Two strange films by George A. Romero
This DVD features the second and third films by the "horror director" George A. Romero. Nevertheless, none of each is really horror oriented. There's Always Vanilla is a romantic drama depicting the 70's atmosphere, whereas Season of the Witch is a housewife portrait. Both of them are difficult to watch, but necessary for die hard Romero fans. The quality of the image and the sound is good on There's Always Vanilla, whereas on Season of the Witch, it's not clean at all. By the way, although the title of the movie is Season of the Witch, it seems to be the Hungry Wives cut (the French DVD release contains more witchcraft scenes and less dialogue). The bonus are interesting, the documentary is cool, and the interview of the director is out of the ordinary.
As a conclusion, this DVD is destined to Romero fans only !

Who cut the mustard?
Season of the Witch (1973) -Side A-
Also known as "Jack's Wife" and "Hungry Wives".
Forget this low-budget film which really makes no sense at all. Notable only for Jan White and Ray Laine.
Will Debra Messing or Marilu Henner do a remake?
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There's Always Vanilla (1971) -Side B-
This film stars Raymond Laine and Judith Ridley (Streiner) {Night of the Living Dead 1968}. No, this film is not The Red Balloon.
Chris is tired of playing his music for other music groups so he decides to head for Pittsburgh, after 3 years away, to see his father. At the PAAC rail station, he meets Gwen, a model. He helps her get the gig for a tv commercial. A romance begins. Chris is really a good guy with good nature, patience and a sense of humor. Gwen has started to become a flake. Will this romance blossom or will she fizzle out?
Spoiler: This film is probably the most realistic love story of its time, but the ending left me flat.
The film is enjoyable due to the natural acting talents of Ray Laine. By today's standards, he would be a cross between Lou Rossi, George Clooney and Russel Crowe.
Ray Laine went on to become a schoolteacher. He did do several more film appearances. Ray Laine died in 2000 from cancer.
Also in the cast: Russel Streiner (Night of the Living Dead 1968), Joe Rosso and Richard Ricci.

Side A: A 2005 interview with Jan White. Another documentary, "The Directors: The Films of George A. Romero (58 min.) with Ed Harris, Hal Halbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Stanley Tucci.
Side B: A 2005 interview with George A. Romero as he discusses both films. Also, theatrical trailer and Romero biography, filmography.

Regarding there's always vanilla
I haven't seen Season of the Witch or this DVD version of There's always Vanilla. I do have a VHS of TAV and it's one of my favorite movies. It's hard to say why I like it but it is a very interesting experience. No other movie I've seen sums up the late 60s early 70s like TAV. The bad picture quality really adds to the feeling of the times and its like opening up a time capsule. The story line is a very real example of what the sexual revolution did to people's relationships. Free sex, abortions, illegitimate children, it's all here. I actually empathize with the characters. The main character seems unable to decide what he wants to do with his life and is afraid to commit to anything. I feel sorry for our female lead who sort of gets used by the guy. Ultimately this is a story that is very common both yesterday and today, but the existentialist philosophy of the 60s/70s adds to the drama.
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Ok I have seen Season of the witch now. Some parts were cool but I got bored towards the end. Worth watching though for the B movie/Romero fan.

Anchor Bay Botch Job
This is simply a statement on the dvd itself and not on the film/films included.Anchor Bay as of recently has been turning out garbage transphers and doing bothched jobs as far as presentation goes.The box states Anamorphic Widescreen and this is clearly hard matted.It is getting hard in todays age to support a company that will not give film its proper respect.Wait till a better DVD surfaces or buy at your own risk.

One of my Favorites
This movie has been a favorite of mine for many many years. Origionaly released under the title of "Jacks Wife" this movie continues to be great after all this time. This movie, though slow to get to the topic, is based on traditional witchcraft (NOT WICCA) but witchcraft as presented in Paul Huson's 70's Book, Mastering Witchcraft. Each ritual in this bok is taken almost word for word from Mastering Witchcraft. I would highly reccomend this movie for those people who are interested in a true classic and not just some modern wicca based nonsense full of special effects and silly fluffy bunny wannabes. If your a Romero fan this is for you.