I’ve heard a few small DVD companies referred to as the “Low Budget Criterion”. Tempe, among others. That’s nice, but to me there’s only one small company doing horror/exploitation DVDs that truly deserves that kind of comparison. I’m talking about Synapse Films.
The people at Synapse take some of the best and most worthy films and painstakingly restore them to their proper states. It’s an incredibly time-consuming and costly process, and only individuals with a real passion for preserving film will do it. The list of acquisitions that Synapse has released has been impressive. Recently they’ve given us Street Trash, the truly perverse Singapore Sling, Thriller: A Cruel Picture and 42nd Street Forever. The latter is a compilation of classic exploitation trailers. These guys even restore coming attraction ads and I don’t that that ANYONE else does that.
Last Night I watched a Synapse title: Long Weekend. It’s a brilliant Australian movie about a couple with severe marital problems. A vacation seems like a good idea to relax and rebuild their relationship. As expected with a release of this kind, their trip turns into a nightmare. Long Weekend is billed as a nature runs amok story, like The Birds or Frogs, but it’s really much more of a psychological suspense movie. The movie itself is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Synapse did a magnificent job in bringing out the gorgeous Australian scenery. The only film I’ve seen that looks better is the Criterion edition of Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout, and that is only due to the brilliant cinematography by Roeg himself. Synapse’s restoration work rivals anything that Criterion puts out. The main difference is the price tag on the package. Synapse movies are substantially cheaper than Criterion’s.
Recently, a new edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released. Dark Sky Films put it out, but the stunning restoration job was supervised by Synapse’s Don May, Jr. The improvement over any other edition of TCM is immeasurable.
While I was attending The Horrorfind Convention ‘06, I hung out with the Synapse guys for quite some time. These two partners, Don May, Jr. and Jerry Chandler, are certified fanatics in their love of movies. And not only that, they are serious horror fiction readers…my kind of people, in other words. They told me that Best Buy was going to discontinue stocking their DVDs, because there wasn’t a big enough demand for them.
I gotta tell you, that pisses me off. I used to be one of Best Buy’s biggest advocates, but I’ve gradually lost respect for them as the years have gone by. The music that they carry, the films they keep on the shelves are becoming more and more mainstream. Like so many bigger companies, The Bottom Line is all that appears to matter to them. I’ve been going to Best Buy with less frequency and I am getting damned close to stopping altogether. I like their Rewards program, and their prices are damned competitive. But some of their policies don’t sit well with me.
Yesterday I went looking for a DVD and I chose Borders instead. Yes, Borders prices are higher, but they have their own rewards deal going and you can get some pretty sweet coupons on a regular basis. That’s where I got Long Weekend and I had a 25% off coupon.
Then there are the online shops. Amazon carries everything and it’s hard to avoid them altogether. I’ve been doing business with Deep Discount a lot more and their prices are simply unbeatable. Orders take a while to get processed and their products are often on backorder, but if you’re looking to save a buck, go with Deep Discount DVD. And when I’m in the mood to browse in a store to make an impulse purchase, I’m sticking with Borders from now on.
Again, I want to emphasize that Synapse brings the best quality DVD to the horror/exploitation/sleaze lover. If you care about movies, and that they get the proper treatment that they…and we…deserve, please consider buying something from Synapse when you’re choosing what movies to purchase. You can’t buy everything from them, because so many distributors have great films out there for sale. But try to keep in mind the commitment to quality and the care that goes into Synapse releases. They really deserve all of the support that we can give them.
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