Synapse Films Getting Creepy This September with Dario Argento’s Creepers, The Creep Behind the Camera, and The Creeping Terror Blu-rays
Hope you’re feeling creepy this September because Synapse Films sure is. On September 12th, Synapse will be releasing Dario Argento’s Phenomena aka Creepers, as we Americans better knew it at the time of release – and a double-feature of The Creep Behind the Camera and the movie it tells the incredible behind-the-scenes making-of story, The Creeping Terror.
For most readers, the big news here is without question the regular blu-ray release of the previous (and now quite expensive) Synapse steelbook release of Dario Argento’s 1985 creepy crawler chiller Phenomena aka Creepers.
The young Jennifer Corvino (played by Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly, in one of her first film roles) is sent to a private Swiss academy for girls where a vicious killer is on the loose, brutally murdering students. Jennifer is a gifted girl with the strange ability to communicate with insects, and Dr. McGregor (Donald Pleasence, John Carpenter’s Halloween series, Escape from New York) enlists her to help locate the killer. Jennifer finds herself in a bizarre murder plot with maggots, mutants, and razor-wielding chimpanzee mayhem! Can she uncover the killer’s identity before becoming a victim herself? Daria Nicolodi (Tenebrae) and Fiore Argento (Demons) also star in this strange, unique and gory film from Italy’s Master of Horror, Dario Argento. Phenomena also features fantastic soundtrack music from progressive-rock favorite Goblin, British Heavy Metal masters Motörhead & Iron Maiden, Andi Sex Gang, Bill Wyman and Simon Boswell!
The fully loaded release will include the following extras:
- THREE different cuts of PHENOMENA, all available in high-definition for the first time ever in one collector’s edition package!
- Audio Commentary Track on PHENOMENA (110 Version) from Argento scholar and author, Derek Botelho and film historian, journalist and radio/television commentator, David Del Valle
- Two completely different sound mix options on PHENOMENA (110 Minute Version), including the original 2.0 stereo mix, along with a rare alternate mix containing different sound effects and music cues
- English/Italian Hybrid Audio and Complete Italian Audio Options for PHENOMENA (116 Minute Version)
- DARIO ARGENTO’S WORLD OF HORROR Documentary. A fascinating look at the early films of director Dario Argento, including PHENOMENA, SUSPIRIA, DEMONS, DAWN OF THE DEAD, INFERNO and many more! Containing candid interviews and awesome behind-the-scenes footage, DARIO ARGENTO’S WORLD OF HORROR gives us a look into the mind of Italy’s Master of Horror and is an essential viewing experience for all Argento fans.
- Interview with Andi Sex Gang
- PHENOMENA International Theatrical Trailer
- CREEPERS U.S. Theatrical Trailer & Radio Spots
- Optional English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard for Hearing on PHENOMENA (110 Minute Version)and CREEPERS Version)
- Multiple optional subtitle selections on PHENOMENA (116 Minute Version), including one for just the foreign
- English language segments of the hybrid version, complete English subtitles for the entire feature, and complete English subtitles for the Italian version of the film.
Also streeting on September 12th is a combo blu-ray of The Creep Behind the Camera and The Creeping Terror. For those unfamiliar, The Creep Behind the Camera is more of a docu-drama than a horror film telling the incredible true story of the mentally unbalanced conman behind the creation of what is widely considered one of the worst movies ever made, the notorious 1964 cheapie The Creeping Terror AKA the movie with a killer carpet monster told entirely in voiceover because someone botched it big time with the sound equipment. I watched The Creep Behind the Camera on VOD last year, and while it can be a bit clunky at times and definitely runs a bit too long, it’s an absolute must-see for any fans of b-cinemadom.
A creature is haunting the streets of Los Angeles, waiting for the cover of night to stalk innocent young girls. Hungry for fame and fortune, it’s fueled by a demonic rage ready to devour anyone attempting to hinder its becoming the most powerful entity in Hollywood. While sometimes called A.J. Nelson, this demon is more commonly known as Vic Savage. This is his story…
In 1964, Vic Savage made THE CREEPING TERROR with a microscopic budget verging on the non-existent. Quickly earning a reputation as the worst movie ever made, it tells of the arrival of an unconvincing alien life-form (a shambling carpet creature made of plastic tubing, wire and soap) that devours its picnicking, dancing and guitar-playing victims. Much like the infamous Ed Wood, Savage managed to pull off a variety of schemes to convince an honest producer to invest in what he promised to be “the biggest monster movie ever made”.
Told through re-enactments and containing shockingly true stories of many of the actual people involved with the production, Pete Schuermann’s THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA is the funny and ultimately terrifying saga of the making of THE CREEPING TERROR, and a disastrous portrait of a talentless artist who ultimately succumbs to his own self-destructive behavior. Starring Josh Phillips in the larger-than-life performance as Vic Savage, and Jodi Lynn Thomas (AMC’s PREACHER) as his unsuspecting wife Lois, THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA pays vibrant tribute to an inglorious chapter in the history of genre cinema, incidentally exposing one of the most unimaginably radical antitheses of the Hollywood dream.
The Creep Behind the Camera also comes in a fully loaded blu-ray with the added extra incentive of it including a new 2K scan of The Creeping Terror, which could be the first and last time this classic piece of schlock cinema gets the hi-def treatment.
Full list of supplemental material:
- All New 2K Scan of the Original Horror Classic, THE CREEPING TERROR (Blu-ray Exclusive)
- Audio Commentary with Director Pete Schuermann, Producer Nancy Theken and Stars Josh Phillips & Jodi Lynn Thomas
- The Making of THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA
- How to Build a Carpet Monster
- Breaking Down Art’s Death Scene
- Monster Movie Homages
- “One Mick to Another” with Byrd Holland & Allan Silliphant
- Deleted Scenes
- Alternate Ending
- Screamfest Black Carpet Q&A with Frank Conniff
- The Creep Behind The Camera Original Theatrical Trailer
- The Creeping Terror Screamfest Promotional Trailer
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