V-Day Weekend at Vinegar Syndrome

From "SexWorld" (Anthony Spinelli, 1977)

Regular readers of this here semi-regular blog know it's a regular confluence of music and moving pictures, occasionally crossing over into people humping for pleasure and amusement. It's not everyone's cuppa steeped leaves, but I'm of the firm belief that bad taste doesn't necessarily equal bad art, and art deserves to be preserved. Which is why I rep Vinegar Syndrome as often as I do. It's not a giant leap to say, "let's make sure the early work of David Cronenberg gets restored," to "Gerald Damiano's filmography is worthy of being preserved". These are auteurs with clear aesthetics that have influenced those directors who have follwed them for the past 50 years. The difference is that Cronenberg didn't show the dick going in.

That being said, Vinegar Syndrome is holding their second annual V-Day Weekend sale through the end of the day on Sunday, February 14. As they're wont to do, they're highlighting this sale with a few special releases. They've announced what they're billing as the first ever hardcore feature ever released in Ultra HD. It's an expanded release of Anthony Spinelli's 1977 "Westworld" homage, "SexWorld". I copped their original Blu-ray release a few years back, but I'm leaning towards snagging this, a result of the care they've put into this reissue. VS has performed an all-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative. They've also added a softcore cut of "SexWorld", something I had no idea actually existed. They've fleshed out this new release with interviews with hardcore legends Kay Parker and Joey Silvera, as well as photographer Joel Sussman. The release includes an UHD, a Blu-ray, AND the soundtrack on CD, as fine a collection of library tracks as one will find. It's limited to 5,000 pieces, which isn't some tight edition size, but at a sale price of $29.99, it's a bargain for one of the best Golden Age releases.

Also part of the celebration: a "SexWorld" t-shirt, available in an open edition and limited "Robot Valentine" print. There was a really rad holographic screen print available on Friday; this quickly sold out, but is definitely worth checking out. The entire VS back catalog of classic erotica, including all the Peekarama titles still in print, is 50% off through the end of the sale. If you're a film dork, a closet perv, or just want something fun to watch with your partner, it's a good time to pick up some pretty incredible titles. I'll be grabbing a few of the Lisa de Leeuw movies I don't already own. I'd suggest checking out a few of these if these interest you:

• "The Lost Films Of Herschell Gordon Lewis" was the very first Vinegar Syndrome release, collecting three of the Godfather of Gore's sexploitation movies from the late 60s and early 70s
• The "Boys In The Sand" and "Bijou" collect a number of Wakefield Poole's earliest films, as well as two of the earliest still extant example of American gay pornography
• "Taboo", starring Kay Parker, is undoubtably one of the most controversial and important hardcore titles of all-time; VS has restored and reissued the first five films in the series on Blu-ray, but this is the one worth snagging
• "Confessions Of A Teenage Peanut Butter Freak" is just weird as hell, but in a good and sexy way, and features Constance Money
• It was a legendary title when I was younger, so I hopped all over getting a copy of "Let My Puppets Come" when it came out a few years back. All you need to know are these four words: "musical puppet sex comedy"

From "Let My Puppets Come" (Gerald Damiano, 1976)