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Twice a year Vinegar Syndrome unleash awesome savings upon their fans in the form of Black Friday and "Halfway" to Black Friday Sales. During these events fans of the cult label can subscribe to get monthly packages of their favorite DVD's and Blu-ray's at a discount amongst other cool stuff. However, one tradition that has really gotten fans excited are the 2 secret titles they unleash at every sale. These titles usually are issued in limited quantities and only at the time of sale in these editions, and might never come out again through the label leaving fans this one opportunity to buy these titles. For this year's Halfway to Black Friday sale Vinegar Syndrome have unleashed Blu-ray's of the 1980's Troma pickup Deadly Daphne's Revenge and Raphael Nussbaum's Pets.
Deadly Daphne's Revenge
Director: Richard Gardner
Cast: Laurie Tait Partridge, Anthony Holt
Country of Origin: US
Writer: Scott MacDonald
Cindy is a teenage hitchhiker looking to make her way to San Diego, when she is picked up a group of hitchhiker's lead by the drunken, sexist, racist (overall nice guy) Charlie. Instead of getting Cindy to her destination of choice they load her up with booze, and take her to their hunting lodge where Charlie rapes her, and she runs away. A few days later she goes to a lawyer and presses charges, not just on Charlie, but the group as a whole, which causes all their lives to go into disarray. To go into any more detail would spoil it, but I will say go on to say there is an assassin, and there is indeed a Deadly Daphne, and she does have revenge.
Deadly Daphne's Revenge was made as the Hunting Season in the late 70's, but was distributed under the title "Deadly Daphne's Revenge". Honestly, the Troma-tized version is infinitely more interesting. Unfortunately, it also has a tendency to sell a film that is a typical revenge thriller, when Deadly Daphne's Revenge is anything but one. That is not to say the film was bad, because in all honesty, I enjoyed it once I caught its wavelength, it's just not the film that is literally advertised on the box.
What viewers will get when watching Deadly Daphne's Revenge is more akin to a 70's courtroom drama for a majority of the film, with Charlie and friends going over what their plan is for the impending trial, the consequences of their actions on the people close to them, and their various careers. During the last half hour of the film, things get bizarre with an assassin subplot, a love story, and the titular Deadly Daphne herself.
I could see that director/writer Richard Gardner probably wanted to go for a more shocking ending with the conclusion, and maybe if the film was tighter in certain regards it would have come across as such. However, I did find it an enjoyable experience, on my 2nd viewing of the film (my first was over 20 years ago). The film also features an early appearance (very briefly) of James Avery most known as the voice of Shredder in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, and from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray of Deadly Daphne's Revenge has been presented with a 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that is quite decent considering the source material. There is some damage from the source like specking and scratches throughout, but is quite prominent early on, but is less so as the presentation goes on. I did notice some flickering in the middle section at times, however, for he most part it was a nicely detailed, stable image with solid colors akin to most Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray releases. Audio is presented with a DTS-HD mono track in English with optional English subtitles. Extras include an interview with actress Jody Jaress, an alternate title sequence, an isolated score, and a limited edition slipcover.
The Film (3.5/5)
Audio/Video (3.5/5)
Extras (2/5)
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Pets
Director: Raphael Nussbaum
Cast: Ed Bishop, Candice Rialson
Country of Origin: US
Writer: Scott MacDonald
Bonnie (Candice Rialson) is an abused young woman, who lives with her brother, and it would appear is pimped out by him. One night while out grabbing a burger she makes a run for it, only managing to escape after he gets beat up by a carload of people who he managed to piss off while chasing her down. The next morning Bonnie wakes up at the beach, and ends up befriending a thief named Pat, who ends up getting her involved in the kidnapping of a guy they meet at the beach. Things don't end up in her favor, and she again ends up on her own, but this time in a reluctant lesbian relationship with a painter who wants to use Bonnie as a model, and won't let her do much else. Eventually through bizarre circumstances, she breaks out of this relationship, but ends up in the clutches of the art dealer who her previous lover sold to, where she becomes the titular pet of the title in this man's private zoo.
Pets is an interesting exploitation cinema experience. It is based on a play by Richard Reich who adapted his own work to the screen with director Nussbaum. The work does not come across at all stage-like in translation, but a 3 act structure does seemingly come through with the various people coming in and out of Bonnie's life, even though some characters cross over between the various segments (mostly due to the nature of the artist/art dealer relationship). At times the structure of the film makes it feel like a series of short vignettes with Bonnie at it's center. Candice Rialson does a fitting job as Bonnie, and the cast for the most part work well in their roles. The film itself starts off strong, but after the opening sequence takes some time to find it’s footing. Overall though, Pets is a unique, bizarre, trashy, and mostly fun exploitation experience. It is also quite an easy one to recommend.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Pets in a solid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoder transfer. The transfer has solid detail, decent colors (though there is fading, and softer moments present). However, there is quite a bit of damage present, but this shifts from scene to scene. There is heavy speckling at times, scratching, and at least one noticeable vertical line. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD mono track in English, that sounded quite solid. Extras include an interview with Runaway Nightmare's Mike Cartel who played the brother in the film, an alternate title sequence, a still gallery, trailer, and a reversible cover.
The Film (3.5/5)
Audio/Video (3/5)
Extras (2/5)
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