Unless you’re a complete movie snob that insists on only owning Hollywood Blockbusters in your DVD collection (in which case, there’s very little chance you’d even be reading this… not to mention you have absolutely no taste whatsoever), you probably have at least one title from Synapse Films in your library. From bona fide gothic classics such as Antonio Margheriti’s Castle Of Blood to sleazy grindhouse exploitation classicks like Let Me Die A Woman, Synapse has been delighting the pants off of cult film enthusiasts since their inception in 1997 when that whole movie-on-a-little-shiny-round-disc thing started.

Now, our good friends at Synapse have taken a trip Down Under to bring us brand-spankin’ new Special Edition treatments for four mostly-ignored and oft-underrated feature films from Australian producer Antony I. Ginnane that had previously been released by those folks over at Elite Entertainment (which are now Out Of Print, incidentally).

Patrick (1978) - Directed by Richard Franklin

Normally, a director would have to fight the urge to kill their lead actor if he did nothing but sit there and stare off into space, but with Patrick, it’s a different story entirely… well, not a completely different story… actually, it’s a little similar to Psycho (1960), and director Franklin has acknowledged that fact… which is why Universal asked him to direct Psycho II.

Anyway, Patrick is all about a disturbed young lad (three guesses as to his name) who snaps one day after listening to his mother and her lover romp in the sack for the last time and tosses an electric heater into the tub with them. From there on in, Patrick (a unibrowed Robert Thompson) lies comatose in a private clinic, under the less-than-watchful but decidedly suspicious eyes of a skilled nursing staff (ahem) lead by Dr. Roget (Robert Helpmann) and Matron Cassidy (Julia Blake).

For the most part, Patrick’s “handlers” keep their distance, as if there was something fishy going on (which there is, naturally… we wouldn’t have much of a movie otherwise, would we?)… and when our heroine, Kathy Jacquard (played by Susan Penhaligon… but of course “Cracker” fans will call her Susan Panhandle), arrives to start at the clinic, she finds out who and what Patrick really is.

Yes, I know that “back-of-the-box” way of describing the flick was so generic that not even Goodtimes Home Video would’ve touched it, but Patrick is one of those movies that you either like or you don’t. Personally, I’m not crazy about the film, but it should be required viewing on any Cult Movies 101 list nevertheless. For its second DVD release, Synapse has given us virtually the same audio and video transfer (1.78:1) we had seen before from Elite (only it’s anamorphic this time) along with the Audio Commentary that director Franklin had recorded for the film back in 2003. Synapse also gave in to the demands of their faithful fans by including some TV Spots along with the Trailers that were available on the older disc.

Overall Rating: 3.0

Thirst (1979) - Directed by Rod Hardy

A vampire film for the modern medical age of the late 70s. While Europe and The States were busy cranking out umpteen variations and/or spoofs of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Australia chose another famous blood crazy legend to draw inspiration from: Elizabeth Bathory.

Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri) is a successful businesswoman who is abducted from her home one night by a sect of wealthy cultists who inform her that she is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Bathory and hail her as their new queen. In order to prep Kate for her upcoming (and rather unwilling) marriage to cult member Mr. Hodge (Max Phipps, Melbourne’s favorite Dr. Frank-N-Furter), the organization has to get poor Kate to acquire a taste for blood.

Thirst is an interesting spin on the utterly tired tale of vampirism that features some truly unique imagery (particularly during some of Contouri’s nightmare sequences) such as the farm sequence, in which followers of the cult are given a tour of their “dairy” facility and see the “blood cows” being milked (Thirst also employs the use of cult favorites David Hemmings and the great Henry Silva).

The new Synapse release of Thirst gives the 2.35:1 film a new anamorphic transfer and carries over the Audio Commentary with director Rod Hardy producer Antony Ginnane (itself a good listen) as well as a few other Special Features (an Isolated Music Score of Brian May’s soundtrack, TV Spots, Bios, Gallery) from the Elite edition.

Overall Rating: 3.5

Dark Forces (1980) - Directed by Simon Wincer

British actor Robert Powell is a sheer delight as Gregory Wolfe, a mystical healer kind of feller that first appears as a clown (and scares the shit out of the whole audience) before healing the dying son of Senator Rast (David Hemmings, who proved time and time again that you don’t need to emote in order to act), whose career is on the rise following the mysterious disappearance of a powerful political figure. In addition to healing the boy, Wolfe wins the admiration of young Nick Rast (Mark Spain, quite good for a child actor) as well as seducing the Senator’s bored and lonely wife (Carmen Duncan), who has absolutely no problems with having the magician stay in their home.

For all accounts and purposes, Dark Forces (also known as Harlequin in some circles… and I have an original poster bearing that title so nanner) is a modernized version of Grigori Rasputin and his involvement in the lives of Tsar Nicholas II (even the names in the film resemble their historical counterparts) and is a great way to take some time away from the world around you… plus, you get to see the great Broderick Crawford in one of his final roles as Rast’s political puppeteer (I’m sure the veteran actor preferred making this over The Vulture!).

Although Dark Forces received a handful of nominations for various awards all around the globe, the movie eventually took a sort of trip down into the murky annals of anonymity in later years, until it resurfaced on DVD a few years ago (only to go on moratorium after that), but thankfully, Synapse has had the decency to bring it back for the public eye to see in a nice 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio, along with all of the great Special Features we delighted over before, including an Audio Commentary with director Simon Wincer and producer Anthony I. Ginnane; an Isolated Music Score (another treat for you Brian May fans); a Still Gallery; several Trailers; and some Bios so you can just how little poor Robert Powell has done since.

Overall Rating: 4.0

Strange Behavior (1981) - Directed by Michael Laughlin

Another highly recommended feature. Strange Behavior (also known as Dead Kids) is a fun homage to the science fiction and horror films of the 50s mixed with the newly-developed slasher genre that was popular at the time. In it, young Dan Shor (heh, remember him?) plays the son of Michael Murphy (another face we don’t see much anymore), who received top-billing as the remorseful sheriff of a small Illinois rural community (although it was filmed in New Zealand… those crafty Aussie devils!). Dan gets invited by classmate Marc McClure (gee, the familiar faces just keep on comin’!) to a strange college class helmed by Fiona Lewis (wow!) and her deceased colleague who appears via a 16mm film, Arthur Dignam (OK, only a few of you will probably recognize Arthur, but I remembered him from The Return Of Captain Invincible with no problem).

Long story short: Dan agrees to let Fiona Lewis experiment on him and soon, the poor boy is pissing blood and acting, well… strange. Writer Bill Condon (Strange Invaders, Gods And Monsters) gives us an extremely entertaining and entirely fresh approach to several worn-out genres with this one, which features some wonderfully campy scenes such as a murderer stalking about with a Tor Johnson mask on (I wonder if that’s a ha-ha to John Carpenter’s Halloween, which employed a killer wearing an inside-out William Shatner mask), a synchronized dance number with kids dressed as 60s TV characters, and several surreal moments of closed-circuit conversations (a few years before Videodrome). More recognizable faces in the cast include Charles Lane, Louise Fletcher, Scott Brady, and Dey Young.

The new Synapse release of Strange Behavior features a nice anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, an enjoyable Audio Commentary with co-writer Condon, and actors Shor and Young; an Isolated Music Score (which is about the only way to hear Tangerine Dream’s music as a soundtrack was never released); two Deleted Scenes (which are pretty forgettable); a Gallery; Trailers; and some Bios so you can find out exactly where you remember so-and-so from.

Overall Rating: 4.0

All of these new Region 0 releases include English and Spanish Mono Stereo soundtracks, with Patrick and Dark Forces also boasting a French audio option. As is usual with releases from Synapse Films, no Subtitles are anywhere to be found (you might want to work on that one in the future, fellas -- remember, we fans are getting old)… but that problem is only a minor one.

I’m just happy these movies are back on the market.