LIGHTNING VIDEO - This bastard stepchild of Vestron Video released a lot of genre product during the video heyday of 1985 - 1990. Releasing mainly unknown films such as DARK AUGUST, NIGHTMARE WEEKEND, A BLADE IN THE DARK, MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY and many others (their most well-known title is STREET TRASH), Lightning Video exposed a lot of renters to the pleasures (and pitfalls) of 80's horror cinema. Titles like NEON MANIACS, FROZEN TERROR, NECROPOLIS, CHOPPING MALL and NAKED VENGEANCE made their debuts on the Lightning label. They also released films from the 70's such as THE CLONES, WHEN THE SCREAMING STOPS, PANTHER SQUAD, TERROR IN THE WAX MUSEUM and THE CLONUS HORROR. I remember many nights putting a cassette into my VCR and seeing the Lightning logo come on my TV screen. A red background with two thunderbolts would appear and someone with a Hi-Fi VCR could hear the stereo separation as the right thunderbolt would come blaring out of the right speaker and the left one out of the left speaker as the Lightning logo would appear in blue. While the films may have left a lot to be desired (GIRL SCHOOL SCREAMERS anyone?), you could at least look forward to some previews to appear after the film was finished. While Lightning Video was not a major driving force in the video pantheon, they did supply a lot of horror-hungry fans with some lesser-known titles. For that we can be thankful. To see a collection of Lightning Video video covers, click HERE. These covers should bring back some fond memories to those that can remember browsing the shelves of their local video stores during the 80's.
This is a little history of the love of the horror films and the VHS. So if you remember the craze then you'll really enjoy this list of some of the films that were distributed by this company . I got the idea from reading an old copy of my Horror Hound magazine.
Terror Vision (1986)
A family's new satellite TV system starts getting signals from a different planet. Well a monster pops out of the TV and starts attacking people. It's a horror comedy.
A Blade in the Dark
A composer goes to a house and learns that there's a murder mystery involved after meeting two women, and when one disappears.
Frankenstein (1984)
A scientist who is obsessed with creating life finally does it, but with tragic results. Hey Carrie Fisher plays in this film too.
Frozen Terror
So this odd story is about a woman who never gets over her lover's death. When she is finally released from the mental hospital, she moves to New Orleans in a boarding house. But for some reason she is too overprotected over the freezer.
CrawlSpace (1986)
A man runs an apartment house for women, and he's not all there. He's a demented son of a Nazi surgeon. I mean really demented, he has his house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices. Klaus Kinski plays the insane guy.
Chopping Mall (1986)
Eight teenagers are trapped after hours in a high tech shopping mall and pursued by three murderous security robots out of control. Wow I just laughed at the name.
Scream and Die (1973)
A young model and her petty thief boyfriend find their way through the English fog to a backwoods manor in hopes of robbing it. What they find instead is murder, and when the model attempts to find the house again, she can't find it.
Screamtime (1983)
Three horror stories, "That's The Way To Do It", "Dreamhouse", and "Do You Believe In Fairies." I myself love a film with different stories in them, so if your a fan too, you'll probably like it.
Shriek Of The Mutilated (1974)
About a group of college students who with their professor go up in the mountains to find a yeti. Well they get killed one by one, but it may not really be a yeti that's doing it. Really don't want to ruin the story for anyone looking to watch it, but I'm just saying don't think it's a yeti film. Just saying.
Superstition (1982)
A witch put to death in 1692 swears vengeance on her persecutors and returns to the present day to punish their descendants. Simple horror vengeance story.
Nightmare Weekend (1986)
A female scientist performs experiments on three college girls that turn into mutants.Okay so it doesn't sound good, but it's like horror history, and still can make a good collection. Remember most are direct to video here. Which doesn't always mean bad either.
The Psychic (1977)
A clairvoyant woman, inspired by a vision, smashes open a section of wall in her husband's home and finds a skeleton behind it. Along with her psychiatrist, she seeks to find the truth about who the person was and who put her there. She learns soon enough she's going to be the victim soon.
Witchfire (1986)
A Shelly Winter's film. Okay it's about A psychiatrist is killed in an auto accident, his mentally deranged patient and two of her companions hide out in a house in a rural area where, years ago, the woman had set fire to her parents. They try witchcraft to bring back him.
Dark August (1976)
A careless man accidentally runs down a young girl and has a curse placed on him by the girl's grandfather, an occultist. He goes to a spiritualist for help in fighting the curse.
Revenge of the Dead (1983)
Stefano finds an old typewriter that was once Dr. Paolo Zeder, who in the 1950s figured out how to revive the dead. Stefano investigates and finds a group of renegade scientists that are still using this method.
Dark of the Night (1985)
Meg buys a beautiful old Jaguar in a bid for independence. She begins to get strange feelings about the car. Slowly she uncovers the shocking history of the car's previous owner, but not before the car exerts some tragic influence in her life.
When the Screaming Stops (1974)
The legendary Loreley has been living for centuries in a grotto beneath the river Rhein in Germany. Every night when the moon is full, she turns into a reptile-like creature craving for human blood. After Loreley kills, a hunter tries to get rid of her.
Street Trash (1987)
A drink called "Viper" starts melting people who drink it. Two homeless lads, go against this drink, a psychotic vet, and owner of the junkyard where they live in. On the cover of the film they stated it was "Eraserhead meets Texas chainsaw Massacre."
The Alchemist (1984)
A man seeks revenge on an evil magician who placed a curse on him and a curse on his wife, which she died from.
So that's some films from them that are cult classics, and for a horror fan who doesn't love to find some not so famous horror titles anyway. I know I love to go to thrift shops and local shops to find cheap horror films to add to my collection. The VHS phenomena helped Lightning and other distributors to give it's fans some of the goriest and scariest films.
Here's a complete list from imdb https://www.imdb.com/company/co0088859/
