PM Entertainment Group, Inc.

Background :PM Entertainment Group Inc.was an American independent film production company which produced a distinctive line of low-to-medium budget films mostly targeted for home-video market.In 1986, Joseph Toufik Merhi, an indie film director and producer, founded the production company City Lights with producer Ronald L. Gilchrist for his first movie: Hollywood In Trouble. Around 1989, after splitting from producer Ronald Gilchrist’s City Lights, Merhi started PM Entertainment along with fellow director Richard Pepin (PM Entertainment from surnames Pepin-Merhi). Soon, George Shamieh joined as the third partner. The company was sold to The Harvey Entertainment Group in 2000 and closed soon after. In 2003, the movie library was sold to Film Library Acquisition Corporation (FLAC), now renamed Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. PM Entertainment's library consisted of over 150 films and 2 TV series. The most noticeable recurring actors were Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Jack Scalia, Jeff Wincott and Traci Lords.(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PM_Entertainment)

1st Logo(1989-1990)

Logo : On a black background, the letters "PM" in an odd white font fade in, along with the words (in white) "PM ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC." in spaced-out letters and a thin white horizontal line sandwiched between them. A second after, the word "presents" fades in below. The font of "presents" depends on the movie.

Variant : The text is replaced by " HOME VIDEO, INC. ". On Repo Jake, this variant is not shown on a black background, but over the movie's opening shot. Plus, the logo has a shadow effect, and the text, including "presents", is in Handel Gothic.

FX/SFX : The fading-in. Cheesy Factor : The PM logo here is a complete eyesore to look at. The Repo Jake variant is also very cheaply done: The PM logo is cut off the black background and stuck over the movie footage with a cheap shadow effect.

Music/Sounds : The opening theme of the movie, or it is silent.

Availability : Seen on the first movies released by the company, such as Deadly Breed, L.A. Heatand Shotgun. The "HOME VIDEO" variant was seen onRepo Jake.

Scare Factor : None to low.

2nd Logo(1990-1994)

Logo : On a black background, the PM Entertainment logo (which consists of the bold letter "P", in blue, filled with cross-indentations (a little like the 1987 UA logo), cutting through the bold letter "M", also in blue) fades in, along with the stacked words (in white) "pm entertainment group, incorporated".

Early Variant : The word "presents" fades in below.

FX/SFX : The fading-in.

Music/Sounds : The opening theme of the movie, or it is silent.

Availability : Seen on PM Entertainment releases from the period. The "presents" variant was seen on Night of the Wilding. One of the last movies to use this logo was Forced to Kill.

Scare Factor : None to minimal.

3rd Logo(1992)  Logo : On a black background, a black-red-yellow gradient rectangle with a metallic outline fades in. In the rectangle is the metallic PM logo (designed like in the 1st logo) with the words "HOME VIDEO" underneath sandwiched between two lines, all metallic. FX/SFX : The fading-in. Music/Sounds : The opening theme of the movie.

Availability : Rare. Seen on Bikini Summer 2.

Scare Factor : None to minimal.

4th Logo(1994-1995)

Logo : Over a dark cloud background, the PM logo, in a gradient blue color, fades in via "shining" effect. Then, the stacked words (in white) "pm entertainment group, incorporated" fade in below. The cloud background slowly moves to the right. Later Variant : The cloud background is lighter, the logo is in a black-blue gradient color, and the words are in an Eurostile font. FX/SFX : The clouds "moving", the logo fading in via shining effect, the text fading in. Cheesy Factor : The clouds don't really move: It's just a still image slowly moving to the right.

Music/Sounds : The opening theme of the movie.

Availability : The first version was seen on T-Force. The second version was seen on Ring of Fire III: Lion Strike.

Scare Factor : Minimal to medium for the first version. The movie's opening theme might startle you, along with the ominous darkness of the sky in the background. None to low for the second version, as the background is lighter and the opening theme is calmer.

5th Logo(1995-1997)

Logo : Over the same cloud background as before, now much lighter, many white lines fly to the center to form the PM logo, in a black-blue gradient color. Two seconds later, the stacked words "PM ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INCORPORATED" fade in below, in a white Eurostile font.

Variant : On the L.A. HeatTV series, the logo starts off after the PM logo has formed.

FX/SFX : The lines moving, the logo and words fading in.

Cheesy Factor : Same as above.

Music/Sounds : A majestic orchestra piece. This theme was rarely used, as it uses the opening theme of the movie most of the time. Sometimes, it is silent. The short version described above uses a similar, yet different music.

Availability : Seen on PM Entertainment releases from the period. One of the releases to use the majestic piece was Last Man Standing. One of the last movies to use this logo was Executive Target.

Scare Factor : None to medium. It depends on the theme.

6th Logo(1997-2002)

Logo : Similar to the last logo, but with a few differences. The lines move differently, the PM logo starts in a black color, zooms out slightly, then turns to a black-blue gradient color, and the text is in a serif font that is similar to the one used in the 2nd and 3rd logos.

FX/SFX : The lines moving, the logo fading in and zooming out, the words fading in.

Cheesy Factor : Same as above.

Music/Sounds : The opening theme of the movie, or it is silent. On at least one movie, it used the majestic piece from the last logo.

Availability : Seen on PM Entertainment releases from the period. Among the first releases to use this was The Sender and Road Ends (which is one of the movies to use the "majestic piece" on this logo). Among their last releases was Con Express.

Scare Factor : Same as above.