Synapse Films

[beamish14]

The blackboard vortex sequence in Hello Mary Lou might be my single favorite kill in a horror film. Astoundingly creative

[Mr Sausage]

The blackboard vortex sequence in Hello Mary Lou might be my single favorite kill in a horror film. Astoundingly creative

It nicely one-ups the largely unadventurous Nightmare on Elm Street with that bit.

[dwk]

I guess Don mentioned on a podcast that they are doing UHDs of Andy Sedaris' movies. Currently they are looking for materials for Malibu Express.

He also said that UHDs of Deadly Spawn, Frankenhooker, and Street Trash are nearly ready. (Tag and Intruder are also in the works.)

[dwk]

Don May was on the Dead Pit youtube show last night and, I think, the only new things he said they are doing Kindred on UHD, so if you haven't picked that Blu-ray up, you should wait. And they were going to to Dawn of the Dead, they had a contract all worked out and Rubenstein wanted to change some terms on the day the contract was to be signed and Synapse decided to walk away. (No one brought up Martin.) here is a good recap of the upcoming titles he mentioned

[beamish14]

Don May was on the Dead Pit youtube show last night and, I think, the only new things he said they are doing Kindred on UHD, so if you haven't picked that Blu-ray up, you should wait. And they were going to to Dawn of the Dead, they had a contract all worked out and Rubenstein wanted to change some terms on the day the contract was to be signed and Synapse decided to walk away. (No one brought up Martin.) here is a good recap of the upcoming titles he mentioned

Fingers crossed for a stacked Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II release

It’s crazy that the original cut of Martin is still in existence but we cannot view it

[colinr0380]

What are the "recent issues that have popped up" regarding Lemora?

[dwk]

The good thing is that the original cut of Martin is in the University of Pittsburgh's George A Romero collection, so it isn't just rotting away on some private collector's shelf. (Rumor is that Greg Nicotero bought it at the auction and donated it.) Hopefully another release happens and it is included.

As for Lemora, no one has publicly said what the issues are.

[beamish14]

The good thing is that the original cut of Martin is in the University of Pittsburgh's George A Romero collection, so it isn't just rotting away on some private collector's shelf. (Rumor is that Greg Nicotero bought it at the auction and donated it.) Hopefully another release happens and it is included.

As for Lemora, no one has publicly said what the issues are.

I thought it might have been Rubinstein that bought it. I’m glad it’s in an archive and presumably been digitized for researchers at least

[dwk]

I forgot to mention, Don brought up The Devils and said he'd like to do that, but obviously WB isn't letting that happen. He said his contact at WB told him that Criterion asked for it a couple of years ago, so if it ever happens, they'll offer it to them first.

[MichaelB]

Similarly, the BFI will almost certainly get first dibs on a UK Blu-ray/4K UHD edition - and they'd deserve it, because a full 13 years on theirs is still the only halfway decent edition of the film, albeit obviously not in HD.

[dwk]

The Deadly Spawn UHD is finished and they are selling it at conventions. It is supposed to go up for sale on their website next week.

[dwk]

The Deadly Spawn details

The movie has been fully remastered in 4K from the original 16mm camera negative, and is presented in both 1.66:1 and 1.37:1 aspect ratios with hours of extras on a 2160p 4K UHD disc and a 1080p Blu-ray. This limited-edition set (5,000 units) includes the following contents:

Rigid slipcase with new artwork from Wes Benscoter
56-page perfect-bound book with vintage articles from Fangoria magazine, a new essay by author/film critic Michael Gingold, excerpts from producer Ted A. Bohus’ book on the making of the film and a scrapbook of rare photographs
Six double-sided collector cards
Double-sided fold-out poster

For the first time ever, the audio options feature the original producer’s mix, as well as the 21st Century Film Corporation theatrical mix in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio
Three audio commentaries featuring the producer, director, cast and crew
Face Off: Interview with Elizabeth Marner-Brooks, a.k.a. Elissa Neil
Return to the Spawning Ground: a new featurette featuring a modern-day tour of the house location
A Visit with John Dods and the Deadly Spawn: vintage featurette
THE DEADLY SPAWN comic prequel sampler
Various TV news clips featuring promotion and interviews for the film
TAKE ONE: vintage public access show segment featuring an interview with editor Marc Harwood
Original audition tapes
Behind-the-scenes footage
Alternate opening credits sequence
Still gallery
TV spot and theatrical trailer

The set will be available on Friday at Synapse’s website, along with DiabolikDVD and OrbitDVD. A limited number of copies will also be available for purchase from Vinegar Syndrome’s The Archive store in Bridgeport, CT, but will not be stocked at any major chain store or e-tailer. Below you can see the front and back of the slipcover and the O-card, and the two sides of the reversible case art.

[domino harvey]

Discussion of the cost of buying a single film moved here

[dwk]

Synapse sent a newsletter out with an announcement for Tag: The Assassination Game Blu-ray(pre-order.)

Cover art for some upcoming releases:
Frankenhooket UHD
Prom Night UHD
Angel of HEAT UHD (with Red Shirt Pictures)
Hearts of Darkness: The Making of the Final Friday Blu-ray (with Red Shirt Pictures)

and

ALSO COMING IN 2026 FROM SYNAPSE FILMS

INTRUDER 4K (New Dolby Vision master from the original negative with exclusive new special features)

STREET TRASH 4K (New Dolby Vision master supervised by the Director of Photography)

HUNTER'S BLOOD 4K (In conjunction with Red Shirt Pictures - New Dolby Vision master)

FRIGHT NIGHT 2 4K (In conjunction with Red Shirt Pictures - New Dolby Vision master supervised by the Director of Photography

[dwk]

Frankenhooker Limited Edition UHD/Blu-ray is now available to pre-order at Synapse Films

[dwk]

I am loathed to share news on April 1st, but Diabolik DVD supposedly confirmed this as true: Synapse is releasing Near Dark on UHD.. I don't know, reading the Rue Morgue story and it sure feels fake. I hate April 1st.

[nicolas]

Diabolik just followed up:

In all sincerity I have known about this for a while so unless it was a really elaborate joke that they wanted me to confirm was real online, it is true

[domino harvey]

That’s quite a coup for Synapse

[nicolas]

Christian Muth at the other forum:

While the announcement post is written in a tongue-and-cheek way given today's date, Synapse absolutely is restoring NEAR DARK in 4K from the original camera negative. And yes, the 35mm Ultra Stereo magnetic sound masters were indeed found stored in a salt mine, and Bigelow was asked re: film grain and that was her answer. A nice little thing that was discovered in scanning the negative- fades/dissolves were done A/B roll, so no optical degradation for those (although the film does have a couple actual optical "wipe" transitions).

The wording of the announcement is tongue & cheek due to today's date, but it's really happening. Synapse has had NEAR DARK for months and kept the lid on it. Since they've been reaching out to people re: interviews for new supplements, they figured the news would soon leak, so they chose to finally just announce it on today's date themselves and have some fun, poking fun at themselves in the announcement.

[Finch]

That's very exciting news. Does that mean Studio Canal no longer have it or just for the UK?

[nicolas]

That's very exciting news. Does that mean Studio Canal no longer have it or just for the UK?

Another forum member heard directly from SC that they lost the rights. They reverted to the producer and presumably that’s how Synapse managed to get the license.

[hearthesilence]

Great news. MoMA just screened a 35mm print from their own vaults, which was a great reminder of how much better this film could look than what's been available on the home video front.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Near Dark via the Anchor Bay release was the first dvd I ever bought so this is such terrific news.

[Finch]

Don May on Reddit about the Near Dark OCN:

Since I was the one who found the original negative, I can honestly tell you it had been missing for decades. Even the old Anchor Bay DVD was not transferred from the camera negative (it was from DEG's Interpositive element). So to say "It’s always funny when a 'recently discovered camera negative' just happens to be found at a milestone anniversary" is just not always true because unless the film is actually being restored for a reason... in this case, the 40th anniversary... most people wouldn't go searching for the materials unless they needed to use it for something like that, and it was missing. I didn't want to use the 35mm IP if I didn't have to, so I just started calling around and found it. The owners had no idea where it was because, sadly, the original producers passed away and their storage records didn't have its location listed anywhere.

The lab where it had been stored was closed down, and the assets were moved to another smaller, less well known, vault without the knowledge of the material owners. No one knew to look there because it was never in the equation of where most of the NEAR DARK materials had been stored since 1987 (Bonded Film Archives). I only discovered it was sitting there because an old employee of a production facility I work at started working at that vault. Even materials that Vinegar Syndrome had been looking for, for years, were sitting in there, too, and I'm glad I could help them at least get the ball rolling to take possession of their materials.

It's not a marketing gimmick. Even IF the original negative wasn't "recently found" (it was), it would STILL be the first time in its 40-year home video history that a scan was made from the negative.

[beamish14]

When Bigelow had a major retrospective at the MOMA, concept art paintings she made for Near Dark were on display. I really hope they include them in a booklet and her Columbia shorts