Bryanston Pictures

Background: Bryanston Distributing Company is an American film distribution company that was very active during the early 1970s and was left dormant for almost thirty years. It is not to be confused with the British Bryanston Films or Bryanston Pictures, the production arm which was liquidated when former producer Anthony "Big Tony" Peraino was prosecuted by the federal government on an obscenity charge stemming from the production and distribution of the pornographic film Deep Throat (recognized as possibly the most financially successful independent film of all time). Reports from people who allowed them to distribute their movies said, "It was like making a deal with the devil". In 2005, the company was resurrected.

Nicknames: "BP Box", "BP Box from Hell", "BP Box of Doom"

Logo: Against a black background, two yellow letters "BP" zoom out. Then, we see a series of small multicolored lines waver in the center, followed by a yellow multilined cross shape with the same "BP" in the middle, which leaves several multicolored residue trails. Then, the cross shape shifts a little taller while "BRYANSTON" and "PICTURES" in Microgramma D Bold Extended in yellow appear above and below, respectively. Then, all of a sudden, they dissolve, and forms the word "PRESENTS" in the same font, also in yellow.

Variants: Most of the time, the company name was not shown, due to the cropping or matting, typical.

FX/SFX: The zooming, stretching, trailing, and dissolving.

Music/Sounds: A series of random, warbly synth-like sounds produced by a Moog synthesizer: starts with an ascending whoosh, then descending beeping sounds, a loud descending chirp, an array of fast-paced ominous music with a sound that resembles the descending voices of the THX Deep Note, then warbly sounds that end with a droning synth hum and continuous synth beats and chirps.

Availability: Near extinction. Appeared on films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Devil's Rain, Bruce Lee's Return of the Dragon, Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein. All current DVD releases and TV prints of these films plaster this logo over or go straight to the opening scene; the VCI VHS of Dark Star also skips this logo. It does however appear on the United Home Video VHS, the UK Fablious Films Blu-ray release of Dark Star, and the Goodtimes DVD release of Return of the Dragon. Interestingly, most recent versions of the latter under the title Way of the Dragon utilize Golden Harvest's "international" print featuring the 1978 GH logo at the front (the previous CBS/FOX laserdisc and the 2001 DVD release feature the GH logo with a blue background and the Bryanston fanfare underneath!).