"The Beastmaster"...in glorious 4K UHD

Marc Singer and Tanya Roberts in "The Beastmaster" (Don Coscarelli, 1982)

Mediafire is acting the damned fool, so I think it's a good time to shout out Vinegar Syndrome for their lead title for November. Yes, I'll do a full workup on the entire lineup, but this one's so good, it deserves its own spotlight.

If you grew up in the 80s, and had basic cable, then you definitely watched "The Beastmaster" on WTBS. It's a nexus of genre perfection: a sword & sorcery tale, directed by Don Coscarelli ("Phantasm", "John Dies at the End"), and starring a perfectly cast Marc Singer in his signature role. It is quintessentially 80s, and I'm not ashamed to say it shaped my tastes that linger today. Does it have moments of horrifying gore? Check. Some tangental T&A? Check. A character actor icon, chewing the scenery like they're starving? Check. Much better production value than you'd ever expect. Check and check. It was one of the first R-rated movies I ever saw (if not the first), and I think I've owned at least half a dozen copies across all formats.

When Vinegar Syndrome announced their 4K restoration and upcoming UHD/Blu-ray release, I immediately plunked down for a pre-order. And why? Let's start with that restoration. "Beastmaster" has never been released domestically on Blu-ray until now, so the timing for a cleanup of John Alcott's cinematography from the original 35mm interpositive is just right. VS has already shown what they can do in restoring films in the past year with their releases of "Rad" and "Tammy and the T-Rex"; for those of us with memories of rabbit ears and fuzzy images, the anticipation to see a perfect copy is overwhelming.

The few extras announced so far are also blowing my mind. Coscarelli and co. have sat down with both current and contemporary materials to put together a multi-part making-of documentary; based on his previous commentaries and documentary appearances, this should be just as entertaining as the film itself. The discs come with a 40-page bound book about the film, as well as some mind-melting artwork for the covers by longtime VS designer Earl Kess. It's all a far cry from Umbrella's 2018 Australian Blu-ray release or the old Anchor Bay DVDs.

In short, this is a gotta have. It's not a cheap release, either: at $59.98, it's the most expensive single title from Vinegar Syndrome to date. It's currently on preorder at vinegarsyndrome.com for $39.99. As far as I can tell, that's the only place to grab a copy at this point. So get on your horse, pre-order now, and come back in a couple weeks when we talk Black Friday at Vinegar Syndrome.