Movie Review: The Suckers / The Love Garden

Vinegar Syndrome put out a slew of cool titles to cater to admirers of the wild, sexy and wacky in cult film obscurities With three excellent Blu-ray releases of The Lost Films of Herschel Gordon Lewis, The Massage Parlor Murders and The Telephone Book the exploitation specialists have also unleashed a line of Drive-In style fare, affordably priced at under 15 bucks showcasing some more rarities.Arthur Byrd's The Suckers and The Love Garden are just one of those releases that are sure to put a smile on fans of sexploitation.

If you like it sleazy, you are going to dig the first film, The Suckers. Based on The Most Dangerous Game, this soft-core action flick pits a group of young models and their middle-aged boyfriends (sporting some amazing comb-overs) pitted against a vicious hunter and his murderous rape-happy goons. The Suckers isn’t too explicit but it sure is damn uncomfortable in spots. One scene in particular during the “big chase”, a woman is kidnapped and raped on a bed. Rape is hard enough to watch, but the way its shot almost makes it seem like it’s supposed to titillate. There are some unintentional laughs added to the craziness making this title enjoyable.  Only in the sleazy 70’s!

The Love Garden, didn’t do a whole lot for me, and was certainly not near as entertaining as The Suckers was. In The Love Garden we have a guy who is in love with his neighbor, the only catch is that the neighbor is into the ladies. This isn’t a bad thing; I just felt it dragged so even when we did get some skin on the screen it was too late.

The film materials of both The Suckers and The Love Garden have definitely been through the ringer with noticeable splices and emulsion. These anomalies are very tough to repair when you’re talking about films this scarce that probably weren't cared for all too well over the years they did a fine job. No extras on either title, which isn't a biggie since it is at a bargain price. It appears Vinegar Syndrome did everything they could on these as both are still very watchable and definitely color-corrected.

With Something Weird Video kind of putting their stuff on the back-burner when it comes to these odd double-bills, it’s awesome to see someone like Vinegar Syndrome showing some love to these otherwise lost films and in many ways doing it better. Recommended.