Vinegar Syndrome Readies 'Netflix of Porn' for 2014 Launch

CYBERSPACE—Film preservationist Joe Rubin, who runs Vinegar Syndrome—"an exploitation film focused distribution company founded by genre-film lovers for genre-film lovers"—is busy preparing for the launch of Skinaflix.com, which he calls the next "Netflix for sex films." The new project is a natural evolution for the 24-year-old aficionado of classic porn. According to Minneapolis City Pages, "At Vinegar Syndrome, a separate DVD/Blu-Ray–centric home video company, Rubin restores and sells vintage grindhouse titles like Vampire Hookers, The Phantom Gunslinger, and The Vixens of Kung Fu. A serious film buff, Rubin knows the work of smut kings like Russ Meyer and Wakefield Poole front-to-back." An obvious labor of love, Skinaflix.com is also an attempt to further monetize the work being done at Vinegar Syndrome. "This is a tough market for home video right now," he told City Pages. "We're not relying on DVD/Blu as a long-term thing. That's also why we're developing our own streaming site, specifically for X-rated—soft and hard—feature films produced between the '60s, and '80s. It's called Skinaflix. Think of it as Netflix for sex films, but curated for cinephiles. We're going to have essays about filmmakers and actors, as well as months themed around directors, and it's all gonna be in high definition. We're also looking into getting involved with the upcoming 4K [video] market." But the streaming platform will also integrate with old school distribution, added Rubin. "We're working with Distribipix on [Skinaflix], by the way,' he told the alt. "We have so many films in our respective archives that we'd never be able to release them all on home video. So instead of just letting them sit on [our] shelves, we wanted to give people a chance to see them. Ultimately, that's what being in this business is about." The planned launch for Skinaflix.com is sometime in 2014. Currently, a signup page inhabits the URL, along with a message layered over a young woman adorned with money asleep on a bed in an otherwise empty room that reads, "Launching in 2014, Skinaflix will stream the finest and rarest classic erotica in beautiful 1080p." Visit Vinegar Syndrome here.