Horror Movie News and Reviews - Horror Express.com

DIRECTOR NOT 'THRILL'-ED WITH SYNAPSE... AND THE FEELING'S MUTUAL

For a long time, I have been dying to see a film I came to know as THEY CALL HER ONE EYE. More commonly known under its proper title, THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE, my prayers were answered when a tiny upstart called Chrome Entertainment got the rights to the film and started a long and meticulous reconstruction of the film. Speaking purely on Region 1 terms, along with the DAWN OF THE DEAD 4-disc set, it has been my most awaited DVD of the year. But if the reports that are coming out of the woodwork are any indication, it's easy to see why the film has been so hard to find until now.

First, some background: THRILLER is a reportedly nasty and brilliant piece of revenge cinema from 1974, made in Sweden oddly enough. The film details a vulnerable mute woman who is picked up by a smooth talker, only to be drugged and forced into a life of prostitution. When she rebels, she is sexually assaulted and has one of her eyes gouged out. Her family is destroyed by the tragedy. She slowly trains herself and is transformed from the meek little victim into a killing machine. Donning a leather trenchcoat and a black eyepatch, she silently stalks all who have wronged her and seeks her revenge.

Incidentally, it's also notable that this predated similar revenge films like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, SAVAGE STREETS and MS. 45, three films it holds a definite relation to. The film is brutal and full of iconic goodness. It is supposedly heavy viewing and certain versions even contain hardcore footage. But the image of the woman in the leather trenchcoat and black eyepatch aiming a sawed off shotgun at the screen are enough to send goosebumps. Beyond the exploitation factor, it is said the film is quite powerful.

THRILLER has been resurrected recently when Quentin Tarantino began screening the trailer at his annual film festival in Texas. His devotion for the film was cemented when Daryl Hannah's character Ellie Driver in KILL BILL VOL. 1 & 2 was partially based on the character in THRILLER. So, onwards and upwards for the DVD that was already in the works.

Being such a small company, Chrome asked for help distributing from another DVD company, Synapse Films. Now, Synapse itself is not a large company, with only a few people on its staff. Still, it has produced some of the best genre DVDs in Region 1 with loving transfers and sometimes great extras. Some of their more notable efforts have included VAMPIROS LESBOS, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, LEMORA, STACY, WILD ZERO, EVIL DEAD TRAP, EXORCISM, THE IMAGE, BLUE SUNSHINE, DANSE MACABRE and more. Now comes THRILLER, an ultra-rare movie completely uncut and restored for a limited 25,000 copy run.

But here is where things start to get strange. The director, Bo Arne Vibenius has been sending out e-mails under the name "Otto" to anyone who would listen. His charge - Synapse has stolen his film.

The charges are reportedly bogus but that hasn't stopped Vibenius from attacking Synapse. One of the people overseeing the DVD, Don May Jr. contacted Creature Corner, who spilled the whole story for people:

"On September 28, 2004, Synapse Films, Inc. (Synapse) will proceed with the worldwide release of THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE, A.K.A. THEY CALL HER ONE EYE on DVD. In late 2001, Synapse was approached by Chrome Entertainment, Inc. (Chrome) who paid producer/director Boarne Vibenius $10,000 US Dollars for worldwide distribution rights to Thriller. Chrome told Synapse they could not complete their production work on Thriller and they had total confidence in Donald May, Jr. and Synapse to successfully release a DVD version. Fortunately, the distribution agreement between Boarne Vibenius, Channel 1 and Chrome allowed assignment of the distribution agreement to Synapse upon purchase of all of Chrome’s assets. In early 2002, Synapse purchased all the assets of Chrome and received an assignment of the distribution agreement which remains legally in effect.

For over two years, Synapse has been ruthlessly and relentlessly defamed and harassed by Vibenius. Simply put, Vibenius does not want Synapse to release THRILLER. These attacks intensified after the increased publicity for THRILLER due to the release of KILL BILL VOL. 1 (2003) and KILL BILL VOL. 2 (2004) and from fine comments made about THRILLER from director Quentin Tarantino in various press articles and interviews. Synapse has, in good faith, responded to numerous letters from Vibenius explaining that Synapse has full legal worldwide rights to release his film. Vibenius refuses our letters and correspondence. Just today (August 26, 2004), we received a pack of documents we had sent Vibenius via Federal Express that came back to us with a note stating “Return to Sender”. Vibenius also blocks our faxes and refuses our e-mails.

Vibenius’ latest tactic is hiding behind an alias named “Otto van der Leyfen”. He is now emailing false accusations from an anonymous Hotmail email address to many of our loyal distributors, defaming Donald May, Jr. and Synapse Films. “Otto” (AKA Vibenius) is also emailing the editors and webmasters of publicly accessible film and DVD information websites with attacks against Synapse.

Synapse intends to assert all legal means to protect and defend its rights to the film THRILLER. Despite all these accusations and threats, Synapse fully intends to pay Vibenius royalties which will be in addition to $10,000 US Dollars he has already received.

Please visit the Synapse Films, Inc. website at www.synapse-films.com for more information on THRILLER, and other Synapse releases."

Strange, huh? But maybe one of the reasons why the film has been so hard to put together. It is tempting to immediately side with the artist over the distributor, and usually you'd be right. But this isn't the first time there has been difficulty with a genre director showing erratic behavior. Abel Ferrara, Meir Zarchi and Jim Van Bebber (whose DEADBEAT AT DAWN was also distributed by Synapse) have all allegedly had scrapes with distributors in the past. What brought these on is anyone's guess. Still not convinced? Ask Wes Craven or Sean S. Cunningham about their porno work sometime.

As it stands, Synapse will release THRILLER on September 28, angry rants or not.

On a completely unrelated note, this news story marks our 500th piece of news or review on the site! Sure doesn't seem like it, but let's keep the Express going, full steam ahead!

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