 |
|
HELLO AND WELCOME TO VHS WASTELAND, YOUR HOME FOR HIGH RESOLUTION SCANS OF RARE, STRANGE, AND FORGOTTEN VHS COVERS. EACH OF THESE BIZARRE GEMS IS SCANNED AT 200 DPI. SIMPLY CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL OF ANY VHS COVER TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL HIGH RES FORMAT. WE WILL BE ADDING A NEW COVER DAILY, SO BOOKMARK THIS SITE AND CHECK BACK OFTEN. WE'D ALSO LOVE SUBMISSIONS FROM YOU. IF YOU HAVE A VHS THAT IS WEIRD OR RARE, JUST EMAIL US AT MADHATTERDESIGN@GMAIL.COM. REMEMBER TO SCAN THE FRONT, BACK AND SIDES OF THE VHS AT 300 DPI. WE WON'T ACCEPT LOW RESOLUTION FILES. WHILE YOU'RE HERE, GRABBING OUR AWESOME FREE VHS COVERS, FEEL FREE TO CLICK THE "DONATE" BUTTON ON THE LEFT. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEND US SOME CASH, WE MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO KEEP BRINGING YOU THE COOLEST, HIGH RES VHS COVERS ON THE NET. BUT IF YOU GREEDY, COVER GRABBING... I MEAN... YOU WONDERFUL VISITORS TO OUR SITE, DON'T COUGH UP A DONATION, MAYBE WE'LL JUST FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH OUR TIME. LIKE GO MAKE NACHOS. MMMMM... NACHOS. SO HELP A BROTHA OUT AND DONATE A LITTLE DOUGH TO THE CAUSE.
LASTLY, WHY NOT VISIT OUR PARENT SITE (SERIALKILLERCALENDAR.COM). IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VHS COVERS BUT I THINK YOU MIGHT BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY WHAT YOU FIND. OR NOT. I DON'T KNOW YOU. MAYBE YOUR NOT SURPRISED BY ANYTHING. MAYBE YOUR THE KIND OF GUY THAT SEES A COW FALL OUT OF THE SKY AND EXPLODE LIKE A PIÑATA AND YOUR ALL LIKE "HUH, THAT WAS WEIRD." MAN. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ANYWAY? JEEZ. SOME PEOPLE.
BUT NO. SERIOUSLY. GO BUY SOME CRAZY AWESOME TRUE CRIME MERCHANDISE AT SERIALKILLERCALENDAR.COM. INCLUDING THE SERIAL KILLER MAGAZINE, THE SERIAL KILLER TRADING CARDS AND MUCH MUCH MORE! DO IT. DO IT NOW. CLICK THE LINK. |
A History of VHS Companies Part One
Published At Critcononline.com
During
the early 80's, when home video was in it's infancy, an influx of
video companies were created to keep up with demand in the burgeoning
VHS rental market. Bear in mind that this was before owning videos
was financially feasible, as the cost for a single VHS copy of a film
could run well over $100. Renting videos was really the only way to
 watch most of these films at home, as TV gave up their 4:30 Movies,
Million Dollar Movies and Late Late Shows to make way for syndicated
talk shows, reruns of TV series and infomercials. A lot of
business-savvy companies jumped on the VHS bandwagon and created
labels to release films to a demanding public. A lot of them
were fly-by-night affairs, who released one or two films on VHS
before they realized that it takes money to make money, but some
companies stayed around for years. It's these companies that I am
going to pay their much-overdue props to. These companies released so
many films that occupied our nights and weekends during the 80's.
They turned out splashy covers, outrageous plot synopsis and hours
and hours of visual enjoyment to the renting market. A lot of obscure
films were released during this time, turning a lot of horror newbies
into lifelong fans. These long-gone companies had a major influence
on a lot of people, turning them into film directors, writers and
other film professionals, yet their impact seems to be taken for
granted. There's not a lot of information on these companies to be
found anywhere on the Internet or in print, except to list the films
that they released. Since I am a collector, I feel obligated to show
my readers the pleasures of the VHS video sleeve. When they are done
right, it's just like staring at a fine piece of art at a gallery.
Those day are long gone now and we must preserve the experience of
walking into a video store and
 looking
at the shelves stocked with titles unfamiliar to us and the feeling
we got taking that chance of picking up an unknown film, bringing it
home and being blown away watching the TV screen ( although a lot of
times the reverse was true). Without
the success of these companies, I doubt that there would be a DVD
market today. As the 80's came to a close, and it was getting
affordable to own pre-recorded films on VHS, many of these companies
went out of business, thanks to companies like Star Classics,
Interglobal, Goodtimes, Video Treasures and Starmaker licensing films
and releasing them in inferior LP or EP recorded versions, often
making them available in supermarkets as impulse buys at the checkout
line. Who could pass-up the chance of picking up THE
TOOLBOX MURDERS for less than ten bucks? The urge was simply
too great to pass up (yes, I was a major offender) and most of the
video companies gave up on releasing new product and grew fat
licensing their libraries to supermarket chain labels or simply sold
off their titles and closed up shop. Now
that VHS is no longer considered a viable medium for releasing new
films (as well as old ones) and DVD has taken over (and rightly so,
thanks to the higher definition picture and better quality sound, not
to mention the supplements), I now believe it is time to look back at
the companies who released the films that we look back on with
reverence. The picture and sound quality may have left a lot to be
desired, but it was the only way to view these films at the time and
maybe forever as some of these films may never see the light of day
on DVD due to licensing and music rights. I believe, in the near
future, that the value of VHS tapes will only increase (both
monetarily and emotionally), becoming an obsession, just like someone
who collects posters or stamps. It is now time to pay our proper
respects. This is my tribute. (Special thanks to the following
people for sharing their scans of
lost treasures with
all of us: Tranzor, Kim
Gibbs, Mario Dominick, Michael
Felsher, Chris
Poggiali, Lorne Marshall, Cameron Archer, Andrew Copp, Joe Narde, Mike Malloy and Robert Richardson.)
THE
MAJOR PLAYERS
ACADEMY
ENTERTAINMENT -
 This
independent distributor opened it's doors in 1985, first releasing a
bunch of 70's horror and action titles (some retitled for
video), such as: THE ZODIAK KILLER, THE
LOSERS, ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (aka: THE
DOOMSDAY MACHINE), BLOOD EVIL (aka: DEMONS OF THE MIND), BLOOD FEAST (aka: NIGHT
OF A THOUSAND CATS), SLASHED DREAMS (with probably
the most deceptive packaging of the 80's),TERROR AT RED WOLF INN (aka: THE FOLKS AT
RED WOLF INN), SATAN'S SUPPER (aka: THE
NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS) and many others. Academy quickly progressed
into releasing a bunch of DTV films, including: FLESH
EATING MOTHERS, DANGEROUS
GAME, BLOODY NEW YEAR, PLAY
DEAD, ROCK 'N' ROLL NIGHTMARE, DOOM
ASYLUM and the awful WITCHCRAFT series (Academy
handled parts 1 thru 6). As with all video companies approaching the
90's, Academy got involved in producing and releasing a load of DTV
"Erotic Thrillers", such as: ANIMAL
INSTINCTS, BODY OF INFLUENCE, SINS OF THE NIGHT and many, many others until they closed-up shop in 1995. I also think
that there's a small conspiracy to keep Academy Entertainment VHS
covers off the Internet. The VHS covers for this company are nearly
non-existant anywhere on the web. If you don't believe me, try
Googling Academy and see what you come up with. Plenty of info on the
films that they released, but hardly any artwork. I believe my site
has the most Academy covers collected in one spot.
ACTION
INTERNATIONAL PICTURES (A.I.P.) - This
is a TRUE independent distributor. A.I.P was founded in 1986
 by
low-budget director/producers David A. Prior (SLEDGEHAMMER - 1983), David Winters (THE LAST HORROR FILM - 1982) and Peter
Yuval (KILLER WORKOUT - 1986) as a way to distribute their
poverty-row productions. A.I.P. (which, probably uncoincidentally,
shares the same initials as the biggest independent of the 50's, 60's
and 70's: American International Pictures), began by right off the
bat distributing home-made productions like MISSION....KILL and NIGHT WARS,
mixed in with international pickups such as MIAMI HORROR and STRIKER. While their action and horror productions, like ALIEN
SEED, SPACE MUTINY, THE
SATAN KILLER and the horrendous ELVES,
were strictly low-rent (and unintentionally hilarious), A.I.P. did
manage to release a few notable films, including the sadistic ROAD-KILL,
Richard Haines' technicolor gore comedy ALIEN SPACE AVENGER,
the immortal soldiers thriller THE LOST PLATOON, Lucio Fulci's DANGEROUS
OBSESSION and Jose Larraz's slasher flick SAVAGE LUST.
Many of A.I.P.'s in-house productions starred David Prior's brother
Ted, a capable and muscular action star who, unfortunately, never
went on to bigger and better things and a lot of their films
contained appearances by B-movie actors, such as David Carradine,
Robert Ginty (remember him?) Cameron Mitchell and Erik Estrada.
Action International closed up shop in 1994, partly due to the
Richard Pepin/Joseph Merhi company (PM Enterprises) turning out
superior action and horror flicks (they would eventually cease to
exist in 2000) and partly due to major video store chains no longer
looking to stock their shelves with low-budget DTV films (up yours
Blockbuster!).
CONTINENTAL
VIDEO - The king of the big box
videos. Continental Video (and it's sister label, Comet Video)
 unleased
a slew of exploitation titles to the video public from 1981 to 1987.
People who remember walking through the aisles of video stores during
the early 80's couldn't help but notice Continental's big boxes on
the shelves. Titles like SUICIDE
CULT, CLASS
REUNION MASSACRE, NIGHTMARE and ALIEN PREY lined the shelves and attracted renters due to the garish artwork and
lurid tag lines. Continental went one further by releasing double
features on tape, pairing down two features to 75 minutes each and
releasing them on VHS. Double features like SLAYER/SCALPS, FROZEN
SCREAM/EXECUTIONER II, SWEET
SUGAR/ESCAPE FROM WOMEN'S PRISON and STUDENT
BODY/JAILBAIT BABYSITTER were very popular with the public
because you got two movies for one rental. Most Continental and Comet
(who released the H.G. Lewis BLOOD trio for the first time on
video in America) titles go for big bucks nowadays, especially in
good condition, since most video stores cut the boxes up to fit them
into plastic clamshell cases (stupid idiots!). Continental began
distributing their later films in normal cardboard slipcases, as they
were probably sick, too, that their product was getting cut up. Some
of their later titles included DEADTIME STORIES, the bloody
awful SOV fiasco MIAMI VENDETTA, BLOOD DEBTS, MARY,
MARY, BLOODY MARY and ZOMBIE HIGH. Other Continental
titles of note include John Water's FEMALE TROUBLE and DESPERATE
LIVING, THE
EMERALD JUNGLE, TERROR ON TAPE and BLOOD TIDE.
EMBASSY
HOME ENTERTAINMENT - One of my
favorite 80's video labels. Although short-lived (1981-1986
 ),
Embassy Home entertainment distributed a wildly-varied mix of genre
films to the viewing public. Many people got their first taste of
Italian horror (THE TEMPTER; BLOOD LINK), David
Cronenberg weirdness (SCANNERS), 70's camp (THE
AROUSERS; EMPIRE OF THE ANTS; PSYCHIC KILLER),
cult classics (INVASION
OF THE BEE GIRLS; PHANTASM; GALAXY OF TERROR)
and early 80's slashers (FINAL
EXAM; SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE), thanks to Embassy.
Their generous sked of films kept viewers busy, as they also released
Filippino horror (NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN), English space
gore (HORROR
PLANET), Ulli Lommel crap (THE DEVONSVILLE
TERROR; BRAINWAVES) and plenty of other films, some that were seen on
the big screen (BLADE RUNNER; CHILDREN OF THE CORN; THE
NAME OF THE ROSE; THE STEPFATHER). Embassy also had a
sublabel, called Charter
Entertainment, which released several dozen films, many of them
horror-related. In 1986, Embassy Home Entertainment was sold to Nelson
Entertainment, where they dropped the Charter Entertainment line
and re-released Embassy's library before they, too, went out of
business. Some of Embassy's bigger-budgeted titles are now owned by
MGM and most of the library is owned by Canal +, who licensed
the library to Anchor Bay Entertainment. I have a question for Anchor
Bay: Instead of re-releasing the same old films over and over on DVD,
why don't you release some of Embassy's obscurities on DVD. I'm sure
that there is an audience for an uncut DVD of RITUALS. Where is the special edition of HUMONGOUS or HUNTER'S
BLOOD? I'm sure that there are plenty of people that
would buy those.
GORGON
VIDEO/MPI
VIDEO - Another
distributor known for their big colorful clamshell releases. Gorgon
Video (a subsidiary of MPI Video, which is still around today)
released a bunch of great horror films during the early
 and
mid-80's that still hold a fond place in the heart of collectors
today. Gorgon's most famous release was probably the
pseudo-documentary FACES OF DEATH (which spawned three sequels
and a couple of "best of's"), a disgusting mix of real and
faked death scenes that every boy needed to see and is still used
today to gauge whether a girl is worthy to be their girlfriend (I
still have a best friend that shows this to all his dates. If they
become ill or tell him to turn it off, there will be no second
date!). Of course, this was not Gorgon's only popular release. Their
library contained the uncut version of Mario Bava's BAY OF BLOOD,
the weird and wonderful DEATHDREAM,
the horror/comedy HORROR HOSPITAL, the Mexican wrestling/gore
film NIGHT
OF THE BLOODY APES,
the 70's TV perennial KISS
OF THE TARANTULA and many, many others. Gorgon's clamshells
were always full of colorful garish artwork that makes them
collector's items today. As the 80's came to a close, Gorgon began
releasing their films in regular cardboard sleeves and disappeared
from distribution in 1989, right after releasing the highly-desirable
horror video magazine GORGON VIDEO MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 (Volume 2
was produced but never legally released). MPI does maintain a Gorgon
website (www.gorgon-video.com),
although it looks like it was never finished. MPI Video became
famous and profitable by distributing the entire DARK SHADOWS soap opera on VHS and DVD, as well as many other Dan Curtis TV
productions, mondo documentaries, British Sherlock Holmes films
starring Jeremy Brett and their biggest film for readers of this
site: HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. I have many great
memories of walking into a video store in the 80's and seeing Gorgon
Video releases on the shelves. I got my first taste of many Italian
horror films (including the awful FRANKENSTEIN
'80 and the cut version of SLAUGHTER HOTEL) and other
obscure films (MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH, DIE SISTER DIE).
IMPERIAL
ENTERTAINMENT CORP. - Imperial
followed the same path as Academy Entertainment,
releasing a
 bunch
of independent horror films, before going into production and making
their own films (which would also, like Academy, lead to their
downfall in the mid-90's). In the early days (1986 - 1989), Imperial
released such films as DEMONS 2, STAGE
FRIGHT, SPECTERS, BLACK
ROSES (with it's unique 3-D cover), the insanely-bad R.O.T.O.R., GHOSTHOUSE and THE
DEAD PIT. During this period, they also released an ungodly
amount of Godfrey Ho-directed cut-and-paste martial arts films,
usually with "Ninja" in the title and starring Richard
Harrison. As the 90's approached they began producing films for the
theatrical market and groomed a French martial artist named Olivier
Gruner, who would appear in their first production ANGEL TOWN as
well as Albert Pyun's NEMESIS,
also an Imperial theatrical release. Gruner would then go on to star
in many DTV action flicks and prove to be a capable (and quite
likable) performer, up to this day. Imperial also made films with
Cynthia Rothrock (the CHINA O'BRIEN series; ANGEL OF FURY; LADY DRAGON
2),
Don "The Dragon" Wilson (RING OF FIRE; RED SUN RISING)
and even Jean Claude Van Damme (BLACK EAGLE). During the
early 90's they made straight-to-video Horror (THE
DARK; THE CLUB), Action (SHOWDOWN; KING OF
THE KICKBOXERS), Erotic Thrillers (SECRET GAMES; THE
PAMELA PRINCIPLE) and Comedy films (BUFORD'S BEACH BUNNIES; THE GREAT
BIKINI OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE)
before disappearing from video store shelves in 1996.
KEY
VIDEO - This sublabel of parent
company CBS/Fox Video existed from 1982 to 1990. In those years, Key
 Video
released a lot of good stuff. Their distinctive packaging
(multicolored stripes that ran through the center of the video box)
and choice of films (anything from 40's actioners like AIR FORCE to 80's horror films like KILLER PARTY) distinguished them
from many of the independent labels that didn't have a big company
and built-in library of films to supply them with product. Key Video
released 70's exploitation films like THE DOBERMAN GANG, DAMNATION
ALLEY and KILLER FISH, horror films such as Dario Argento's INFERNO, NIGHT SCHOOL, VAMPIRE AT MIDNIGHT and THE ATTIC,
cult films like BETTER OFF DEAD, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, LITTLE MURDERS and HUSH HUSH
SWEET CHARLOTTE and, of course, major Fox titles such as PHANTOM
OF THE PARADISE, ACROSS 110TH STREET, ZARDOZ, THE
BOSTON STRANGLER, WHERE'S POPPA? and many, many others
for the first time on home video. Key Video also released some long
sought-after TV films like the original HELTER SKELTER and DARK
NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW, which command big bucks on the
collectors market today. Key Video has something for everyone during
the 80's.
LIGHTNING
VIDEO - This bastard
stepchild of Vestron Video released a lot of genre
 product
d
 uring
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.
|
