Xenon Entertainment Group

Background: Xenon Entertainment Group is a distribution company formed by actor/director Melvin Van Peebles.

1st Logo

(Late 1980's-1993?)

Nickname: "The Squiggle Prism"

Logo: On a black background we see multiple red dots appear, forming a squiggle shape arranged to look like a triangle. The triangle zooms back with a trail of dots following suit and the white words "XENON" and "ENTERTAINMENT" zoom beneath the triangle, topping off each other. Finally, a golden triangular glow surrounds behind the triangle.

Variant: Sometimes, the stacked text "Presents a XENON HOME VIDEO Release" would follow the logo.

FX/SFX: The dots appearing, the text zooming, the glow. Typical effects from the 80's.

Music/Sounds: A creepy synth theme with some drum notes thrown in. It's actually the first few seconds of "1984" by David Bowie, but it's changed for the second half of the logo.

Availability: Seen on urban themed movies and documentaries distributed by the company during the era.

Scare Factor: Low to medium, the design is fine, unless you hate pink, but the fanfare can be enough to make anyone feel uneasy. It's especially daunting considering that the rest of the logo's music source is light and funky. Still tamer than the next two logos, however...

2nd Logo

(1993?-2003)

Nickname: "The Prism of Doom", "Intimidating Prism Logo"

Logo: We see the silver text "XENON ENTERTAINMENT GROUP" stacked on top of each other rotating towards the center of the screen. Once it does, a purple prism drops down and two white dashes slide in and intersect the prism at different positions each stopping when halfway through.

FX/SFX: The text rotating, the pyramid dropping, the dashes.

Cheesy Factor: Very cheap CGI.

Music/Sounds: A techno theme which abruptly ends when the prism appears. A low piano note is heard along with some symbol taps which continue to echo throughout the remainder of the logo.

Availability: Same as above.

Scare Factor: Low to high. The logo's sudden and abrupt ending, along with the abrupt piano note, darkness, intimidating stature, and cheap CGI will definitely generate scares.

Xenon Pictures

Background: Xenon Pictures is in the other hand, an American film production and distribution company founded by S. Leigh Savidge in 1986.

(2000- )

Nickname: "The Flaming Prism", "The Prism", "Prism of Doom II", "Purple Fire"

Logo: An explosion with purple flames occur on a black background. It reveals a revamped version of the prism from the second logo of the other company, and the words "XENON PICTURES", which are stacked on top of each other. The flame eventually disappears, filling in the words with the purple flame and the prism with the purple color, but not the flame. After a while, the logo explodes.

FX/SFX: The explosions, and the reveal of the logo.

Music/Sounds: Just the sound of the two explosions that occur in the logo, along with the flame. At the last explosion, a church bell is heard.

Availability: Seen on its current releases, starting with Uncle Saddam.

Scare Factor: Medium to high, due to the dark atmosphere, ominous nature, and of course, the explosions. Some people may think this is more better or cooler than the previous logo, however.