Who did it better? Synapse Films or Arrow Films

My last post started the finger pointing, so I'll continue it by calling Shenanigans on Arrow Films for releasing the same Blu Ray titles as Synapse Films. Sure, one can say they were released for totally separate markets, but region-free discs mean world viewability, so that doesn't really hold up.

As I’ve mentioned before, Arrow Films took me under their spell in early 2011, and even though several of their titles were also released by Blue Underground, the artwork and packaging drew me in and I just had to add some to my collection. After buying 5 or 6 titles, a cautionary flag was thrown up when I heard that Fulci’s The Beyond was released with a black and white intro, and although Arrow sent corrected discs to those who requested them, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I was really excited to see that Battle Royale was finally released on Blu Ray, but come to find out it was in Region B formatting only, and when I tried to take advantage of a big sale on their site, my credit card company called to say they declined the transaction because the processing company Arrow uses was suspected of being compromised, and sadly, they didn't offer payment through Paypal. It wasn't until John Russo’s Midnight and Linda Blair’s Savage Streets were announced that my interest was revamped, but come Fall, they started piggy-backing Synapse Films releases of Exterminator, Maniac Cop, and Frankenhooker, which made me question them yet again. And, even though both companies released them with new HD, region-free transfers, the bonus content and artwork were different.

Similar to Arrow, Synapse started putting reversible sleeves in their releases in 2011, but used variations of the original artworks, whereas Arrow offered artist re-envisions. While I don’t have any ties with the folks across the pond, I do with Jerry and Don at Synapse, who I met at Cinema Wasteland, and are really cool guys. So, since I already have the Synapse versions, is it really worth double-dipping? And, who do you think did it better?

Synapse released Exterminator on Sept 13th, while Arrow waited until Nov 7th


Synapse released Maniac Cop on Oct 11th, and Arrow on Oct 31st


Synapse released Frankenhooker on Nov 8th, while Arrow waited until Jan 2nd, 2012


Arrow will release Red Scorpion on Feb 6th, 2012, but Synapse's is still TBA even though it was acquired in early 2011


Synapse’s Wild Card: Intruder Blu Ray (out now) and Thou Shalt Not Kill…Except (Mar 13th, 2012)


Arrow’s Wild Card: Demons 1&2 (April 2012)