The friendly neighborhood video store is a thing of the past. Vinegar Syndrome Denver — on West Colfax Avenue — is trying to change that.
“When you walk in here, you're leaving the world behind and you're transported to a time that doesn't exist anymore,” said Theresa Mercado, manager of Vinegar Syndrome Denver. “We want people to walk in and be reminded of what video stores used to be like in the ‘80s and ‘90s before they all closed.”
Unlike the Blockbusters of yore, this store has personality.
“If it's spooky, it's in here,” Mercado said. “Lots of skulls, lots of skeletons, lots of jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkins, cool horror posters, Halloween toys, lots of creepy mannequins.”
It’s a horror nostalgia fever dream. But it has more to offer than average movies in a kitschy atmosphere.
Vinegar Syndrome is a film restoration and distribution company that restores obscure genre films — mostly from the 1960s through 1980s — and connects them with dedicated audiences worldwide.
“Vinegar Syndrome does distribution for approximately 30 smaller boutique companies,” Mercado said, “specializing in genre films, horror exploitation, martial arts, Grindhouse B movies, all the good stuff.”
The company has four brick-and-mortar stores. The Colorado location has a Denver address, but is actually in Lakewood. Other stores are in Bridgeport, Conn., Toronto, and an upcoming shop in Pittsburgh, Penn.
“We have people that make this a destination location when they come to town,” Mercado said. “We get people that come straight from the airport. They have their suitcase and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this was the first place I came when I got off the plane. I can't wait to buy movies.’”
In addition to Blu-ray, DVD and VHS, the store also carries laser discs, new and used vinyl records, comic books, merch and other collectibles.
“It is a really a special time if you're a movie person,” Mercado said with a laugh. “Because every day there's more and more lost media that is getting a great treatment and a really nice restoration that you can own and collect and watch at home.”
‘“Vinegar syndrome” is literally the physical breakdown of film.’
“Film is an organic element,” Mercado explained, “so if film is stored improperly in an old metal can, it actually starts to break down and release the smell of vinegar... and that process of film breaking down is called vinegar syndrome.”
That’s where the company gets its namesake — and its motivation.
“We find lost old films,” Mercado said. “Find the negative, the camera element, whatever is available out there. And do the scan, the actual restoration work. Clean up the audio, put it on Blu-ray in 4K.”
She said "New York Ninja" is a prime example of what Vinegar Syndrome does. The film was shot in 1984 but was never edited or released.
“New York Ninja was a truly lost film found by one of our team members, Kurtis Spieler, in our film archive located in Connecticut,” Mercado explained. “He found the film canisters, didn't know what it was, but took the time to edit it back together.”
She said there was no script, no audio, no music and no ending. Vinegar Syndrome completed the film for a 2021 release — complete with rollerskate fights, throwing stars, kid ninjas and the story of a soundman’s quest for vengeance.
“He took this film, wrote a script, had music composed, got a lot of the Vinegar Syndrome actors — meaning actors from a lot of our genre films — to do the voices of the characters, and created this amazing film,” Mercado said. “And that is one of our top sellers, our most popular movies.”
'Everyone at Vinegar Syndrome understands why you enjoy watching these sometimes terrible, sometimes horrifying movies.'
Horror fan and VHS collector Andrea Rhea moved to Denver a few years ago.
When she arrived, she was already familiar with Vinegar Syndrome’s work. Then, she realized Vinegar Syndrome had a store – formerly called “The Archive” – in Aurora.
“I was thrilled and go to check it out for the first time,” Rhea said. “It was the first time I had that feeling of digging through a video store like I used to do back in the day.”
It was a feeling she’d longed for since the heyday of video stores. And as a newcomer to Denver, that experience also scratched another itch.
Rhea found a horror-loving community through Vinegar Syndrome.
“That didn't really exist where I was coming from,” Rhea said. “I was far and away the most obsessive person I knew.”
Now, she knows the staff and other regulars at the store, and they often spend hours discussing movies.
“It's nice to be in a space where everyone likes (horror) and can talk about it,” Rhea said. “I think most of the people who come here are probably a bit obsessive – probably nerdy, probably just have a ton of info about this stuff that I don't think the average person necessarily cares about.”
But here, she said, the conversation flows freely. And no one ever questions why she likes the “so bad, it's good kind of thing.”
