The home video explosion of the 1980s brought with it a host of production and distribution companies ready to exploit this profitable new technology. And while the big Hollywood studios still remain, most died out along with the VHS and Betamax formats.
But for anyone who remembers watching these scuzzy tapes, the low-fi logos on display here offer a quick nostalgia trip to the family sofa, where you’ve just pressed play on a big, clunky machine and wait in anticipation as the blank screen glows into life. Personally, it’s the Cannon stripes that converge into its iconic hexagon that remind me of the anticipation of something action-packed and daft, while the Vestron logo was a signal to prepare yourself for whatever gore-fest the company was about to inflict on your Friday night.
Some logos live on with their movies, such as the digital tree of The Ladd Company, that gradually loads in green scan-lines that introduce Blade Runner. Sure, it’s a contractual obligation and not essential to the film, but it manages to set the tone perfectly, and I’d miss it if it wasn’t there. Similarly, the blinking red of the New Line Cinema logo comes to mind too, acting as a warning that Freddy Krueger was coming, and he’s coming for you.
Fast forward to today and Vestron is back, now part of Lionsgate Studios, which offers reissues of its titles on Blu-ray with packaging reminiscent of the old VHS boxes, and Orion Pictures is producing new films as part of MGA/Amazon Studios.