THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE (Rolfe Kanefsky, 1991) - Vinegar Syndrome, January 2019

[bruce holecheck]

Another exclusive from my Cinema Arcana FB Page:

“It’s a fight to the death with a slimy mutation!” Rolfe Kanefsky’s meta-horror fan favorite THERE’S NOTHING OUT THERE (1991) gets a fresh 2K makeover this January from the cine-psychos at Vinegar Syndrome!

A group of college kids head to a remote cabin for Spring Break, planning to drink some beer, have some fun and hopefully hook up. Naturally, the lone horror fan among them notices a few telltale signs of trouble—abandoned cars, disappearing meals, trails of green slime—but his friends refuse to listen, instead opting for isolated hikes in the woods and wholly necessary skinny-dipping sessions. However, they’ll soon need his help and genre expertise when their wild weekend party is crashed by an amphibious alien with ambitious plans of cross-culture reproduction.

A surprisingly fun indie effort that hit rental store shelves when you could still physically browse them, THERE’S NOTHING OUT THERE quickly gained acclaim in the pages of Fangoria and similar rags due to its at-the-time unique take of transplanting a knowledgeable cinephile into the mix to handily point out the clichés and absurdities its characters were blindly traipsing through – including some inspired fourth wall breaking and an extremely memorable bit where one potential victim swings out of danger using a conveniently located piece of recording equipment.

Previously released on DVD by both Image Entertainment and Troma, Vinegar Syndrome bring the film to Blu in high style, starting off with a brand new 2K restoration from the original interpositive. All of the existing extras will be carried over—intros, a pair of cast and crew commentary tracks, pre-production and behind-the-scenes footage, audition tapes, test shots, short films and tons more—but if that’s not enough, the company have also added three new supplements sure to appeal to fans. First, we get a fresh audio commentary featuring Kanefsky, cult director Joe Lynch and FINAL DESTINATION creator Jeff Riddick, covering the title with the added benefit of hindsight. Secondly, and much more exciting, we’re treated to a career-spanning interview with producer / editor Victor Kanefsky, best known for his work on Bill Gunn’s GANJA & HESS (1973) and his collaborations with Joel M. Reed, most notably BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1975). Its inclusion alone should be a major point of interest for readers of this page. Finally, the disc will also include the home video premiere of an earlier Kanefsky feature -- a shot-on-video comedy whodunit titled MURDER IN WINTER (1988), produced during the director's senior year of high school and starring future THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE lead Craig Peck. It should make for quite the package.

Street date is currently set for January 29th. Previously announced 2019 titles from Vinegar Syndrome include Juan Antonio Bardem's underseen Spanish giallo THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER (1973), Lee Frost’s adult roughie A CLIMAX OF BLUE POWER (1975), Greydon Clark’s goofball slasher spoof WACKO (1982), and the Blu debut of Clark’s killer-kitty-on-a-cruise classic UNINVITED (1988), now with extra grue and a long-lost alternate ending! Be sure to check out Vinegar Syndrome’s upcoming Black Friday sale, featuring a pair of must-have limited editions, yearly subscriptions, and plenty more – and watch this space for further details!

A Cinema Arcana exclusive © Bruce Holecheck, 2018