I guess it goes without saying...the term 'classic' will have different meanings to different people. For example, some may refer to the film Street Trash as a classic, myself included, while others will undoubtedly write it off as pure filth or useless garbage, and I can certainly understand why. The film is unapologetically sick and disgusting...precisely the reason that I love it so. Included with the Synapse DVD are liner notes written by Michael Felsher (formerly of Anchor Bay) and he does a tremendous job of summing up the appeal of Street Trash, in what can only be described as a short edition term paper that should have been titled 'What Street Trash Means to Me.' I'm crediting my source here, because I don't want to be accused of plagiarism. It's just that Felsher and I seem to retain very similar feelings about the film. Probably the last of the great 80's gore/satire films, Street Trash has been a long time coming on DVD. With a 2-Disc Special Edition on the way, Synapse has decided to unleash a 'movie only' edition to whet the appetites of fans that just can't wait any longer. And it was well worth the wait, ten times over.

The story itself is really more complicated than it needs to be. We're set up in a really bad part of town, where homeless seem to rule the streets. About 20 of them will attempt to squeegee your car windows when you're stuck at a red light, and if you look at him the wrong way, he may just drag you out of your car and smash your head into your very own windshield. As a matter of fact, this very incident is where the heart of our story lies. Enter Bronson, the local homeless leader and a Vietnam Vet, a guy you DEFINITELY don't want to fuck with, he's feared like a king. Actually, there are multiple stories being intertwined here and Bronson is just a small piece of the massive puzzle.

While hard ass detective Bill James (Bill Chepil) is on the lookout for Bronson (Vic Noto) - there's another killer in town, it's a drink called Tenefly Viper. When a case of the stuff is found behind a wall of the local liquor store, it's sold at the bargain price of a buck a bottle. The homeless scoop up the affordable beverage, which turns out to be a deadly concoction that causes those who consume it to melt, and sometimes explode almost immediately. So you've got the homeless like Fred (Mike Lackey), Kevin (Fred's younger brother played by Bill Chepil) and Burt (Clarenze Jarman) who inhabit the local junkyard and they've each got their story. Then you've got Mr. Schnizer who owns the junkyard and his 'do-gooder' assistant Wendy. Then you've got Mr. Duran who owns a swanky nightclub and who's main squeeze eventually falls victim to the homeless as well. All this, in addition to the deadly Viper drink and murderous loose cannon Bronson. Whew, and we've really only begun to scratch the surface here. There are quite a few more characters, incidents and circumstances to discuss - but for now, we'll leave it at that.

Directed by James Muro (who went on to become king of the steadicam operators) and written by Roy Frumkes (Document of the Dead), Street Trash is really busy and complicated as shit, which is probably the only drawback for me. There's far too much happening here. People looking for the melting homeless may be disappointed to learn that there is a huge chunk of activity in the middle of the film in which no one actually melts (although there's no lack of depravity here, that's for sure). Still, there's plenty of ooze in the first and final acts, and it's pretty spectacular. Street Trash doesn't follow any one set of rules, it's far off the meter and as if the film weren't surreal enough, when people melt, they ooze creamy day glo colored liquids. It's quite a sight to say the least.

Everything (and I do mean everything) in this film is far over the top. From the whacked out performances to the Dali inspired carnage. The characters themselves are more caricatures than anything else. Sporting their thrift store outfits, the easiest way to identify them is by the fact that they are always covered in soot, nearly from head to toe...I know they are bums, but I can't imagine that they'd all really be THIS dirty unless they were working part time in the mines (and they all look like this)! Then again, this is all part of the charm of Street Trash, it lives and evolves in its own little world, so it really doesn't have to roll with the rules in ours.

With characters that are extremely unlikable, you'd be hard pressed to express any kind of concern or sympathy for anyone in this film, even those who appear as if they are trying to help. Street Trash offers a checklist of everything awful. Which includes gruesome murder, necrophilia, rape and a game of keep away / hot potato with a severed penis that really needs to be seen to be believed (just to name a few). Even if you feel as if you've seen the worst of the worst that this type of trash cinema has to offer, I can almost guarantee that you'll still feel dirty after viewing Street Trash. I still can't believe my parents let me watch this one as a kid, or maybe they just didn't know about it at the time. You'll feel affected after watching Street Trash, you just won't feel too good - which is actually a major plus here.

Be prepared for the shock of your life when you discover that Street Trash has a smart cinematic look, yeah, it's a real film. That old OOP muddy VHS may not have done such a great job, but this new DVD from Synapse really takes the cake. Easily one of the best transfers for a cult flick I've seen this year, I was not prepared for how gorgeous this film was going to look. Synapse has really outdone themselves this time. The anamorphic image sparkles and despite the films oh so obvious budgetary limitations, it looks great. The mono audio is equally impressive with clear dialogue and no distortion to speak of.

As this is a 'movie only' edition, extras are limited to a trailer and those liner notes I spoke of earlier. But wait! There's one more little surprise here that apparently won't be available with the two-disc edition. Two Tenefly Viper stickers are included so YOU can create your very own bottles of Viper madness! They're pretty cool and a nice addition. Now...do I stick them to my flask or leave them intact as a true collector would?

Whether you pick up the 'movie only' edition or wait for the special edition, I can't recommend this film enough. Easily one of the top 5 cult discs of the year now holds a special place in my DVD collection. I don't know where we'd be without companies like Synapse - not hanging out with our DVD players as much, that's for sure. Highly recommended.