I 1st bought a VCR in the mid-80s, and the thought of actually owning a movie that I could watch…read moreanytime I wanted to, as many times as I wanted to, was a dream come true. In my childhood, you had to hope that they'd play "Attack of the 50-foot Woman" (with childhood crush Allison Hayes) on a day and at a time when you'd be available to watch it. Or "The Wolf Man." Or "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror." You figured they'd re-run them at some point in the future, but you could never be sure. I can remember when they ran "King Kong" every afternoon during 1 week of the winter (I think it was on Channel 9, WOR), and I watched it every single day, hoping to commit every detail to memory, because I couldn't be sure when...or if...they'd ever show it again. By the 4th day, my exasperated mother yelled out, "JESUS MARY & JOSEPH!!! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND PLAY IN THE SNOW LIKE OTHER KIDS YOUR AGE!! GO!!!" Reluctantly, having no other choice, I complied, venturing outside into the bitter cold to play with friends. None of their games or activities were as fun or interesting or imaginative as "King Kong."
With VCR, that grim, frustrating reality was...at least to some extent...obviated. You could now actually own a movie, and any time you wanted to relive its memories, you just slipped it into the machine. Unfortunately, VCR tapes were often prohibitively expensive, and they didn't always have the titles you wanted for sale.
An older co-worker at Ft. Lee told me about Sinister Cinema, gave me 1 of their catalogues, and I started ordering. Their prices were and are very fair. I've been buying from them ever since, easily making the transition from VCR to DVD and Blu-Ray (thankfully, most DVDs play in Blu-Ray machines).
These aren't mega-budgeted Hollywood blockbusters. These are often low-budget horror...American, European, and Asian, Sci-fi, "Sword & Sandle," Spaghetti Westerns, Poverty Row grade-C cheapies, "juvenile schlock," etc. The 1st Paul Naschy movies I was able to order were through Sinister-- "La Venganza De La Momia," "Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf," "Assignment Terror," and "Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman," which is...arguably...my favorite escapist horror film of all time.
I was able to obtain 1 of Roger Corman's best low-budget horror films of the 50s-- "The Undead" with my perennial favorite, Allison Hayes. "Invasion of the Blood Farmers," a ridiculously entertaining piece of schlock filmed in upstate NY. A piece of 1940's schlock-- "Jungle Woman" with Evelyn Ankers, Acquanetta, and my distant relative (very distant, according to my late father), J. Carrol Naish. There's a version of "Dracula" from British TV starring the late Denholm Elliot and Susan George.
There's "The Mummy & the Curse of the Jackal, "a laugh out loud, so bad it's good, horror travesty from 1969 starring John Carradine and the late belly-dancer Marliza Pons.
There's schlock, and there's also some of the superb.
Several items from British TV are from shows I never heard of before but are worth seeking out. "A Warning to the Curious," based on a ghost story by M.R. James, is quite creepy. "Dorabella," a really effective vampire story set in Eastern Europe. "Curse of the Mummy" with Isobel Black and Patrick Mower is based on a short Bram Stoker story. (I hope at some point they offer "Mrs. Amworth" with the late Glynis Johns, based on a story by E.F. Benson. It's available on Youtube and I have a DVD I transferred from a VCR copy, but I'd love to see it for sale at Sinister. It's one of the eeriest and most effective little vampire stories I've ever watched.)
The quality productions, some of them quite strange, are not all British. Way back when I ordered "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders," a surreal film from Eastern Europe (I don't think it's still available). I watched it stoned, and I still couldn't figure out what was going on. I watched "Leonar; Mistress of the Devil," a 1975 European film with Liv Ullman, Michel Piccoli and Ornella Muti. Not Ingmar Bergman, but you won't soon forget it.
I like Spaghetti Westerns if they're made by Sergio Leone and star Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, or Klaus Kinski, but most of them are pretty bad. But they're for sale here, along with low-budget American Westerns.
I especially like their Drive-In Double Features, featuring 2 films along with old drive-in trailers that immediately bring me back to those delightful old memories of when I attended drive-in movies regularly. Again, you can't beat the prices!
The 1st DVD I ever ordered was "The Living Corpse" from Mondo Macabro. Years later, it no longer plays on my DVD or Blu-Ray. I ordered a new copy, and it doesn't play either. The only other place I've been able to order it (under the title "Dracula in Pakistan") is from Sinister, for a fraction of the price, and their copy plays perfectly. Don't know if DVDs will outlive me, but I'm still playing the 1st DVDs I ever ordered from Sinister, and they play fine.
Highly recommended.
