The Vineyard | |
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DVD cover
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Directed by | |
Produced by | Harry Mok |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Starring |
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Production
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Northstar
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Distributed by | New World Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Vineyard is a 1989 horror film written by James Marlowe and Douglas Kondo and directed by James Hong and William "Bill" Rice. It stars James Hong, Michael Wong, Sherri Ball and Playboy Playmate Karen Witter.
Winemaker Dr. Elson Po fears that he is getting too old, so he uses the blood of his prisoners to make his world-famous wine. Asking his god for eternal life, he drinks his wine and becomes young again. A group of young actors come to his mansion over one week to audition for his purported "wine-making film". The seven guests soon find out the secret of his wine and must escape.
The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by New World Pictures in 1989. The film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001 and Image Entertainment in 2011.Arrow Films released it on UK DVD in 2013.
Paul Risker of Starburst rated it 6/10 stars and wrote, "So long as you don't expect too much from it, The Vineyard is good fun, a nonsensical romp on an isolated island with plenty of cult moments to satisfy certain cravings."Food & Wine called it "the greatest wine-centric B horror film".
Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle wrote that the film's East Asian mythology helps to distinguish it, but it "falls into the usual late-'80s horror ruts, preferring isolated shocks to any gradual build-up of mood".