Punk Vacation: An Unofficial Vinegar Syndrome Podcast

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 39 Eli and I cover the Feburary announcements and determine if this Feb was better than last years. But before all of that, we are joined by one of the most exciting young filmmakers in the US, Kansas Bowling.

I dare you to find anyone under 30 who loves film and loves talking about film as much as Kansas. She's obsessed, and her obsession naturally translates into a rich vocabulary of...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Before kicking off episode 38, we've unearthed a lost discussion from the Punk Vacation archives, restored for your listening pleasure: Chris and Eli are joined by the lead archivist from Vinegar Syndrome, Oscar Becher, to talk about the second release from his new sublabel, Reviver! Like the releases themselves, we won't spoil anything here, you'll have to listen to find out what we talk about!

Then, we return to our regularly schedule...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 37, Eli and Chris are back for Part 2 of the Valentine's Day special of Celeste's world famous "15 Minutes With You" segment. This will also be available on Celeste's YT channel if you want to see the video.


Celeste can now say they are done with 2025. Jan and Feb titles will be featured on upcoming episodes of 15 Minutes With You. Also, huge congrats to Celeste who recently was finally able...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 36 we are fortunate to be able to sit down with one of the most exciting new voices in exploitation and horror, Alex Phillips. This dude loves genre movies, and we dig into All Jacked Up and Full of Worms and his new feature, Anything That Moves. 

I think everyone will enjoy hearing from this creative and darkly funny filmmaker. He gave us almost an hour, which was more than w...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 33 we are going to try something slightly different. Eli and Chris recorded an extended "15 Minutes With You" segment live on Celeste's YT channel back in December and we are going to use that as Part 1 of a 2-Part Valentine's Day Melusine special. 

Both Valentine's Day episodes will focus on the Melusine side of the house, and next week we will be back to also discuss what drops on the V...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 35 we finally sit down with the esteemed stepfather of the boutique physical media community, the most connected man on the internet, and future playgirl model, Ryan Verrill. In addition to the incredible community Ryan has built with the Disc-Connected, the podcast network and special features consortium he has established and grown with Someone's Favorite Productions, Ryan has also recently launched the longtime stealth project, Antenna Releasing.


Ryan is...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 34 we welcome one of the giants of horror on IG, Jay Blake from A Fistful of Horrors. Jay is many things to the community of horror lovers online, but he is also complete on the VS mainline dating all the way back their initial Indiegogo campaign.

I don't know whether to call him the Daiseke Beppu of horror and exploitation, or perhaps the Mr Rogers, whatever it is Jay...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 32, we welcome back Brandon Upson. In addition to being employee #1 at Vinegar Syndrome, Brandon is the Lead scanning technician, Restoration Artist, and director / producer of the newly announced Iconoscope sublabel.

It's clear Brandon loves movies, and throughout this interview I believe his passion for restoring and releasing so many movies every month. He's a wonderful advocate for Vinegar Syndrome, and knows a little to a lot about every release s...

We did it y'all. 30 episodes in our second Christmas together. Thank you to everyone who has listened to any of the episodes, and please seek us out if there is anything you want to hear more about.

We wouldn't look this good without the amazing art of Adam Danbury (https://www.adamdanbury.com/film). We wouldn't sound this good without the regular segments from Celeste de la Cabra discussing the hardcore titles and all of the guest who add depth and weight to our discussions.

For the final episode of 2025 we are bringing back Prof, or...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 30, we celebrate Eli's first booking on the show with one of the coolest people in the business. Bret Berg, Director of Theatrical Sales for AGFA.

Bret is the guy behind the guy for theatrical distribution of almost every boutique label on your shelf, and it's a conversation I really loved. He talks about AGFA's mission, Museum of Home Video, some of the new OCN titles, and a fantastic background...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 29, We were lucky to be able to sit down with Austin Jennings, Director of Eight Eyes which got a VSP release. We also review the September and October releases from the mainline plus subs.

Off the top I just have to say, holy shit, Austin was an incredible interview. His day job is being a co-founder and director of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, so he has...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 28, We were lucky to be able to sit down with Joe, one of the co-founders of Vinegar Syndrome, as well as three-time VS champion podcaster Oscar Becher. He wants to always stay at least one episode ahead of Kurtis.

Joe and Oscar were extremely candid, as always, and have the old married couple routine nailed down perfectly. They had Eli and I cracking up off mic by fighting over...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 27, Eli, Chris, and Celeste walk through a tour of some VS horror that cannot be forgotten. Going all the way back to some of the first 15 releases, we call out some horror that is worth revisiting during the next sale or maybe streaming if its sold out. We end by going over the August releases and should be caught up by mid November.

This was a really fun one...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 26, Eli Oslberg joins as the official co-host of Punk Vacation, I'm beyond excited to move this to a co-host situation, as Eli puts the 'we' in weird and wet and wendigo.

This is a long time coming and I could not feel better about having him join up and help Celeste and I take Punk Vacation to new heights.

Eli can be found on most socials @eliolsberg...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 25, Eli comes back to help break down September announcements and we geek out over the new Pinku line from VS. Celeste brings us home with another 15 minutes of you where they catch us up to being current for the year.

I titled the episode this way because of the conversation we had around the crazy titles that exist within the pinku subgenre.

First episode of Season 2 was...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 24, Celeste de la Cabra and I reflect back on the crazy first year of Punk Vacation!

We do go over August announcements as well, and we end the episode with Celeste doing a great job during the next installment of 15 Minutes With You.

I want to say thank you to every guest, co-host, and champion of fringe creativity that has come along and supported the Punk Vacation...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 23 we welcome back Sam Panico who can now say he is a contributor to a VS release! In addition to his look into 5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas, Sam is a frequent collaborator with Visual Vengeance, has his own podcast bandsaboutmovies and co-hosts a YT show called Drive-In Asylum.
You'll hear this in the episode, but Sam has a deep knowledge of exploitation and low-budget cinema and a great sense...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 22 we are joined by a fantastic group of panelists to attempt a roundtable discussion and figure out what Vinegar Syndrome is in 2025.

I did my best to find a diverse set of interests and backgrounds for the show, but this is very much meant as an open discussion and I would love to hear from anyone!

The structure of the episode basically breaks down into three parts:<...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 21 we look at the OCN announcements in June for partner month. Pearl Chan, one of the co-founders of Kani Releasing, was a surprise guest and joined to help me gush about the wonderful work Kani is doing as I highlighted their label. To close us out Ryan and Jeremy rejoin for Merch Mates. It's a packed 97 minutes!

I have a movie crush on Ariel and Pearl from Kani, I...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 20 we get to chat with the unofficial Vinegar Syndrome rep from Finland, Ville Lähde.
Wille is the best, his YouTube channel @videotalkvideospace is a cornucopia of physical media discussion and unboxing, with a focus on VS and the wilder side of cinema. The dude has over 3,000 VHS tapes and is an encyclopedia of genre and exploitation cinema.

He brings passion to each discussion, and is always very h...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 19 I am joined by Special Features Producer extraordinaire, Claudia Pretelin!

Claudia is a fascinating person. She is an international art curator, has worked with some very innovative contemporary artists such as Gary Baseman, and approaches disc production through the lens of wanting to know everything about the movie she just watched.

I really enjoyed this interview, and I'm proud to share with everyone that gets to hear...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 18 I am joined by Oscar Becher, Archivist and Vault Manager at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss around half of the May announcements that are part of the halfway to black friday flash pre-order, discuss why these were all ambitious projects for different reasons, and get to hear Oscar's passion for his first official producer credit.

Ross Snyder from Saturn's Core comes on next and gives us some insight into what...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 17, Eli is back! to cover March releases with me and more Melusine titles with Celeste. We are lucky to get an extended session with Celeste that catches us up all the way to last months Melusine titles.

And not to bury the lede, but I am thrilled to also be able to sit down with Ryan Kruger, an extremely prolific music video and shorts director internationally who has recently...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 16 I am joined by Kurtis Spieler, restoration specialist at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss the April titles, Vinegar Syndrome's 500th release, and get a glimpse into how many hours are put into an excellent restoration.

Celeste de la Cabra is also back to discuss the hardcore titles in her recurring segment. If timing works out we'll be lucky enough to have her twice this month so fingers crossed.

...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 15 I am joined by Ewan Cant, the Associate Director of content, acquisition, and licensing at Vinegar Syndrome. We discuss the underrated February releases and spend a good amount of time talking about Ewan's love for unique slashers.

Before working at VS, Ewan worked at Arrow in a similar role. He is the producer behind iconic releases throughout his whole career, and at VS recently has put out Iced, Blood...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 14 we cover the announcements from March 1st along with one of the absolute legends of critical thinking and special feature work around Italian cinema, Eugenio Ercolani.

Eugenio has established himself within Vinegar Syndrome as an Italian expert and produces the special features for entire releases on several of their recent films. He has four movies that he has helped produce in March so it was perfect timing to have...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 13 we mix it up a little bit and bring the hardcore titles front and center in a 90-minute segment with co-host Celeste de la Cabra and adult film expert, writer, and curator Eli Olsberg. We (but mostly they) cover the porn titles from November and December as well as a handy starter guide to dipping your toes into the Vinegar Syndrome adult film waters.

From there Eli and I...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 12 we cover the announcements from February 1st. The episode covers two lifetime TV directors that made a memorable splash with their feature films. It also covers an absolute stone cold genre legend who is getting one of his two cannibal films out. Between Cannibal! the Musical and the one this month it is cannibal season at VS.

Outside of the main line we see two Cinematographe releases that are...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 11 we meet Sam. That's the only name you need. Like Emanuelle or Madonna, Sam is a force in entertainment and most recently the genre film community. He's toured as a musician, done a good amount of voiceover work, has interviewed some amazing filmmakers in his own work, has been on a growing number of commentaries, has a podcast and a videocast, and is a like-minded personality so I knew I needed...

We did it y'all. 10 episodes in and we're still growing solidly with each one. Thank you to everyone who has listened to any of the episodes, and please seek me out if you've listened to all of them so I can thank you personally.

We wouldn't look this good without the amazing art of Adam Danbury (https://www.adamdanbury.com/film). We wouldn't sound this good without the regular segments from Celeste de la Cabra discussing the hardcore titles and Ryan and Jeremy wading through the merch jungle. And a special shoutout to Holly who inspired the convincing...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 9 introduces Punk Vacation to one of the leading writers of esoteric and outre cinema, Heather Drain.

We get to know Heather's and, in addition to so many titles she has worked on at Vinegar Syndrome, we get to speak about her amazing opportunity to collaborate with Umbrella on the recent Caligula mega-boxset. Heather's passion for all movies shines through, and I hope she continues to get lots of work at...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 8 introduces Punk Vacation to another great content creator and rabid fan, Sam Dunkley. He watches, discusses, and produces reviews on filmbloggersam and Let's Watch Two, and imports way more VS to the UK then he ever intended. We're also lucky enough to have Celeste back to discuss the most elaborate and artistic adult films ever made.

We dance around the possible sensitivities of a Native American slasher, become a tenant...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 7 brought back another important member of the Vinegar Syndrome staff. Oscar Becher is the vault manager and archivist and has been on the VS team for about 3 1/2 years.

In addition to going over the November announcements, we talk about the different ways Oscar gets involved in releases, who convinced him to sing for the Cannibal! promo, and get some idea of the size of the actual archive that started Vinegar...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 6 was a great conversation with two humble giants of film history. Armando and Joey joined from Trash Mex Podcast. They are amazing ambassadors of Mexican cinema who spend a lot of time booking screenings and writing and promoting the movies they love.

We introduce Armando and Joey, review the VS films from Mexico, and cover the September releases from the mainline as well as VSA, VSL, and Distribpix.

...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 5 truly connects us with the VS community. Jaden Christopher joins to talk about the VS Discord and his journey down into the dark surreal alleys of Vinegar Syndrome horror.

We cover announcements from October 1st and spend time at the end highlighting five horror titles from the catalog that are good for the season.

Spend time as we dance with ghosts, find new roommates, discuss one of the...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 4 brings in Justin LaLiberty to help us break down the August releases. This month gives us adults that don’t speak the way humans speak while being hunted by creepy kids, the best example of why women live longer than men ever filmed, and a very bloody bath. We see a father and son martial arts duo for the ages, and Garfield in a whole new light. We see not one but tw...

THE Brandon Upson made time to join us for episode 3. Brandon, in addition to being one of the original VS team and co-founder of the archive, currently is an in-house restoration artist and the lead scanning technician. The man can do it all, and his passion for film shines through this entire episode.

We cover the 5 films released over 3 mainline releases: Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf, The Cruel Brittania set which includes Crucible of Terror, Penny Gold, and Craze, plus Lamberto Bava's Delirium! Outside of the mainline titles we also got to hear about the unedited...

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

Episode 2 brings back a prehistoric monster, some prehistoric torture, and some histrionic punks. We find out if Demme will stop making sense, give our blood to the cult of genre cinema, and discover the identity of a true macho woman! No Polish police force can stop us, we're using all Eight Eyes to tackle Vinegar Syndrome's July release slate. I hope you enjoy!

We're live! Kurtis Spieler was kind enough to join for our first episode. He is a restoration specialist at Vinegar Syndrome and is a filmmaker himself. Most importantly, a great guy who obviously loves all different types of movies and can switch between Cat-III and Robert Altman without missing a beat.

We covered all 7 of the August announcements, Chinese Torture Chamber Story, They Call Me Macho Woman, and the Ozploitation classic, Body Melt.

Punk Vacation - An Unofficial Vinegar Syndrome Podcast 

Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.