Directed By:
Studio: Synapse Films

ANIMAL SACRIFICE! FORBIDDEN RITUALS! SHOCKING FOOTAGE CAPTURED WITH HIDDEN CAMERAS!

Fascinated by forbidden rituals and ceremonies, world explorer Arthur Davis takes a crew with hidden cameras to Africa and South America to secretly record the beauty and horror of the law of the jungle.  BRUTES AND SAVAGES is the filmed document of his death-defying adventures. Shocking, brutal and repulsive, this film mixes bizarre authentic footage with incredibly exploitive (and often hilarious) re-enactments of his findings. Animal sacrifices, bizarre tribal ceremonies, mating rituals and even brain surgery‚ it's all here!

Directed By: Masayoshi Nemoto 
Studio: Synapse Films

Filmed entirely in Japan, BUDO: THE ART OF KILLING is a highly acclaimed docu-drama and a favorite of martial arts practitioners and fans alike. Highlighting the various techniques of “Budo” (Karate, Judo, Aikido, etc.), this action-packed film is a visual feast exploring the spiritual and historical traditions, training and techniques of this specialized form of martial arts.

Synapse is proud to present this critically acclaimed film in a newly re-mastered version transferred from original vault materials.  

Directed By: Sergio Corbucci, Antonio Margheriti
Studio: Synapse Films

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD CHANGE PLACES IN THIS ORGY OF TERROR!

When American author Edgar Allan Poe visits London, he is approached by British journalist Alan Foster, who becomes the target of a peculiar wager. Not believing Poe's assertion that all of his macabre stories have been based on actual experience, Foster accepts a bet from Poe and his friend Sir Thomas Blackwood that he cannot spend an entire night in the Blackwood's haunted castle. Once in the abandoned castle, Foster discovers he is not alone. He is approached by two beautiful women, a handsome man and a doctor of metaphysics who explains they are lost souls... damned to replay the stories of their demises on the anniversary of their deaths!

Directed By: Lawrence Gordon Clark, Bob Mahoney, Rob Walker
Starring: Nigel Havers, Martin Clunes, Sophie Ward, Kevin McNally
Studio: Synapse Films
Release Date: December 11, 2012

The television series Chiller was a five episode horror anthology that aired in the UK in 1995.  Presented here for the first time in the U.S., these supernatural shockers feature malevolent spirits, a brutal serial killer and a haunted house set in contemporary England.  Episodes include PROPHECY, TOBY, HERE COMES THE MIRROR MAN, THE MAN WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS and NUMBER SIX.

Directed By: Lewis Jackson
Studio: Synapse Films

Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggert) is obsessed with Christmas! In fact he wants to "be" the authentic Santa Claus, with a real suit, sleigh and reindeer. Ever since he learned the "truth" about Santa, he's tried to make Christmas a reality. Growing up a toy maker, Harry is met with naysayers and critics who mock him for his yuletide beliefs... but he wants people to get the presents they deserve, even if that means giving the gift of murder!

Directed By: Robert Masciantonio
Studio: Synapse Films

A quiet town in New Jersey possesses a dark secret. Viktoria has given her life and soul to the ways of the vampire. Now, after almost a decade of stealing blood from hospitals and the occasional kill, Viktoria is more pessimistic than ever.

Seth, a mysterious man in black, comes to town and falls for her, only to find himself caught in a power struggle between her friends and another vampire clan led by her malevolent ex-boyfriend, Charles. As Charles' vampire gang feeds upon the townspeople, Seth plots his own kind of revenge.

Directed By: Rene Cardona, Jr.
Studio: Synapse Films

A long lost cult-makes its anamorphic widescreen DVD debut from Synapse Films! An airplane goes down in the ocean during a storm and the few survivors find refuge on a small tour boat. Swept out to sea, these people slowly starve to death in the hot sun with barely any food or clean water. With no place to turn, the boat survivors resort to cannibalism to stay alive‚ that is‚ until the rescue planes come to pick them up and the man eating sharks decide it‚ s time to eat, too! This gory, exploitation film was directed by Rene Cardona, Jr. (TINTORERA, GUYANA: CULT OF THE DAMNED) and is presented in a beautiful new anamorphic widescreen transfer from original vault materials.

Directed By: Simon Wincer 
Studio: Synapse Films

A modern-day politician is faced with an incomprehensible power in this startling, award-winning supernatural thriller. Senator Rast holds a powerful government position, but he’s no match to the extraordinary power of the enigmatic stranger who mysteriously comes to “visit” him. Possessing uncanny magical prowess and psychic abilities, the seemingly benevolent visitor quickly gains hold of the Senator and his family.

Directed By: Douglas McKeown
Studio: Synapse Films

"One of the best creature features of the 80s" - The Hot Spot Online

A group of campers stumble upon the remnants of a meteorite and discover some fanged, worm-like creatures have hitched a ride to Earth. After the "camper" appetizer, the alien spawn take refuge in the basement of an isolated house and prepare for the main course! With the people in the house now becoming the entrees of an intergalactic monster buffet, a group of teenagers, led by a small boy, decide to take this matter into their own hands‚ to stop the aliens from reproducing and rid the world of THE DEADLY SPAWN once and for all!

Directed By: Christopher Rowley
Starring: Nigel Davenport, Ken Gampu
Release Date: November 9, 2010
Studio: Synapse Films

Master criminals meet violent death in Johannesburg, South Africa, a city wrought with organized crime. Steve Chaka (Ken Gampu), an ambitious news reporter, learns that these deaths are from the hands of an all-black vigilante group known only as War on Crime. Teaming up with Lt. Ben Deel (Nigel Davenport, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) of the local police department, Chaka investigates anonymous tips regarding future hits and ends up fighting for his life to uncover the truth about the vigilante killings! DEATH OF A SNOWMAN (1978) is an action-filled South African grindhouse gem. Exploitation fans will enjoy the outrageous violence, erratic editing, funky disco soundtrack and jaw dropping dubbing. Also known as SOUL PATROL and BLACK TRASH.

Directed By: Hidehiro Ito
Starring: Ryoko Watanabe, Serina Nishikawa, Mizuho Nakagawa
Studio: Synapse Films & Impulse Pictures
Release Date: April 10, 2012

From the Nikkatsu Erotic Films Collection!

The sexy Ryôko Watanabe stars as Ami, a jaded housewife who pitches herself, body and soul, into the Tokyo decadence of the decade in an attempt to pep up her marriage.  She secretly joins the elite “Madame Machiko Society Club” to experiment with discrete sex games and the thrill of making love to anonymous men.  The sexual perversion and sick depravity she is subjected to, by her clients, is much more than she bargained for.  Bondage, beads and whips are only the beginning!  Can she escape this secret life she has chosen, or will it destroy her forever?

From Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest film studio celebrating their 100^th anniversary, DEBAUCHERY is part of a continuing series of classic Japanese sexploitation films designed to shock and titilate fans of erotic cinema.  

Directed By: Roy Frumkes
Starring: George A. Romero, Tom Savini, Roy Frumkes
Studio: Synapse Films
Release Date: November 13, 2012

George A. Romero, director of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, is one of the horror genre’s most celebrated filmmakers.  Roy Frumkes’ amazing 1978 documentary DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD was an intimate look at Romero’s creative process, with an outstanding collection of interviews, effects demonstrations and behind-the-scenes footage from the classic horror film, DAWN OF THE DEAD. 

Directed By: John Gallagher
Studio: Synapse Films

“If you like THE SOPRANOS, you' ll love THE DELI”  - The Phantom of the Movies

From director John Gallagher, THE DELI is an enchanting slice-of-life comedy about a hard luck gambler who gets in over his head when he starts putting his store‚ and his profits on the line. Mike Starr (DUMB AND DUMBER, GOODFELLAS) plays Johnny Amico, a delicatessen owner who plays the same numbers in the lottery every week for his mother. The one week he doesn’t play, his mother’s numbers come up and he hatches a madcap plan to raise the prize money. With one week to make good on his debts, Johnny rides a comic rollercoaster as he desperately tries to save his deli while battling a crazy bunch of bookies, gangsters and neighborhood nuts!

Directed By: Roy Frumkes
Studio: Synapse Films

"A fascinating dissection of a classic shocker. A documentary with real guts!” - Michael Gingold, FANGORIA Magazine

This amazing documentary, now available for the first time on DVD, highlights the films of the great horror director, George A. Romero. An intimate look at Romero’s creative process, this film contains an outstanding collection of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage on the set of DAWN OF THE DEAD. Also included are amazing demonstrations at how some of the over-the-top special effects were created by Make-Up Effects Artist, Tom Savini.

Directed By: Jefrrey Obrow, Stephen Carpenter
Starring: Daphne Zuniga, Laurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs
Studio: Synapse Films
Release Date: April 26, 2011

On the eve of Christmas vacation, a college dormitory stands condemned... the dark halls now vacant and unsafe. Student Joanne Murray and her close friends volunteer to help close down the building, unaware a psychopathic lunatic is hiding in the shadows. As the students disappear one by one, Joanne discovers the horrifying reality that if she is to survive, she alone will have to find a way to slay the brutal murderer. If you think you ve seen this film totally uncut... think again! Synapse Films is proud to present THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD in a never-before-seen alternate version containing additional scenes, extended gore sequences, and a different sound mix.  

Directed By: Dusty Nelson
Studio: Synapse Films

Making Movies Can Be Murder!

Joe Pilato (DAY OF THE DEAD) stars as Dominic, a young and enterprising cinematographer who has ventured to a remote mountain retreat to provide camerawork and special effects on a low-budget horror movie. What he finds there is a skeleton crew made up of eccentric and unpredictable talents. Even worse, the director Lacey Bickle (John Harrison) is a humorless dictator who likes to shoot at all hours of the night.

Directed By: Jose Mojica Marins
Starring: Jose Mojica Marins, Jece Valadao, Adriano Stuart
Studio: Synapse Films
Release Date: April 26, 2011 

After serving a 40-year prison term, Coffin Joe is finally released from the Mental Health wing of the Sao Paulo State Penitentiary. Back on the streets, the sadistic undertaker is set upon fulfilling the goal which sent him to jail in the first place: find a woman who can give him the perfect child. Accompanied by his faithful servant, the humpbacked Bruno, Coffin Joe leaves behind a trail of horror and is haunted by ghostly visions and the spirits of his past victims. This is the third film of the 'Coffin Joe Trilogy' which began with the classic At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964) and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967).  

Directed By: Kurahara Koretsugu
Starring: Murakuni Shohei, Asami Ogawa
Studio: Synapse Films & Impulse Pictures
Release Date: June 12, 2012

From the Nikkatsu Erotic Films Collection!

Impulse Pictures presents EROS SCHOOL: FEELS SO GOOD, possibly one of the most controversial and offensive Nikkatsu films ever made.  Ryu (Murakuni Shôhei), a sinister transfer student with a dark past, sexually assaults his way through his nubile female classmates to his ultimate conquest, the leggy athletic champ and class president Misa (Asami Ogawa).    

Directed By: Minoru Kawasaki 
Studio: Synapse Films

Tamura is an average Japanese salaryman working in the offices of a pickle distribution company. He is well liked in the office, hard-working, polite, wears a suit and tie, and also happens to be a six-foot tall koala bear. But when his girlfriend Yoko turns up dead one day and Tamura is the chief suspect, he is forced to enlist the help of his boss (a white rabbit) and a friendly convenience store attendant (a frog) in order to prove his innocence. A psychological thriller wrapped up in the packaging of a nonsense comedy – with giant animals – EXECUTIVE KOALA is like nothing America has ever produced…which is why it was made in Japan!