Oddball indie film restorers Vinegar Syndrome opening South Side storefront

Vinegar Syndrome, a Bridgeport, Connecticut-based film restoration and distribution company that has worked with the likes of The Museum of Modern Art, The Academy Film Archive and The Library of Congress, has installed a marquee and sign at 1410 E. Carson St., the former location of Jester’s Court Tattoo.

The company has “Pittsburgh, PA - opening soon!” listed among its three other brick-and-mortar locations on its website with a link to a photo of the storefront, posted to the Vinegar Syndrome Pittsburgh Instagram page on July 25.

Vinegar Syndrome has digitally restored and preserved more than 500 feature films, primarily produced between the 1960s and 1980s, since its founding in 2012 by Ryan Emerson and Joe Rubin.

A worker at the South Side location said that a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned and that three people will be employed at the store for the time being, but declined further comment. The company did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“It really shows confidence in — or at least what I’m hoping — in our neighborhood’s character and what the potential can be,” said Susan Anderson, East Carson Street Business District Manager. “It was like, ‘oh my gosh, we are the coolest part of Pittsburgh now, you picked us to put your store in.’ ”

Vinegar Syndrome takes its name from the smell of acetate film as it degrades over time. For the most part, it focuses on cult and genre films, but has also expanded into other media including comics, music, toys and games, and original film production.

“Our goal in every restoration we do is to try and bring each film back to its originally intended theatrical exhibition quality, and to make the vast treasures in our archives available to fans and film lovers of all generations,” the website says.

Travis Patterson, host and co-creator of the Pittsburgh cinema collective Neo Trash Video, said “he was cheering hardcore” when he first heard rumors that the company might bring a brick-and-mortar store to the city, and that it would “put Pittsburgh on the map” with the film buff community.

Patterson said Vinegar Syndrome is a “staple” among movie buffs because of the depth of their catalog and their masterful restoration, reboxing and remastering processes.

Gene Caruso, marketing and advertising director of the Vandergrift-based horror film fest Drive-In Super Monster-Rama, said Vinegar Syndrome’s film catalog represents an era of movies that wouldn’t be accessible otherwise.

“These are movies from our childhood that were not available in any physical media form, and if they did, they were not in good condition … so being able to collect these movies now in a pristine format, remastered, is a huge deal,” said Caruso, who has worked with the show’s creator George Reis for 19 years. 

Gen Z movie fans are beginning to collect physical media alongside their Millennial and Gen X counterparts. Physical media accounted for 8% of the U.S. entertainment market, or $2.8 billion, in 2021, the most recent figure available from the Motion Picture Association of America.

In June, Vinegar Syndrome sold DVDs at the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival at Mr. Smalls in Millvale. The following month, the distributor hosted a grand re-opening at its Denver location, where it hosts in-store meet-and-greets and partners on horror film screenings. The company also operates another storefront location and subsidiary based in Toronto.

This month, they released four restored films – Mac and Me, The Rage: Carrie 2, The Card Player and Yongary, Monster from the Deep on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, each with special features, including brand-new interviews with cast and crew members. They also announced pre-orders for restored versions of Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., Playroom, Castle of Evil and many others.

“I’ve been waiting for them to remaster ‘Castle of Evil’ for decades,” Caruso said. “Vinegar Syndrome is a huge deal.”

Caruso, who also works the box office for Living Dead Weekend, a convention celebrating the films of George Romero, says the horror movie buff community is strong in Pittsburgh given that movies like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Silence of the Lambs and others have been filmed here, and that Vinegar Syndrome’s move to town will only boost the city’s cachet.

“When we do the Living Dead weekend, we have it at the Monroeville Mall, we have people coming in from England, from Japan, from Germany, from Australia … Pittsburgh is a horror destination for fans around the world.”

Patterson, who remembers discovering movies at his parents’ video store when he was young, said he’s looking forward to Pittsburghers today having that kind of experience at the Vinegar Syndrome store.

“They couldn’t have chosen a better city,” Patterson said. “For the cinephiles who live here, the excitement is overwhelming, and brick-and-mortar makes it even better. I’d rather go down and have a person, in-person, give me the info on these films, their knowledge, and share that interaction with another human being.”

Anderson said a national physical media retailer choosing the neighborhood feels like “starting to turn a corner” after the struggles following the COVID-19 pandemic. She hopes the company’s move could encourage other niche businesses to locate there to complement other arts and culture organizations and businesses on the South Side, such as City Theatre, and the newly re-opened Club Cafe.

“We have this perception that we’re just a bar district, but it’s not just a bar district. Everybody is so focused on these eight hours on the weekend … but there’s so much more to the South Side,” Anderson said. “We are creating a place where these types of shops and stores can survive, and thrive for that matter.”