NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray (July 2023): Vinegar Syndrome have transferred three 70's Spanish produced horror films entitled Villages of the Damned to two dual-layered Blu-rays. They are cited as being "sourced from new 4K restorations from their original negatives". The films are El bosque del lobo aka The Forest of the Wolf from 1970, Beatriz (1976) and Las flores del vicio aka The Sky is Falling released in 1975. They all looked quite good with speckles present at times but mostly notable for bright colors and occasional depth. The Sky is Falling may be a notch below the other two and while The Forest of the Wolf starts rather weakly the 1080P quickly improves. Vinegar Syndrome have proven to do solid transfers always supportive the film's textures.

NOTE: We have added 132 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Vinegar Syndrome use DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel tracks (all 24-bit) in the original Spanish for The Forest of the Wolf (1970) and Beatriz (1976) and English language for The Sky is Falling. I'd say audio, generally, was efficient if less remarkable - more to do with the films than the adept transfers. The effective score for The Forest of the Wolf was by Antonio Pérez Olea (A Candle for the Devil, The Blood Spattered Bride, The Dead, the Devil and the Flesh, Violent Blood Bath.) The score for was credited to Fermín Gurbindó (one of only three film credits.) For The Sky is Falling the score was by José Nieto (different from the actor of the same name in Paul Naschy's Frankenstein's Bloody Terror from1968 and The Devil's Kiss.) In fact, he is credited here as 'Pepe Nieto'. This is one of the early film credits for the Spanish composer, orchestrator, songwriter, conductor and drummer. Not that I rate them but it did have some pleasing components with Marian Montgomery's Are You Washed In The Blood? Overall, the audio had no distracting dropouts or flaws. Vinegar Syndrome offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-rays.

Vinegar Syndrome offer video supplements on the second Blu-ray. "Lobishome" is a 38-minute interview with El bosque del lobo director Pedro Olea, by Diego Lopez-Fernandez. There is a 10-minute introduction to El bosque del lobo with film historians Angel Sala, Carlos Benitez and Xavi-Sanchez-Pons as well as lengthier hour interviews with Ivonne Sentis, actress in Las flores del vicio (as 'Virginia') as well as with José Lifante, actor in Beatriz playing 'Rata'. The Blu-ray package has a 40-page perfect bound book with essays by Erica Schultz and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas as well as reversible sleeve artwork.

'The Forest of the Wolf' aka 'The Ancines Woods' was co-written, produced, and directed by Pedro Olea and deals with Lycanthropy; the unusual belief a person might have transformed into an animal - often a werewolf. The director's most notable film would be 1984's Akelarre ("Witches' Sabbath") that was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. It's a shade slowly paced but reaches an interesting conclusion. Beatriz is directed by Gonzalo Suárez and stars Sandra Mozarowsky and Nadiuska (Spanish Fly) - of the 'translucent eyes' - a Polish / Russian model who became a cult celebrity in Spain during the 1970s. Sadly, later in life, she was committed to a psychiatric ward with schizophrenia. I liked this but it took a brutal turn in the final 1/3rd. The Sky Is Falling, aka The Flowers of Vice or as released in the United States Bloodbath - is cited as a 'surrealist thriller' and I would agree with the 'surrealist' part as I found it very confusing and not, in my definition, as belonging to the 'horror' genre. It was directed by Silvio Narizzano (Hammer Studio's Frantic) and is notable for having Dennis Hopper - as a drug-addict poet - and Carroll Baker - as an washed-up alcoholic actress (both who had appeared together in George Stevens' 1956 Giant.) There are other supporting role names, ex. Richard Todd, Faith Brook, likewise playing expatriates in a small Spanish village. There are a few 'religious cult'-motivated murders. The Sky Is Falling has harsh imagery with animal cruelty and a young boy trampled. It certainly would have been better in Buñuel's hands. Frankly, I didn't like it very much. It is definitely the oddball of this Villages of the Damned package. I did enjoy the Gothic-styled 'period' atmosphere of the first two films. It is another 'helluva package' from Vinegar Syndrome with three rare, cult films sharing a themes, expertly transferred to Blu-ray and with revealing extras and a book. Even better news is that is is offered at a very reasonable price on Amazon (40% OFF) at the writing of this review. Recommended to the right crowd.

Gary Tooze