Donald May Jr

Donald May Jr Pro

President of the DVD/Blu-ray releasing company, Synapse Films

Favorite films

  • The Last Picture Show
  • The Exorcist
  • Dawn of the Dead
  • Flash Gordon

Recent activity

All
  • Vampyr

    ★★★★

  • Nosferatu

    ★★★★

  • Drácula

    ★★★★

  • Trap

    ★★½

Recent reviews

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  • Vampyr

    Vampyr

    ★★★★

    A stunning gothic supernatural thriller from Carl Theodor Dreyer, VAMPYR explores vampire lore with a mysterious and occult setting. A student of the occult wanders into a strange village and investigates the strange goings on, including ghostly shadows, apparitions and talk of vampires.

    Some of the imagery of VAMPYR is particularly stunning for the time. One particular sequence I've always liked is the scene where the main character has an "out of body" experience and witnesses himself as a corpse being buried in a coffin.

    It wasn't well received when first released but, over the decades since, it has become much more appreciated.

  • Nosferatu

    Nosferatu

    ★★★★

    A Halloween season rewatch. "Based" on Bram Stoker's original DRACULA novel, and filmed without permission, NOSFERATU is an absolute banger of a vampire film. A solid, atmospheric and undeniably creepy film which gave the Nosferatu character an iconic "look" that has been imitated for over 100 years of cinema.

Popular reviews

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  • Thundercrack!

    Thundercrack!

    ★★★★½

    I think I've seen this film, maybe, 70 times in the past few years since working on the restoration. I have grown to appreciate the brilliance of it all, especially after getting the proper subtitle translations from the director's sister, Melinda McDowell. The film has always been notoriously difficult to hear in a theatrical environment (a by-product of the low budget nature of the sound mix and editing), and the multi-generation bootlegs sure didn't help... and with the new audio…

  • Death Sentence

    Death Sentence

    ★★★★½

    Sorry for being so blunt, but this movie is fucking amazing. It's brutal, horrifying, nauseating, unrelenting and will make your blood boil, as it was meant to. It's gratuitous violence may turn off the easily shaken, but... Wow... This is one hell of a revenge thriller based on Brian Garfield's novel. The unrated version is the one to watch.