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Date: 10/23/2015
The words “film preservation” conjure up a respected university or archive trying to beat the clock in preserving a print of a motion picture that has chemically or physically deteriorated.
And that’s a correct definition.
There’s another kind of preservation going on, though, and Vinegar Syndrome, a relatively new company, is the latest in saving movies.
The difference between the work archives do and the work that Vinegar Syndrome does is defined by the movies each entity attempts to save. Generally universities such as UCLA and archives such as Eastman House preserve films that are deemed artistically or historically significant in some way.
Vinegar Syndrome saves movies that wouldn’t easily be seen as significant. They work with the producers who own the rights to films that would have – and probably – played in nation’s drive-ins and the grindhouses of 42nd Street: exploitation films and adult movies from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
By the way, the company has taken its name from a description of a film print that is deteriorating.
Now I’m equally happy watching a restored silent film or a Pre-Code drama from 1932 as I am some obscure horror film from the 1970s, especially if I know someone has taken the time to make it available for a contemporary audience. I greatly appreciate the new democratic spirit of companies today that are making a film that was once sitting on a shelf in a warehouse something a person can discover or rediscover today.
The new release from Vinegar Syndrome is a great example of this kind of new preservation work. “Demonoid: Messenger of Death” is a fairly unknown horror co-written and directed by Alfredo Zacarías. Released in 1981, the film stars Samantha Eggar and Stuart Whitman, both talented and well-known actors whose careers were on an apparent decline.
“Demonoid” has a choppy rhythm and some gory effects that undercut the sincerity of the performances. The film tells the story of the severed left hand of a demon that possesses those who touch it and can transfer from one person to the next. Frankly it’s not that good.
What is fascinating about this film is its backstory that the folks at Vinegar Syndrome have assembled. On this two-disc set, they present a brand new interview with Zacarías who explains he made two versions of the film. He was faced with the reality that a gory horror film would encounter censorship problems in many parts of the word so he made a longer film with more story and little gore entitled “Macabra.” The longer version is far better film.
He then made shorter version for America with some gratuitous nudity and more gore. What does that say about us?
What you get with this Blu-ray package is a complete story about how a low budget film came about and the struggles the filmmaker had. The two versions of the film are fascinating to compare and the films are restored to an immaculate condition.
There are several companies that are doing this kind of work – preserving forgotten and ephemeral films – but few are doing it as well as Vinegar Syndrome.