The Sin Syndicate

Someone's Favorite Productions

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.

  1. Waiting for the Man

    8 HR AGO

    Waiting for the Man

    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 Scarlata Links: 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

    2h 6m
  2. The Short Ends: More Reviving

    8 APR ·  BONUS

    The Short Ends: More Reviving

    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 at The Sin Syndicate Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry & Casey Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions Contact us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Episode Specific: Buy Reviver 2 from Vinegar Syndrome Watch Oscar's "Winding Through" on Youtube Order Endless Exxxtasy Vol. 1 from Ultra Flesh Archives Order Bunny Yeager's Nude Camera / Nude Las Vegas from Kino Cult Special thanks: Chris Poggiali Links: 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

    1hr 27min
  3. A Quiet Revolution

    1 APR

    A Quiet Revolution

    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. Links: Rent Valérie on iTunes or Vimeo Subscribe to our Patreon Instagram with us at The Sin Syndicate Follow us on Letterboxd: Gentry & Casey Listen to other podcasts on Someone's Favorite Productions Contact us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Visit The Downtown Theatre on Instagram and Substack Special thanks: Eric Veillette, Alex DiSanto, Elephant—Mémoire du cinéma Québecois Links: 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

    3h 5m
  4. Two Devilish Nymphets

    18 MAR

    Two Devilish Nymphets

    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.  Links: Subscribe to our 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 us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Special thanks: Jeremy Richey  Episode Specific: Visit Nostalgia Kinky Purchase Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol Purchase Requiem for a Vampire Pre-order The Grapes of Death with Jeremy's commentary Links: 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

    2h 47m
  5. The Most Popular Gal In Town

    5 MAR

    The Most Popular Gal In Town

    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. Links: Subscribe to our 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 us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Special thanks: Shawn D. Langrick Episode Specific: New Beverly Cinema March calendar Watch She Came on the Bus on Cultpix Links: 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

    2h 30m
  6. More Deadly Than The Male

    26 FEB

    More Deadly Than The Male

    A bold attempt by a smut publisher and an exploitation director at melding fetishism with general release melodrama, Satan in High Heels is a film that aims big with its sophisticated lounge jazz LP and its lesbianic novelization tie-in. But maybe the world wasn’t ready to get fully Bizarre just yet. A few years later, One Shocking Moment would open with a sharp heel to the back of a hand, among other sadomasochistic things, but in the early 60s, exploiteers were still testing the waters of acceptability, and legality. Olga and her House of Shame were still a few years away, so temper your expectations for leather, lingerie and bondage, and you’ll find something just, if not more, interesting—a seriously well-made film featuring Hollywood players, a mononymous pin-up queen, and that lady from Dark Shadows with the crazy eyes and smoker's scream. Behind the camera is the incredibly talented Bernie Hirschenson, who made William Mishkin’s super-smash nudie, Orgy at Lil’s Place, infinitely more watchable than it had any right to be. It all comes together surprisingly well, even if it doesn’t fully capture fet-publisher Leonard Burtman’s original vision (for that, maybe read the book). Taking us through all this and more is our special guest, our pompadoured tour guide, Alex DiSanto, the headmaster of the incredible account paperbackgrindhouse. So sink into your stilletos, grab your stiffest riding crop, and join us for Episode 33: “More Deadly Than The Male.” Links: Subscribe to our 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 us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Special thanks: Alex DiSanto, Richard Pérez Seves Episode Specific: Get tickets to the SECS Fest screening with Jane Garrett Watch the restored trailer Order Scuro 08 Listen to In Film We Trust #148 Links: 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

    2h 32m
  7. The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

    12 FEB

    The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

    Rip the curlers from your hair. Peggy’s gone. She was The Most Beautiful Woman in the World. For this episode we planned to discuss Anything for Money with Joe Sarno biographer Michael Bowen, but just an hour before recording we got the news that Peggy Steffans-Sarno had passed away the night before. She was 84 years old. Peggy was many things: she was a New Yorker; she was a mother; she was a muse to artist Tom Wesselman, who was enraptured by her lips; she was a London trained actress that ran in the same circles as Peter Bogdanovich, Polly Platt and director Adolfas Mekas, who put her in his movie; and last but not least, she was a devoted wife and long-time, long-suffering collaborator to husband Joe Sarno, who she truly believed in as a serious artist with a special talent for peering into the depths of taboo eroticism and female sexuality. But as Michael says, “Peggy didn’t appreciate maudlin behavior,” so we did our little part to soldier on, drifting in and out of a film-specific discussion and a celebration of her life, as a Steffans, and as a Sarno. Hell, you may even learn more about Deep Throat 2 than you ever expected, or wanted to. Rest in piece, Peggy. The work continues. Links: Subscribe to our Patreon Follow Michael on Facebook Read the memoriam on The Hollywood Reporter 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 us: thesinsyndicatepodcast@gmail.com Special thanks: Michael Bowen Links: 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

    3h 11m

About

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.

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