Podcast
The Sin Syndicate
The Sin Syndicate is a podcast hosted by writer Gentry Austin and adult film historian Casey Scott focused on the Golden Age of American sexploitation, when the morals were loose, the laws were murky, and the intercourse was all simulated. Join us semiweekly as we peer into adults only theaters and sticky floored cinemas looking for colorful nudies, B&W roughies, and softcore sex films.
- Film History chart
- #145
- Episodes
- 56
- Releases
- Every two weeks
- Typical length
- 2 hr 19 min
- On air since
- 2025
- Latest episode
- 6 days ago
Episodes
56 episodes, newest first
-
2 hr 11 min
The Twist of Frankenstein
Episode 49
Show notes
Meet Granny Good, she's the head mistress at a finishing school for girls, where the curriculum includes reading the dictionary, taking showers for gold stars, and drawing Bob Cresse. Just don't go in the basement, where there's a werewolf cooking up death-proof elderberry wine.
The nudie-cutie genre is full of some incredible highs, and some incredible lows. We've previously confessed our love for the wonderfully mad monster-nudie, Kiss Me Quick! in episode 12 ("Too Much Sex Fizz"), and we're back to cover another entry from the same stupid source. You may know House on Bare Mountain for its eye-popping monstie-filled marketing campaign, which only slightly exaggerates the creature content, but you may not know the history behind its making, which saw Bob Cresse and frequent collaborator Lee Frost swooping in to save a well-intentioned, but poorly planned production.
To tell the tale, we are once again joined by Canadian degenerate and 4D-Witch possessed Alex DiSanto, who helps us sail the turbulent waters of early Frost/Cresse, study the state of the nudie in 1963, as well as aid us in correcting some misinformation about the Mountain. There will be spiked punch, sexless nudity and the best goddamn Twist you've ever seen (both plot and dance). Join us for the second and final film in this month's special spooky Haunted House Duology, where everyone's a sudspect.
Episode Specific:
Watch the 2017 restoration of House on Bare Mountain
Find Alex in the paperbackgrindhouse
Purchase Maple Syrup Pix, Vol. 1
Get tix to Nikkatsu's Golden Age of Eros
Check out the Lurid Cove KickstarterLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 19 min
The Veil of Veronica
Episode 48
Show notes
This house is not a home, but all our friends are here. For the first in our Haunted House Duology for the 2026 Halloween season, The Syndicate is joined by the artist formerly known as Spicy Goldman to discuss a mad and mysterious transitioner distributed by "The Professionals" and directed by a red Corvette driving Edward D. Wood Jr.
If you've never heard of The Only House in Town, there's probably a reason. If you have heard of The Only House in Town, you may be wondering what there is to say about this seemingly unfinished bump 'n grinder with about 2% plot and 98% softcore orgy. Well, we hope you'd know by now that there is something to say about even the most ineptly made, bottom-of-the-barrel sexploiter (except maybe those Cosmos Films). Now, we're not saying that The Only House in Town is one of those, well, maybe Casey is, but nevertheless, we were excited to bring Shawn "Spicy" Langrick back on the show to let him do what he does best: educate.
Shawn provided a commentary for the 2024 release of House that appeared on Severin's 3-disc "Hard Wood" set, in which he and Greg Dziawer dropped a research bombshell about the location of the titular house. And it all came down to a window. In between the recording of that commentary and the street date of that set, Shawn kept digging, and found even more information about the production of the film and some of the key players in it. We were happy to provide an outlet for that information, and of course, to get the chance to talk about some of our favorite girls: Lynn Harris, Jane Tsentas, Neola Graef and Uschi Digard.
Oh, and the guys are alright too. In fact, Shawn has some interesting background into a couple of them. Let's just say, maybe unsurprisingly for this Hollywood, CA film, The Church of Scientology is involved. Join us for House Part 1, it may not be the spookiest choice of film, but the sound quality sure is frightening.
Episode Specific:
Purchase Hard Wood from Severin
Pickup Outlaw Ladies from Melusine
Visit the Capri Show World
Listen to archival episodes of The Ed Wood Summit PodcastLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 18 min
Shake the Pigs
Episode 47
Show notes
Few women in "the industry" left more of an impression than the young, squirrelly, sometimes buxom, Rene Bond. Born Rene Ruth Bond on October 11, 1950, the Queen of Porn was one of the first superstars of the nascent, still-illegal industry. In this episode we chart Rene's relatively short but memorable career in both the hard and softcore adult film industry, with a special emphasis on her role in the Ed Wood-scribed women-on-the-run sex 'n action film, Fugitive Girls.
Directed by Stephen C. Apostolof, a friend and frequent collaborator of the down-on-his-luck Wood, the film features memorable performances by a bitchy Bond, a butch Tallie Cochrane, and cameos by Erotic Zorro Douglas Frey, the small but powerful Maria Arnold, and Edward D. himself as a hapless station attendant. To name a few.
Joining us for the discussion is graphic artist Robin Bougie, who has studied every inch of Rene Bond's body. For research, of course. A fan of all things trash, sleaze and XXX, Robin put together some of the most substantial research into Rene’s life and career through Volume #7 of his Cinema Sewer series. We talk about that, and much more, such as Bond's frequent partner Ric Lutze being the annoying Bogie to her Bacall, as well as the difficulty in shooting day for night, and maintaining a convincing Southern accent.
Episode Specific:
Visit Robin Bougie's Store
Shop Cinema Sewer at Fab Press
Follow Robin on Instagram
Watch the VS trailer for Fugitive Girls
Stream Rene Bond on Cultpix
Watch Rene Bond on Break the BankLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
1 hr 30 min
The Short Ends: All-American Redux Bonus
Episode 7
Show notes
I hope you haven't forgotten your girl. We sure haven't. It's true, we will never stop talking about The All-American Girl, director Mark Haggard's 1972 coming-of-age, sex positive, Southern California masterpiece. We discussed the film at length in Episode 20, "Don't Forget Your Girl," have long been clammoring for a new home video release, and thus, were more than a little excited when we heard that the film was being screened on 35mm at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles on Labor Day, 2026. Friend of the pod and enthusiastic Vinegar Syndromer Eli Olsberg was able to attend as our proxy, and joined us in this Short Ends episode to give his report. Keep your hankerchief on hand, it's going to get messy.
Episode Specific:
Revisit "Don't Forget Your Girl"
Listen to the Punk Vacation podcast
Follow Eli on InstagramLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 19 min
The Secretary, The Go-Go Girl and The Housewife
Episode 46
Show notes
Can you afford the price? The film might call them hookers, but there is no hooking. Instead, in the 1967 anthology film, The Hookers, we are treated to three different stories dealing with three different ways in which the female body is sold and commodified, either by choice, or by coercion.
Fleurette Carter (Aroused) plays Callie Sue, Sharon Kent (Indecent Desires) plays Julie, and Monica Davis (The Swap and How to Make It) plays Barbara. Each woman is from a different station, and each approaches the salability of their womanhood in a different way. Callie Sue takes back the power that was stolen from her; Julie is oblivious to the games that men play; and Barbara uses her charms to get out of a gambling debt. As the narrator, producer, actor, and director (?) of The Hookers asks at the end of the documentary, Queens at Heart: "Who are we to judge?"
Join us for Episode 46, "The Secretary, The Go-Go Girl and The Housewife," where we spotlight The Women, plus one fascinating man with a golden voice and a once-fierce karate chop. It's teasing, taunting, and opens on a shot of the Pan Am rooftop helipad where Michael Findlay was killed. Does that have anything to do with anything? No, not really.
Episode Specific:
Watch the documentary short Queens at Heart featuring Joel Holt
Stream All of Meand Karate, the Hand of Deathon Cultpix.com
Purchase The Lost Sexploition Triple Feature and Maple Syrup Pix, Vol. 1
Visit the SWV VHS ArchiveLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 50 min
Extra Weird
Episode 45
Show notes
Here at the Sin Syndicate, we love websites. Not apps, not Substacks, not ad-filled modern forums, but websites. One of our favorites is Mondo Digital, the long-running project of Nathaniel Thompson, a long-time figure in the scene, whether it be moderating the Mobius Home Video Forum, covering genre cinema online and in print, contributing to disc releases, or working at Image Entertainment (not in that order). It's that last thing we wanted to talk with Nathaniel about, specifically around his work as part of Image in the period of the early aughts, which also coincided with the LA-based distribution company's partnership with Seattle's Something Weird Video.
What was the process like putting those still incredible double and triple feature DVD releases together? Was there any internal pushback to some of the sexploitation content within? What did they have against The Big Snatch? And what was it like moderating a commentary track with Harry Novak? Those are just a few of the questions we cover in this episode, which also kicks off with a brief chat with Punk Vacation's Eli Olsberg about a special sexploitation screening he attended at the New Beverly Cinema earlier this month. So, cuddle up with your favorite snapper case and best memories of Borders Books, it's about to get Extra Weird.
Episode Specific:
Purchase The Acid Eaters + Space Thing from AGFA
Bookmark https://www.mondo-digital.com/
Follow Mondo Digital
Follow Punk VacationLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr
The Short Ends: Austin in Acidland Bonus
Episode 6
Show notes
I know it's labeled a Short End, but it's actually not that short. But the spirit of the Short End is still with us. For this entry in our bonus episode series, we are joined by Austin Miller, film archivist and technical coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive (MARMIA), to discuss a short film he provided to the Vinegar Syndrome Archive for use on the recent, very sold out, Reviver 3 home video release (we will be saying the word "short" and "archive" a lot). That film, titled The Psychedelics, has been long-sought after by fans of buxom Sunset Strip dancer turned "actress" (in the heaviest quotes), Pat Barrington.
Patty B and an unknown blonde are the stars of the short, which was produced by the same company (Dyle IV) that made another film featuring trippy light effects, Ed De Priest's "mondo Hollywood underground," Hedonistic Pleasures. What's the connection between the two, if any? Who is Bob Beck, the man behind the visual effects? And what can we say about Paul Hunt, the man often cited as the director of this acid dreamy short?
Listen to find out all that and more, including a new segment of Weirdo on the Street from our Gap Grindhouse correspondent, Jeffery "The Sponsor" Petrone, plus a story about how Casey almost got beat up by Tura Satana. So drop a tab, take a puff from your wackiest cigarette, and get psyched with us as we peer through the kaledoscopic lens at the end of hippiedom and the new era of film preservation. Bring your own sitar.
Episode Specific:
Wait for Reviver 3 to restock at Vinegar Syndrome
Purchase The Ultimate Degenerate / A Thousand Pleasures
Stream Hedonistic Pleasures on Cultpix.com
Visit and follow MARMIA
Follow Austin MillerLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 16 min
Wild Pepper and White Lightnin’
Episode 44
Show notes
The name Donn Davison might not be as well-known as Dan Sonney, Kroger Babb, Dwain Esper, or David F. Friedman, but he was a mighty Southern monarch in his own right, a multi-talented road showman, yo-yo man and official member of the Forty Thieves of classical film exploitation and distribution. Like many of the thieves, he started out in a carny circuit, the spook show, before deciding to try his hand at producing one of his own pictures to tour the mom and pop theaters and drive-ins of the Bible Belt.
One of those films was Shantytown Honeymoon, later retitled Honey Britches for release by Something Weird and Demented Death Farm Massacre when re-edited for Troma Video. In this episode we'll discuss all the ins and outs of this regional little hick flick, with special love given to its genetically blessed star, the "torrid tide in the sea of wanton splendor, the siren’s song that leads men to damnation, the Amazonian adversary to patriarchal perdition," Ms. Pepper Thurston.
Thurston might tower over her co-stars, but there is still plenty to love about George Ellis giving 110% as the leering, greedy moonshiner Horlon P. Craven (does "Bestoink Dooley" ring a bell?), not to mention Davison favorite Ashley Brooks as bought-wife Reba Sue, as well as Trudy Moore as dumb-as-rocks Karen. There's also Michael Battlesmith as Kirk (he's just a Kirk), and Valarie Lipsey as a super-sassy no-nonsense Madame named Jessabelle (not a Jezebel).
Our favorite third wheel and #1 Pepper Thurston stan Alex DiSanto joins us to pull the rope on this well bucket as we gather water on everything you've never wanted to know about this sweet and sleazy number which had a surprisingly long life both on the screen, and on the video shelf. It may be true that the film's message is that the Lord both giveth and taketh away, but he did giveth us Pepper Thurston. To that we say: she's in our hearts now, you can't have her back.
Episode Specific:
View our Southern Sexploitation List
Watch Honey Britches on Cultpix.com
Watch Demented Death Farm on Tubior TromaNow
Order The Ultimate Degenerate + A Thousand Pleasures
Special thanks: Alex DiSantoLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 52 min
Rubbing the Right Way
Episode 43
Show notes
The Sin Syndicate is taking a stroll down to the San Francisco massage parlor to visit future adult film superstar Serena during her brief softcore period. At the time, the striking blonde was still using her "Jen Gillian" pseudonym and just getting her foot in the door the film industry. Released in 1975 through Harry Novak (yes, again) and his Box Office International production company, Massage Parlor Wife is unique in that its director really had no business making sex movies, his background was in documentaries and experimental films. Nevertheless, the resulting work is a fiery, funny, and above all, still unquestionably erotic work that not only shows competence behind the camera (and in the editing room), but shows the immediate and umistakable charisma of the new starlet soon to become Serena.
Joining us in Episode 43, "Rubbing the Right Way," to discuss all things Massage Parlor Wife, both direct and indirect, is Mark Murray: author, archivist, restoration artist, bobble head creator, friend of Serena, and propieter of Ultra Flesh Archives. There's no better person to join us for this episode than Mark, who just recently released Vol. 1 in a collection of Serena's hardcore loops through his home video imprint, UFA, where the official motto is "Take pride in your porn," and the unofficial, "Long live loops!" We full-heartedly endorse both, just as much as we full-heartedly love and celebrate Serena, one of the most magnetic personalities to ever grace the silver sex film screen, soft or hard.
Episode Specific:
Search "Ultra Flesh Archives"
Subscribe to Barry Spinello's Youtube
Order Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes
Pre-Order The Ultimate Degenerate + A Thousand Pleasures
Special thanks: Mark MurrayLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 52 min
Someone's Favorite
Episode 42
Show notes
The credo of Ryan Verrill and Will Dodson's podcast network is "every movie is someone's favorite." To celebrate one-year of being a part of the Someone's Favorite Productions network, The Sin Syndicate are joined by 1/2 of SFP and the larger Antenna Releasing company, the Disc-Connectedman himself, bossman Ryan Verrill, to recap the past year and play a game of pick five. What five are we picking? Five films we want to see get a high-definition, English-friendly home video release in the not-so-distant future.
The rules were to keep it somewhat (s)exploitation adjacent, but we weren't going to hold Ryan's feet to the fire for picking a John Waters film. Elsewhere, in the world famous sexploitation news hour, we discuss our recent guest appearance on a sister pod, tackle a commentary listener's email, and chat 75% off Summer Sales. Join us and learn about proper disc placement, boutique label spreadsheets, and the importance of taking a moral stance when it comes to film distribution. Stay 'til the very end for a special song, so long as it doesn't get struck down by the Missing Persons estate.
Episode Specific:
View the Top 5 Letterboxd List
Check out Someone's Favorite Productions
Watch Gentry's Absurd video essay
Purchase The Lustful Turk/The Joys of Jezebel
Special thanks: Ryan VerrillLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 26 min
Sock It To Me, Campa
Episode 41
Show notes
It seemed like a good idea at the time. It all started with our discussion with fetish historian and author Jane Garrett about 1967's Venus in Furs (Trodden Underfoot). As a follow-up, we chatted with Nathan Schiff, Long Island filmmaker and longtime friend of Furs director, Joseph Marzano (Back to Marzanoland). I guess we're masochists, we didn't get enough Lou Campa, or I just wanted to close the loop, but here we are, definitely slamming the book shut for good on this mini-saga.
For those who have not been following along, Campa was the shady producer behind Furs, along with several other sickie films orbiting around this scene. We've touched on several of them before: Venus in Furs, of course, but also, Cool It, Baby and Mini-Skirt Love. But we never really discussed two of Campa's most outrageous offerings distributed through Cinex Industries: Sock it to Me, Baby and Come on Baby, Light My Fire. An additional impetus to continue pulling this thread? The passion of Toronto's very own smutmeister, Alex DiSanto, who joins us for a volatile, heated discussion about the thespian talents of Larry Hunter (would you die on that hill?), watersports in sexploitation, and the musical talents of Darlene Cotton.
But before all that, in the news and updates we cover AGFA's latest horrotic release, Pink crossovers, Pride Month failures, and the disgusting trend of using AI to make dead people fuck. In other words: another day, another man, another episode to keep out of the hands of your neighbor, Tina.
Episode Specific:
Purchase Voices of Desire + Fly Now, Pay Later
Purchase Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes
Watch Sock it to Me & Light My Fire on Cultpix
Follow the paperbackgrindhouse
Special thanks: Alex DiSantoLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
1 hr 33 min
The Short Ends: More Babies Bonus
Episode 5
Show notes
It's a Love Explosion! In an attempt to maintain our sanity amidst deadlines and life generally, we bring you another episode of our Short Ends series, which we've used in the past to feature additional discussions that have either gone long, didn't fit, or generally felt like they were worthy of standing on their own. We've slightly expanded this design to hopefully include more low-key and informal chats with friends, fans and listeners, without the pressure of one of our regular, deeply researched Sin Syndicate episodes (that you've come to know and love).
All that build up to say, we've got unofficial Gap Theatre correspondent and New Jersey native Jeffery Petrone on the show to talk about a secret screening of "Wilbur and the Baby Factory" that he recently attended. Jeffery is a passionate fan of all genres of film and has recently caught the sexploitation bug. We were excited to talk with him about his impressions of this Harry Novak distributed sort of sex film, sort of Master Race satire. Of course, we've also got plenty of news, updates and chatter from the World of Sexploitation, literally, from America to Argentina to England to Japan. Will I ever be able to rescue Casey from Roman Porno land?
Episode Specific:
Listen to "Baby Factory"
Visit The Gap Theatre
View Jeffery's Top 10 of 1960s SexploitationLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
3 hr 12 min
Back to Marzanoland
Episode 40
Show notes
That’s right, we’re going Back to Marzanoland. If you’ve been a consistent listener, you’ll know that in Episode 38, “Trodden Underfoot,” we discussed the Joseph Marzano film Venus in Furs (1967) with author and fetish historian Jane Garrett. After the release of that episode, low-budget Long Island filmmaker and sexploitation super-fan Nathan Schiff reached out to us to share some stories about his own personal relationship with Marzano before his death. It’s fair to say, Nathan had stories. In fact, so many that this three hour podcast can barely contain them all.
A few selections include: film distributor Harry Novak and his notorious “archive,” producer George Weiss writing Olga copy (and teaching proper whipping and tying technique), and an auspicious final encounter with a despondent Janet Banzet. Of course, we also discuss Marzano’s sexploitation career, and hear more stories about the productions of Cool It, Baby and Venus in Furs. Plus, more about muscle-bound masseur Shep Wild and mob wife Barbara Ellen. But that’s just scratching the surface. Researchers, friends, fans, Milligan-heads, pull out your notebooks, grab a bottle of Fanta, we’re talking Marzano and Co. with Nathan Schiff, and rewatching The Degenerates for the 16th time.
Episode Specific:
Listen to our episode on Venus in Furs, "Trodden Underfoot"
Read "Sexploitation!" at the Magick Theatre
Learn more about Nathan Schiff from Bleeding Skull
Read "An Enraged Eye: Nathan Schiff’s Vermilion Eyes as Anti-Film" at Bright Lights Film Journal
View Marzano's early films at The Film-Makers' Coop
Special thanks: Nathan Schiff, Jane GarrettLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 9 min
The Power of the Horn
Episode 39
Show notes
Where else will you find a worldwide exclusive about what Christina Lindberg is going to wear on the Cannes 2026 red carpet? For Episode 39, "The Power of the Horn," The Sin Syndicate have connected with our brothers from another mother, the purveyers of Swedish Sin, Rickard Gramfors & Patrick von Sychowski, co-partners of the Stockholm-based multimedia company Klubb Super 8 and streaming platform Cultpix. With so much to cover, we didn't want to focus on just one film, although their most recent release for Melusine, Come Blow the Horn! does get some special love.
Other topics include, but are not limited to: Stellan Skarsgård hanging dong, Sweden: Heaven or Hell, Swedish Roman Porno, puritanical censorship, the social realism of A Woman Heats Up a Sauna, lost American movies in the Swedish Film Archives, the mysterious Cornelius "Corny" Flickenheimer and…Mr. Penguin?
It was an absolute joy to talk to the Klubb boys, who are fighting the good fight, and in many ways, are the Something Weird Video of Northern Europe, unconstrained by genre, unafraid of controversy, and actively working to broaden cinematic horizons beyond Bergman. So, close the blinds and join us for a blowing. Just don't waste your horniness.
Episode Specific:
Visit Klubb Super 8
Subscribe to Cultpix
Buy Come Blow the Horn!
End music by Fäbodjäntan
Special thanks: Rickard Gramfors, Patrick von Sychowski, Kalle LagerroosLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
1 hr 57 min
Trodden Underfoot
Episode 38
Show notes
Yes, we have this in a higher heel. Enter a world of suprasensual sexploitation with this week's deep dive into one of the earliest big screen adaptations of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s oft-referenced sadomasochism novella, Venus in Furs.
Muscle-hunk Shep Wild plays this version of Severin (named David), a shoe-salesman who is taken for a literal trip after a chance meeting with the striking Marina, played by Barbara Ellen, who is as much a creative force in this endevaor as director Joseph Marzano and producer Lou Campa. All three were coming off the sleazy success of the sinful blackmail story, Cool It, Baby (1967), but Venus in Furs was a Marzano product through-and-through, with the former experimental filmmaker given free rein to indulge in his deepest, darkest desires—as long as he stayed within the Campa/Cam-Scope budget.
Marzano wasn’t able to fully achieve his vision, but the end result is still a stylishly erotic and boundary-pushing film filled with fetish funhouse imagery and a recurring musical motif pulled from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Like that story, there’s no happy ending here, but a descent into unfulfilled sexual madness, an aching longing for the intangible, and one particularly rough game of ping-pong. Join us, along with fetish historian and John Willie biographer Jane Garrett, as we discuss this unsubtle masterwork from sexploitation’s late 60s peak. Find out what's behind the next door, kiss your beloved’s ankle, and accept your fate as “Trodden Underfoot.”
Episode Specific:
Buy John Willie: A Bizarre Life
Follow Jane Garretton Instagram
Attend SECS Fest at the The Beacon
Special thanks: Jane GarrettLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
2 hr 6 min
Waiting for the Man
Episode 37
Show notes
Do you partake?
The Sin Syndicate are preemptively celebrating the Stoner's Holiday with this special 4/20-themed episode which is, let's be honest, just an excuse for us to talk about one of our favorite late 60s sexploitation hang out films, director/cinematographer Joseph Mangine's Manhattan-set story of celluloid swingers and black-clad moto bikers, Smoke and Flesh (1968). After cutting his teeth on quick and cheap nudies for Barry Mahon, the talented Brooklynite directed this directorial debut that more or less acted as a 35mm resume for his skills behind the camera. Never a gloryhound, and more comfortable molding tinfoil to create the perfect bead of light than managing a crew from the big chair, Mangine would only direct one other feature film, the Warriors meets Lost Boys cult horror flick, Neon Maniacs (1986).
But between these two projects, Mangine lensed everything from Victorian pornos, killer worm horror films to Albert Pyun's genre defining sword and sorcery epic. In Episode 37, "Waiting for the Man," we discuss all this and more, including a special dispatch from our on-the-ground correspondent, Jeffery Petrone, who checks in with us from Wind Gap, Pennsylvania where he attended a Grindhouse Triple Feature that included one of our top 10 most wanted Lost & and in Limbo films. So grab your favorite grinder and your cardboard bong for a turned-on trip to a world of strip Grand Prix, butter brickle munchies and wife exchange research from the cuck chair. We'll bring the whipped cream.
Episode Specific:
Watch Smoke and Flesh on Cultpix
Listen to In the Shadows of the Neon Maniacs
Visit The Gap Theatre
Special thanks: Jeffery Petrone, Michael Drumbore, Stephen ScarlataLinks:
Join the community on Patreon
Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate
Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry &Casey
Check out the Something Weird Channel
Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions
Contact: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com -
1 hr 27 min
The Short Ends: More Reviving Bonus
Episode 4
Show notes
The Sin Syndicate return with another of our Short Ends bonus episodes, this time spotlighting the second release in the Reviver mystery box series from Vinegar Syndrome's Film Archive team. But before that, we've got more sexploitation news, including another update on Secret Places, Secret Things (which was discussed in Episode 31: "Love Land"), a correction on Andy Milligan's Compass Rose (sorry Thrower daddy), a shoutout to a certain special feature on the upcoming Bunny Yeager double feature from Kino Cult, as well as a rare "what are we watching?" segment. If you don't want to be spoiled regarding the contents of Reviver 2, you should stop listening around the 50 minute mark. The music cue from Laure will be your warning to bail.
Links:
Subscribe to our Patreon
Instagram with us atThe Sin Syndicate
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Contact us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.comEpisode Specific:
Buy Reviver 2 from Vinegar Syndrome
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Special thanks: Chris PoggialiLinks:
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3 hr 5 min
A Quiet Revolution
Episode 36
Show notes
Before she was Valerie in Daughters of Darkness, actress Danielle Ouimet was Valérie in Valérie, a landmark Quebec sexploitation film from director Denis Héroux and producers André Link and John Dunning of the legendary Montreal-based Cinépix Inc. Valérie is a time capsule to a post-Expo 67 Montreal, a city looking to flaunt its new modernity, and with artists looking to stage their own révolution tranquille through boundary pushing, censor challenging works. One of the earliest and most successful of these works was Valérie, which at the time its release, was highest grossing Canadian film of all time. Joining us to talk about this special Québécois film is Toronto-based arts journalist and Canadian film historian Eric Veillette, as well as fellow countryman and sleaze expert, Alex DiSanto. Besides discussing all things Valérie and late 60s Canadian sexploitation, Eric has also provided us an exclusive interview with the Queen of Cinépix herself, Danielle Ouimet! Join us for this exciting sojourn north of the 49th parallel as we organize "A Quiet Revolution" of our own.
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Special thanks: Eric Veillette, Alex DiSanto, Elephant—Mémoire du cinéma QuébecoisLinks:
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2 hr 47 min
Two Devilish Nymphets
Episode 35
Show notes
After there were two exotic servants (The Nude Vampire), but before there were two backpacking schoolgirls (Girls Without Shame), two shipwrecked ghosts (The Demoniacs), two runaway virgins (The Escapees), and two blind brats (Two Orphan Vampires), there were, according to Harry Novak’s English language trailer, “Two Devilish Nymphets” (also virgins).
For Episode 35 we are joined by the long-suffering Euro Cult expert and author of Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol, Jeremy Richey, to discuss Caged Virgins, a sexploitation import from producer/distributor Novak's Box Office International. It's an odd film in his catalogue. As Casey says, it's probably the "classiest" thing he ever put out, trashy retitling from its original (Requiem for a Vampire) notwithstanding.. As we have documented, this fantastique film with sex and horror elements played American drive-ins under that bold title for years and years, but never truly got the respect it deserved until the recent UHD upgrade through Powerhouse Films, a UK-based film distribution company that been releasing lovingly crafted, thick-boxed restorations of Jean Rollin's work through their Indicator imprint.
Jeremy has been a contributor to several of these releases, and we were able to pick his brain about his long history with Rollin, his evolving thoughts on the sensitive surrealist, as well as discuss his process for putting together audio commentaries which will be heard on disc for as long as we have players to play them, and archivists to archive them (no pressure). We were also able to bond over our mutual hatred for sexless modern filmmaking, and the use of artificial intelligence as a crutch for the uncreative. Tech bros, send all your hate mail to thesinsyndicatepod@gmail.com. I promise your message will be recieved by wide open, human arms, and read in full, not summarized by a robot.
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Special thanks: Jeremy RicheyEpisode Specific:
Visit Nostalgia Kinky
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Pre-order The Grapes of Death with Jeremy's commentaryLinks:
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2 hr 30 min
The Most Popular Gal In Town
Episode 34
Show notes
To know her is to love her. Meet Francy. Or better yet, meet Curt Ledger, a name you may recognize as being attached to a notorious sexploitation film (often called the roughest roughie) called She Came on the Bus. While that film is a “classic” voice-over narration-style piece of artless trash, Ledger was also involved with another picture, a very different, and surprisingly, very good film, called It’s…Francy’s Friday, a coming-of-age dramedy about a not bad lookin’ chick played by the Teenage Tramp herself, Alisha Fontaine.
Joining us to discuss all things Ledger, Fontaine, male co-star Ken Chandler, and everyone’s favorite long-haired business babe, Linda Boyce, is researcher and forgotten film explorer, Shawn D. Langrick. SDL has a personal connection to these two films, especially Francy, but you’ll have to listen to learn more. What I can tell you is that we all agreed this is a special, criminally underseen movie made with real care; a tender-hearted sex film that belies its bonafides as just another quickie Curt Ledger project. So join us for Episode 34, “The Most Popular Gal in Town” as we kick start the ignition, engage in a little backseat action, and discuss all things Ledger, Bus, and Francy. Oh, and there’s also this other side-character named Hal Stone.
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Special thanks: Shawn D. LangrickEpisode Specific:
New Beverly Cinema March calendar
Watch She Came on the Bus on CultpixLinks:
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