Vile 21

Vile 21 is exactly the kind of regional VHS obscurity VHSHITFEST is built for: rough, strange, handmade, and much more memorable than its budget should allow. The setup of a drug experiment turning an unlucky drifter into an unstoppable beast is pure mid-90s video-shelf madness, but the real appeal is the effects work. Mike Strain Jr. clearly put everything into the creatures, gore, stop-motion bits, and rubber-mask weirdness, and that handmade energy gives the movie a personality you cannot fake. It is messy and very much of its world, but that is why it feels like a real discovery. The new edit from the original master, SDH subtitles, and extras make this feel like a proper rescue of something that could easily have stayed lost.

A bit of a drag at times with dialog heavy scenes, but the DIY effects are a joy to see. After a rough beginning it really picks up and my enjoyment of Vile 21 definitely left me satisfied. You can really tell this was made with major passion and the commentary does a good job of showing that.

Tons of great extras, and a really fun movie with far better effects than you usually see in such low budget film.

The slipcover is awesome, as always with anything VS or their awesome partner Labels release! I saw it while perusing the VS website and had to have it! The title is quite interesting, and the narrative is spastic, yet really fascinating and fun to watch! The peerless VS restoration process was on full display with stellar sound and picture! Thank you, VS, for continuing to lovingly restore and release so many wonderful films from every conceivable genre! You are keeping physical media alive in this streaming world we now live in! Highly recommended!

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