Chris Colohan immediately knew that it was Guillermo del Toro who stepped into the Roncesvalles film store where he was working on Sunday.

“We’re all nerds for all of this stuff, so it was kind of like one of your heroes walking in, you know?”

The store, Vinegar Syndrome, has only been in the city for about five months. But with locations in Connecticut and Colorado already, the brand has become well-known among film enthusiasts for preserving film genres primarily from the 1960s and 1980s — such as cult, grindhouse, horror and more — often with bonus features.

It’s no big surprise that the renowned Mexican filmmaker behind “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “The Shape of Water,” and several other fantasy and horror films made a stop there while in town for the production of his upcoming Netflix film "Frankenstein" (which will star Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and horror darling Mia Goth).

He shared a selfie in the store on social media on Sunday, shouting out the address at 399 Roncesvalles Avenue.

"Great shop!! Did some damage!" he tweeted.

Del Toro was “really personable,” Colohan said, and the two immediately began talking "a mile a minute" about all of their favourite things — including sci-fi and horror author H.P. Lovecraft, whose influence Colohan sees throughout del Toro’s work — and the horror genre more broadly.

(It's actually the second time they talked about Lovecraft, Colohan said; the first time was 10 years ago, while Colohan was working as night security on a film set at Pearson airport.)

Del Toro was curious about other customers' finds, employee says

In the store, the Mexican director was keen on finding something new, and asked customers what they were looking at and shopping for, Colohan said.

“He’s so curious, he’s just truly a lover of all of it,” Colohan added. “He wanted a lot of sets with all the good extras.”

In the end, the enthusiastic del Toro bought so many movies, another employee helped him carry a boxful to car. Among his purchases was a copy of the 1974 sci-fi movie "Phase IV" and a box set of Italian Giallo horror films, Colohan said. He also left his signature on a copy of "Cronos," a 1992 film he wrote and directed.

"I think the people that it's worth having as heroes are people that … are nerdy for the whole thing themselves," he said.

Andy Williams, the co-owner and operator of the Roncesvalles shop, said this was the second time del Toro came by — the first was about a month and a half ago. Unfortunately for him, Williams missed the director both times. But the owner and his full-time employee, Colohan, are sure that del Toro will be back.

“It's kind of a treat that somebody comes in that we're a fan of and just loves the store … because we put a lot of work into the shop,” Williams said.

Vinegar Syndrome champions physical media

Lined with Blu-Rays and DVDs, Vinegar Syndrome champions physical media over online watching. The parent company, a film restoration and distribution business, aims to “race against time.” Its namesake actually refers to motion picture film deteriorating over time and creating a distinct sour smell, like vinegar.

Williams previously spoke with the Star about why, in an era of streaming services, physical media continues to be special.

“There’s nothing wrong with streaming. It’s very instant gratification, and it gives you many options,” he said. “But owning a piece of physical media is a big thing still.”

Beyond its physicality, hard copy is sure to remain unchanged, he explained.

“If you own a physical copy, people can’t take that away from you,” Williams said. “These days, it’s common to look for something online, and all of a sudden, it’s gone. Or it’s been cut because something in it has been deemed inappropriate. For anybody who loves any kind of art, if you’re getting something that hasn’t been tampered with, that’s important.”

Notice: due to low bitrate & image quality concerns regarding fitting both feature films on a single UHD100 disc, we have decided to upgrade this set to two UHD66 discs (one film per disc). Which means this is now a 4-disc set (2x UHD66 and 2x BD50).