Vinegar Syndrome September 2025 Blu-ray Releases: Fessenden, Italian Horror, Tupac & More
Vinegar Syndrome has announced its September 2025 lineup, a slate spanning folk horror, Italian genre rarities, Lovecraftian terror, a British police thriller, and a 1990s crime drama starring Tupac Shakur. Each title is a limited edition available only through Vinegar Syndrome’s website and select independent retailers, with no distribution to major outlets. All six are arriving in September 2025.
The Films of Larry Fessenden: Volume 2 – Wendigo & The Last Winter
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Glass Eye Pix, Vinegar Syndrome continues its Fessenden restorations with a 4-disc set pairing Wendigo (2001) and The Last Winter (2006). Limited to 6,000 units, the collection comes in a spot gloss hard slipcase with dual slipcovers by Chris Barnes and a 40-page book featuring essays by Phillip Escott, Filipe Furtado, and Esther Rosenfield.
Wendigo, shot on Super 16 in the Catskills, stars Jake Weber, Patricia Clarkson, and Erik Per Sullivan as a family whose upstate trip collides with a Native American legend. Presented in a director-approved 4K restoration from the 16mm negative and graded in Dolby Vision, the film includes two new commentaries (with Fessenden moderated by Justin Laliberty and with critic Simon Abrams), plus two archival tracks with the director and cast. Archival extras feature the 32-minute Searching for the Wendigo documentary, the eight-minute A New Hallucination featurette, and a sales trailer for an animated Wendigo series. An alternate ending, original trailer, 2010 Glass Eye Pix sizzle reel, and Fessenden’s short Santa Claws are also included, alongside reversible artwork and English SDH subtitles.
The Last Winter follows an Alaskan oil crew confronting environmental collapse and supernatural forces. Starring Ron Perlman, James Le Gros, Connie Britton, and Zach Gilford, it was Fessenden’s first feature shot outside the U.S. and his last on 35mm. Restored in 4K from its digital intermediate and presented in Dolby Vision, the release offers new commentaries with Fessenden and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, plus the director’s archival track. Supplements include the 107-minute Making The Last Winter, a 2015 interview with Fessenden by Adam Nayman, 18 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, and a 2015 Glass Eye Pix promo reel. Reversible artwork and English SDH subtitles are included.
Bloodstained Italy: Obscene Desire / The Bloodstained Lawn / Death Falls Lightly
Bloodstained Italy gathers three 1970s obscurities on Region-Free Blu-ray, each newly scanned from 35mm negatives. The set, limited to 6,000 copies, comes in a spot gloss slipcover by Robert Sammelin with reversible artwork and new English subtitles.
Giulio Petroni’s Obscene Desire (1978), starring Marisa Mell, blends giallo, satanic horror, and sexploitation. Extras include commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, interviews with Silvia Petroni, Eugenio Ercolani, Alessio Di Rocco, and Pupi Avati, plus archival featurettes: Disowned Desires (14 min.), The End of it All (21 min.), Dissecting the Desire (44 min.), and A Controversial Desire (20 min.). Alternate Spanish-version scenes (13 min.) and the original trailer are also included.
Riccardo Ghione’s The Bloodstained Lawn (1973) pits a group of hippies against a wealthy couple with sinister motives. Supplements feature a commentary by Rachael Nisbet, the 24-minute Bloodstained Piacenza with Enzo Latronico, and the 16-minute Odd Choices with Luca Rea.
Leopoldo Savona’s Death Falls Lightly (1972) follows a businessman hiding in a shuttered hotel after his wife’s murder, plagued by visions tied to the building’s past. Extras include commentary by Ercolani and Howarth, the 15-minute Anything Goes with Alessandro Perrella, the 11-minute That Kind of Film with Luca Rea, and the five-minute location featurette Where Death Landed.
The Resurrected (1991)
Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected, adapted from Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, returns in a 2-disc UHD + Blu-ray set limited to 5,000 units with slipcover art by Wes Benscoter. Starring John Terry, Chris Sarandon, Jane Sibbett, and Robert Romanus, the film has been newly restored in 4K from the original negative and is presented in Dolby Vision with English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo.
Special features include a group commentary with producers Mark Borde and Kenneth Raich, writer Brent V. Friedman, effects artist Todd Masters, and Romanus; the new 21-minute Duality of Man with Sarandon; the 14-minute Being Present with Romanus; and Kim Newman’s 25-minute video essay A Grisly Crossover. Archival interviews cover Jane Sibbett (Claire’s Conundrum), S. T. Joshi (The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward), Sarandon (The Resurrected Man), Friedman (Abominations & Adaptations), Richard Band (Grotesque Melodies), Brent Thomas (Lovecraftian Landscapes), and Masters (Human Experiments). Deleted scenes (18 min.), a three-minute Chainsaw Awards clip, trailers, photo gallery, and reversible artwork complete the package.
The Strange Affair (1968)
Vinegar Syndrome Labs (VSL), the company’s experimental sub-label devoted to unusual and underseen films, continues this month with The Strange Affair. Limited to 3,000 units with slipcover art by Sam Smith, the release presents David Greene’s British police thriller in a new 4K restoration from its Techniscope negative. The film stars Michael York, Susan George, and Jeremy Kemp, and explores corruption and compromise within London’s police force during the late 1960s.
Supplements include a commentary by Kat Ellinger, the five-minute Swinging to London featurette with York, the 35-minute making-of documentary Greene Recruits, and the 18-minute interview In Like Quince with David Glaisyer. Reversible artwork and English SDH subtitles are also included.
Gang Related (1997)
Vinegar Syndrome’s Cinématographe sub-label turns to 1990s American crime with Jim Kouf’s Gang Related. Tupac Shakur stars opposite James Belushi, James Earl Jones, Dennis Quaid, and Lela Rochon in this tale of corrupt L.A. vice detectives covering up the murder of an undercover DEA agent. The edition is limited to 3,000 units in a cloth-bound MediaBook with embossed foil titles, custom trays, and a numbered J-card. It has been newly restored in 4K from the original negative, with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 tracks.
Extras include a new commentary with Kouf and Lynn Bigelow-Kouf; Sounds of a City with the Koufs; Dream Opportunity with Orion co-president Brad Krevoy; Staying in Business with producer Steven Stabler; and Shelf Life with Orion music executive Marcus Barone. A video conference with Jonathan Abrams (Dynamic in His Range) reflects on Tupac’s legacy. Archival content includes a making-of featurette and the theatrical trailer, with new essays by Quatoyiah Murry, Brandon Streussnig, and Travis Woods. English SDH subtitles are included.
Final thoughts
Vinegar Syndrome’s September 2025 slate delivers breadth and depth: director-approved folk horror restorations, Italian obscurities making their English-friendly debuts, a definitive Dan O’Bannon Lovecraft adaptation, another strong entry from the Vinegar Syndrome Labs line, and a gritty 1990s crime drama. Each title comes with comprehensive supplements, deluxe packaging, and strict unit limits, all arriving in September exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome and independent retailers.
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