.439 so they were actually filmed as two separate ones. VS. 78 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.879 As always does a fantastic job of getting both the 79 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.160 additions on there. It's that case that it's like a 80 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:19.160 They call it a gloss hard slipcase plus slipcover combo, 81 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.040 so it goes inside a slipcover, then it goes inside 82 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:26.720 the hard slip case. As always, Vinegar Syndrome did a 83 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:31.079 fantastic job on these special features and including all versions 84 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.120 of the film. So this is a three disc set. 85 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:39.160 It's a UHD disc and two Blu rays. It's a 86 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.000 new scanned four K and the print I saw look beautiful. 87 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:47.360 I saw the Danish version when I watched it. As 88 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.720 far as I remember, they're claiming this is the for 89 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.680 the Danish version of the film. This is the first 90 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.480 time it's been in the US on any disc, DVD, 91 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.920 Blu ray anything. They redid the subtitles for the transfer, 92 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:04.720 and as you can imagine, the sub the features are fantastic. 93 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.959 There's a commentary track with a film historian. They have 94 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:11.920 a great retrospective thirty two minute retrospective on the film itself. 95 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:20.000 There's an eleven minute feature called Life After Reptilicus. There's 96 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:26.480 a thirty minute I guess another documentary with a film 97 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:31.519 historian named Steven Bissett who's also an illustrator and he 98 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.439 kind of walks through the legacy of Reptilicus, and a 99 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.839 thirty minute feature. So there's just a ton of special features. 100 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:44.399 It's packed beautiful art as always, and beautiful film, beautiful 101 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:48.519 packaging all around. All right, as far as I can tell, 102 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.759 this one has sold about two thousand copies. There's just 103 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:55.720 under two thousand copies left. It's you know, this has 104 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.040 been a big seller for them. This is a popular release, 105 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.240 and I kind of get it. You know, this is 106 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:05.079 there's a there's this whole subgenre of kaiju movies or 107 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:09.720 monster movies. Obviously for fans of Godzilla, obviously for fans 108 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:13.040 of Gamada, but even beyond that. You know, there's a 109 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.720 whole bunch of movies that were made in Korea and 110 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.399 in Europe that had these monsters in them. Obviously the 111 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.279 US had some monster movies, and so this fits just 112 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:28.000 very snug in that genre. I wouldn't say there's anything 113 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:32.079 to me that necessarily stands out as like, oh, this 114 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:34.279 is the best one in the genre. But I like 115 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:37.519 this movie a lot. It's very snug, it's very comfortable, 116 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:43.399 it feels very known, and you know, it's it has 117 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.160 a message in it as well. It's just it's a 118 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:51.000 perfect example of one of these genre films. The basic 119 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:55.199 story is there's some miners that are digging up in Lapland, 120 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:59.279 which is where Santa Claus is from, obviously, and they're 121 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.800 digging in the eyep there and they accidentally cut off a tail. 122 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.199 It's frozen, so they bring it back to Denmark for science, 123 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:11.279 and there's a you know, a sleepy scientist that forgets 124 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.120 to close the door in the freezer, wakes up. The 125 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:18.240 tale is thawing out. Unfortunately for them, this is a 126 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:22.040 regenerative beast. So even though it's been asleep for you know, 127 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:24.920 hundreds of thousands of years or millions of years or whatever, 128 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:31.000 the tale immediately wakes up, starts to grow, and wreaking 129 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.159 havoc ensues. I think you'll know by now by the 130 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:36.879 way I'm describing it if this is a movie you 131 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:40.639 would like or not. For me, it's a film I'm 132 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.879 really happy to own. I like monster movies. They're the 133 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.559 kind of thing that I can have on sometimes it's 134 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.440 nice to have on, either to sleep or to if 135 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:53.399 there's chores, or if it's just like a lazy Saturday afternoon. 136 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.720 I like having these kind of movies in my collection 137 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.240 that are on and that are very relaxing and calm. 138 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.519 This is a fantastic example of that nothing is for me. 139 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.799 Nothing is necessarily stand out. It's not like it's hilarious 140 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:11.679 or you know, the the special effects work is amazing 141 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:15.200 or anything like that. I just it's a solid entry. 142 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:18.080 They hit all the beats, uh and it's a ton 143 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:21.759 of extras, so it's a it's a fun all around package. 144 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:33.320 I'm very happy I own this one. 145 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:42.559 Didn't find your dorm li mon bon my mo. 146 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:53.159 They all right now, I'm not even gonna bury the lead. 147 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.039 We're getting to what's probably my favorite one we're gonna 148 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:59.000 talk about today, although there's one that may come close. 149 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.799 Eleven hundred views on letterboxed and a movie that I 150 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:08.000 had not seen, although I do enjoy Category three films 151 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.240 talking about a Chinese torture chamber story one. So if 152 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:19.279 anybody did listen to episode one with Curtis, we talk 153 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.720 about this a little bit. So this might not be 154 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:27.080 a surprise for all of y'all. This movie is fucking amazing, Okay, 155 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:33.120 it is. It is everything I love about Kathrey. It 156 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.879 has some brutal moments, but it's hilarious. It's way over 157 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:42.279 the top. There's nudity in the film, but it's all 158 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:47.279 done in just to perfection. I think this is I 159 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:49.039 couldn't you know, for a long time I said, Ricky, 160 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.200 oh is my favorite? KA three, this is pushing it. 161 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.440 I might be willing to say this is better. I 162 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.320 don't know. I have to see it again. But this 163 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:02.679 movie is amazing. What a surprise by far and away 164 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.200 the surprise of twenty twenty four in terms of viewing 165 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.279 for me. Oh yeah, it's by number four seven three 166 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.600 if I didn't say that. But this movie is an 167 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:16.320 absolute and must have for I would say for anybody 168 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:19.639 that's willing to put up with, you know, some of 169 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:23.679 the edge of your content within movies. What you get 170 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:29.600 in exchange for that is just pure joy. And like 171 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:32.639 this is a party movie. It's a fantastic movie to 172 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:37.759 watch in a group. It's hilarious. Absolutely something that's gonna 173 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:41.039 shoot up the ranks for you know, horror lists or 174 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.399 best movie of all time lists. This is a great 175 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.840 job by Vinegar Syndrome and Sam Deagan, who did a 176 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.759 lot with the disc public, you know, from the production 177 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:55.279 side commentary and really kind of added some amazing context 178 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.039 for this one. This is just this is one of 179 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.840 those ones that people are gonna wish they own it. 180 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.080 Looks like it's also sold about four thousand copies, so 181 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.799 it has some left. It's not like a mad panic 182 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.080 to get it. But I would please please get this 183 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.519 before it sells out. This is one of those ones 184 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.799 that for years people are going to be talking about, 185 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:19.519 and I guarantee at some point in your life there's 186 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:22.279 gonna be a moment where you have not seen Chinese 187 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:25.240 Torture Chamber story, and then there's gonna be a moment 188 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.000 where you see it and you're gonna wish you had 189 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:34.279 seen it ten years sooner. So I don't even really 190 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.840 want to give too much away, but I'll give a 191 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.799 little bit obviously to kind of tantalize and tease a 192 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:46.679 little bit here. There is a This is a story 193 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:51.759 that's very loosely based off of a collection of stories 194 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:56.200 that came out around torture in sort of you know, 195 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.799 ancient Chinese history, right, So there are elements in this 196 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.080 story that are very real and that happened, and they 197 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.159 kind of built on that to make the story all right. 198 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.000 So this movie came out in nineteen ninety four, directed 199 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:15.679 by Bosco Lamb. I haven't seen a lot from Bosco Lamb. 200 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:19.080 He's a name that I know, but in terms of 201 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.840 the movies that he's directed, I haven't really seen a ton. 202 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:27.639 He was a kind of ad and actor, and he 203 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:32.159 was around a lot of Hong Kong cinema. He's he 204 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:36.960 was involved with God of Gambler's series Casino Raiders. He's 205 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.200 been involved in a lot of movies, but as far 206 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.000 as directing, you know, he doesn't have a lot on disc. 207 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.559 So it's and he only has twelve movies that are 208 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:50.360 kind of titled to him, credited to him, So you know, 209 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.120 it's possible we get a few more Bosco Lamb movies 210 00:13:54.600 --> 00:14:00.120 if there anything like this, I want them all. He 211 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.840 what he's able to do in this movie so well. 212 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.720 The reason I'm so crazy for a Chinese torture chamber 213 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:14.440 story is he takes these historical documents and this historical 214 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:18.480 kind of torture stories which are obviously horrific and terrible, 215 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:24.480 and he puts this sort of magical twist on them, 216 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:29.080 and he and he tells the story of one particular 217 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:34.320 lord who brings a woman into his harem, and he 218 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.840 there's a there's an order of command to kind of 219 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.879 get time with him, but he falls for one of 220 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:42.919 the new recruits that the new women that come in 221 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:48.360 he he dies, and so most of the movie is 222 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.519 a trial about the woman who is accused of murdering 223 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:57.200 this this lord, and it goes back in time and 224 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.480 sort of catches up the story of of what's going on. 225 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:05.039 So that's the structure of it. But what happens within 226 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:12.879 that structure is this insane beautiful like I don't even know. 227 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.240 It's almost like a Princess Bride or something where you 228 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.559 know it like it cuts back to the scene where 229 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.440 they're in a courtroom and then it kind of goes 230 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:27.759 to this fantasy land of events, and the difference between 231 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.279 the fantasy and the reality in the courtroom are stark. 232 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.399 This movie is nothing like a Princess Bride. That's an 233 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:41.159 insane comparison only in structure. But the scenes in the 234 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:46.799 courtroom do involve some torture. But then when they flash back, 235 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:50.440 they show this kind of budding romance and they show 236 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:55.039 sex in a way that is just hilarious, Like there's 237 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.639 a woman who's playing with all these different sex toys. 238 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:03.000 The most famous scene in this film is this wusha scene, 239 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.480 this beautiful kind of wusha scene that's filmed very authentically 240 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:12.480 it would fit in any you know, martial arts film, 241 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.320 this kind of wusha based, this beautiful kind of ballet, 242 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:19.799 and the whole time this couple is fucking okay. And 243 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:26.080 so it's just there's this crazy there's this crazy sex 244 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.440 going on. They're yelling things at each other. I was 245 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:33.320 dying in this scene. There's but the comedy is throughout 246 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:38.320 even before when this lord he's married to his wife. 247 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:40.840 Obviously he's having sex outside of marriage, as is she. 248 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.000 But when he has sex with his wife, she's into 249 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.639 all these crazy things, and those scenes are really funny. 250 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:54.960 It's just it. Don't be Curtis said this, and I'll 251 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:58.759 say this too, don't be, you know, dissuaded by the name. 252 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:01.879 This is not a torture movie. If you're looking for 253 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:04.640 a torture movie, we'll talk about that in just a second, 254 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:08.640 because the sequel is closer to that. But Chinese Torture 255 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:14.599 Chamber Story one has light on the torture chamber and 256 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:22.240 just freaking hilarious throughout the rest of it. Just a 257 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.440 pure joy to watch. I don't really know how else 258 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.400 to say it. It's just a movie that I want 259 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.119 to recommend to everybody. Shout it from the Hills. This 260 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.440 should be in your collection. It's not a risk. If 261 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.559 you're a fan of laughing and just kind of enjoying 262 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.440 movies and having fun. This is right up there with 263 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.319 anything you could name it. It's not so bad. It's 264 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:43.759 a good movie. If you want to call it like that, 265 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:45.920 I don't. I don't even like that term. Anyways. It's 266 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.599 not like that. It's a very well made movie. It's 267 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:54.359 just hilarious, and they're The commentary from San Digan is amazing. 268 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.400 And there's a special feature of Rika Schultz from on 269 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.440 Some Horrors. By the way, if you're not listening to 270 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:04.480 Unsung Horrors podcast and you're listening to the Vinegar Syndrome podcast, 271 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.880 I think you'll love Unsung Horrors. Not that it's all 272 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.839 Vinegar Syndrome, but there's a lot of crossover and content 273 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.000 and in kind of mentality of listening listeners, So listen 274 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:19.119 to that podcast. But she but Erica breaks down a 275 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:24.000 video essay where she goes through and finds historical documents 276 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.839 and like scans the images in and like goes a 277 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.720 very academic but entertaining discussion on like the history of 278 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.119 Chinese torture. It's an extremely well made video essay. I 279 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:36.519 don't I'm not going to call out a lot of 280 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:39.559 individual special features, but this one is top notch. It's 281 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.359 very good and it's worth the disc in and of itself, 282 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.359 let alone the movies which are just fantastic. So I 283 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:50.839 could gush forever about Chinese Torture Chamber Story one, I'll 284 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:54.519 stop there, staying on spine four seventy three for a moment. 285 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:59.680 Chinese Torture Chamber Story two. The first one had eleven 286 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.240 hundred views on letterbox. This one only has three ten 287 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.559 as a recording, not as many people have seen this. 288 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:09.759 This is definitely a film that is probably way underseen 289 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:12.880 and is a good idea. I think to include it 290 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.880 as part of a double feature. I don't know how 291 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.799 many people would you know, buy, although anybody that saw 292 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.160 the first one would rush out to buy the sequel, 293 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.880 But I think fans of the first one purely for 294 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.119 that fun element might be a little disappointed by the sequel. 295 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.240 I think it's good in its own way, but it's 296 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:32.559 a very different movie. So the director is Ken Nam Cho, 297 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:36.119 probably most famous. Most of y'all probably know him from 298 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:40.079 Chinese Eerotic Ghost Story. I'm sure you might say there's 299 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.880 one that you like better, but as far as I know, 300 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:47.880 that's sort of his most famous film. This film has 301 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:53.279 a lot more actual torture. So this is much closer 302 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.519 to the name. And you know, this is what you're 303 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.400 probably looking for. If you just pass by the shelf 304 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:03.000 and you see torture Chambers story, this one probably has 305 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.519 a lot more of what you want. The interesting thing 306 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.720 about it is that although it can be pretty brutal 307 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.200 at times, there's certain you know, there's certainly levity in 308 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:17.759 the movie. It's not all just pure brutality. In fact, 309 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.359 some of the characters are very light and not quite 310 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:24.519 Samo hung funny, but they're just lighter and just kind 311 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:26.799 of more goofy. They would probably fit in like a 312 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.400 you know, mister Vampire series or something like that. But 313 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:34.200 the overall tone is certainly much darker, and it's it's 314 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.799 a movie that I think is is good. I'm guessing 315 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.240 that it's gonna be pretty split in terms of people 316 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:45.319 that watch the first one. I go in to watch this, 317 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:47.720 I would say, just kind of know who you are. 318 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:49.680 If you want to have a good time and laugh, 319 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:51.920 watch the first one. If you want something a little darker, 320 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.039 then this is the one for you. A little more, 321 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:57.880 a little more nasty, a little more gnarly. This is 322 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:03.000 where to start. It's just similar. The the other thing 323 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.359 I think it's probably worth calling out is that it's 324 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:09.799 very historically accurate. So this is where Erica's essay video 325 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:14.519 essay really stands out to me, because it's actually extremely 326 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.720 accurate when she starts breaking down like the different types 327 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.920 of torture that was used. Some of it is in 328 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.799 the first movie, for sure, but a lot of it's 329 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:29.519 in the second one. And it's interesting. I mean, you know, 330 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:34.960 it's it's a horror movie because of the horrific things 331 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:37.920 that happen, and it's even crazier that this was common, 332 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:41.759 and you know, it was the way that a lot 333 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:46.039 of people got sort of the justice system used these 334 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.759 torture devices to get information from people. So that's interesting 335 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:53.880 part of history, right, I mean, you know, it certainly doesn't. 336 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.519 Luckily we're not in that situation anymore. But you know, 337 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.599 before the mythology of like truth serums and all that 338 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.880 kind of stuff came out and you know, tough interrogators, 339 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.400 tough FBI interrogators, before all that, there was just straight 340 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:12.640 you know, physical torture to get information, and in both 341 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.000 movies actually the torture is used in a way to 342 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.200 have people admit guilt even when they weren't guilty. So 343 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:21.960 you know, there's certainly some parallels there to like the 344 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.039 Salem witch trials and you know, just the conquistadors and 345 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:29.440 a lot of these you know, really shitty kind of 346 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:32.480 leaders that abuse their power to get what they want 347 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.000 out of out of people that they have in power over. 348 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.920 So yeah, it has good history to it. It's interesting. 349 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:42.920 I personally like the first one quite a bit better 350 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.480 because I just like to have fun with these movies, 351 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:52.359 but the second, the second film, is quite good. The 352 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.119 other thing worth calling out is that Frank Jang does 353 00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:59.680 the commentary for Part two. As usual, It's a fantastic 354 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:06.559 linguistic and cultural commentary. Frank is amazing at kind of 355 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.240 breaking down what's going on and why and why they're 356 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.680 using certain phrases and just you know the history of it. 357 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:17.039 It's very different. Sam Degan's commentary is incredibly well researched 358 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:20.920 and gives a lot of context. Is anything Frank Jang 359 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.000 is just that's his specialty, right as being actually Chinese 360 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.559 and knowing all these like little linguistical nuances and stuff, 361 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:32.160 so that's there too. There's a really cool feature by 362 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.160 Justin Declo of the Important Cinema Club called The Cat 363 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:38.000 Three Films of Wang Jing. I think it's worth a watch. 364 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:45.400 It's very good. The video essay that I was talking 365 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:49.839 about is called Titillating Torture, and there's a good booklet 366 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:54.440 that's written by Grady Hendrix. So yeah, I mean, this 367 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.039 is a I don't know how to say it to me, 368 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:00.640 this is a slam dunk, absolutely must own. No matter 369 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:02.839 how much I pare down my collection, this one's staying 370 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.599 in and it's probably going into my top one hundred 371 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.720 films of all time. 372 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:27.000 I love it a lot, all right. 373 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:32.519 Next release Vs. Four seventy four coming in at nine 374 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:35.759 hundred and sixteen views on Letterbox as of time of recording. 375 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:40.680 In Therapidos Punks and Vengeance of the Punks double feature, 376 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:46.160 this is another one that I'm gonna say is probably 377 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:49.519 pretty close to a must own. This movie is awesome. 378 00:24:50.119 --> 00:24:55.079 It's so fun. It really really feels like a kind 379 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:59.480 of osploitation movie or an Italian genre film. It's got 380 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:05.000 the very similar vibe, very similar budget, very similar aesthetic. 381 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.119 It's just it snuggles right in there right with the 382 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:12.880 best of the just these kind of fun, exploitation action movies. 383 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:18.880 There's a biker film, punk rock film. Anarchy is throughout. 384 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.160 I mean, this is we'll get into in just a second. 385 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:25.240 This is truly an anarchic film. So they really captured 386 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:27.559 the spirit of what it is to be punk rock. 387 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:32.119 It didn't shy away from it. It has sold slightly less, 388 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:34.599 but it's still selling really well best I can tell. 389 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.880 It's sold around through thirty five hundred copies so far, 390 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:40.519 so I have no idea how this one's not sold out. 391 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:45.000 This movie is awesome, and I'm only guessing it hasn't 392 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:50.000 sold out because maybe people haven't heard about it. But 393 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.440 it is a yeah. I really do think this is 394 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:56.880 like a must own this is it's just fun. It's 395 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:04.440 extremely energetic in all the best ways. I loved it. 396 00:26:04.440 --> 00:26:08.680 It's a nineteen eighty seven movie. Francisco Guerrero is the 397 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:14.200 director of it, and he's sort of this great genre filmmaker. 398 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:19.519 Like if you go through his you know his filmography, 399 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:24.119 He's got stuff like the White Condor, Condo Branco. Anyways, 400 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:29.640 he just his filmography looks super fun, lots of action movies. 401 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:31.839