Cult horror label Synapse Films just opened orders for one of the messiest movies of the 1980s. Street Trash (1987), Two-Disc 4K Limited Slipcase Edition went up on the company's official store on the morning of October 13, with a street date set for the week of December 7, 2026. Synapse calls it one of the most requested titles in its history, and the run is capped at 4,000 units.
The movie
Director James Muro's Street Trash is a horror comedy from what Synapse describes as the final wave of late 1980s super gore cinema, right before the genre slid toward safer R rated films and a flood of remakes. It is set among the winos, drifters and runaways of lower Manhattan. Two young brothers, Fred (played by Mike Lackey) and Kevin (Mark Sferrazza), live in a hut made of tires behind a sprawling auto wrecking yard.
The trouble starts in a liquor store basement, where a case of Tenafly Viper turns up behind a wall. The booze is 40 years old and has gone very, very bad. Anyone who drinks it melts into multicolored goo within seconds, and the store sells it cheap. That neon melt is the image the film is remembered for, and it is all over the new packaging.
What the 4K restoration is
Synapse made a new, uncut 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative. It was supervised and approved by the film's original director of photography, David Sperling, who worked with the label so the picture looks the way he and Muro intended. Synapse says this is the only 4K release approved by both Sperling and producer Roy Frumkes.
The set is a two-disc side-loading slipcase with a 4K Ultra HD (ultra high definition) disc and a Blu-ray of the new master. Here is what Synapse lists:
- Picture: 2160p 4K presented in Dolby Vision, also compatible with HDR10 (high dynamic range), in a 1.78:1 frame on both discs.
- Sound: a lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 surround mix plus the original 2.0 theatrical mono, with optional English SDH subtitles (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing).
- Packaging: a side-loading chipboard hardbox designed by artist Wes Benscoter. The Synapse homepage banner also promises reversible cover art.
- Commentaries: two audio commentaries, one with Frumkes and one with Muro.
- Documentary: The Meltdown Memoirs, a two hour film on the history and making of Street Trash.
- The origin: the original 16mm short film that inspired the feature.
- Interviews and extras: Jane, an interview with star Jane Arakawa, a conversation with writer and producer Roy Frumkes, anniversary cast and crew question and answer sessions, deleted scenes, the original promotional teaser, an "In Production" advertisement and the original theatrical trailer.
The film runs 102 minutes, in color and unrated, under catalog number SFD0238.
How to get it
This one is deliberately hard to find in the usual places. Synapse says the set will be sold only through its own store and its distribution partners DiabolikDVD and OrbitDVD, plus select Vinegar Syndrome retail stores, and not through the big online retailers. The label also notes that discs may ship before the December street date, since orders go out as soon as stock reaches its warehouse. The current price is on the product page, and the rest of the label's catalog sits in its 4K UHD collection. For updates and packaging shots, follow Synapse Films on Instagram.
Why it matters
Restorations like this are how cult films stay alive, and having the cinematographer sign off on the color is a big deal for a movie whose whole identity is its colors. If you collect boutique discs, start with our guide to the Criterion Collection, then see what to watch and read while you wait for Carrie season 2 and the found footage horror of V/H/S/MIXTAPE.
Order Street Trash 4K from Synapse Films · Synapse Films 4K UHD collection
