Converge Video (Netherlands)

1st (known) Logo (1985)

Nickname: "The Dark Europe" "The Globe of Doom" "Terrifying Globe" "Bootleg Nightmare Globe"

Logo: Against a black background, we slowly move to a black map of Europe with a white outline, over a cruddy-looking blue globe with a small gleaming light on top, from a bottom-right angled position. When we stop, "Converge Video Presents" (with a segmented circle between "Converge" and "Video") fades in, in a rather grungy font colored olive green, and the logo the text starts flipping around several times. While it animates, we slowly move away from the European map and towards Asia. After that, the text and logo fade out.

FX/SFX: The globe moving (which is a stock animation made by Cascom Inc. which can be seen here, which was also used by Westcon Home Video), the text wiping.

Cheesy Factor: Just plain cheap and awful, with an eerily dark setting, the grungy-looking text. The (stolen) music used also sounds pretty weird.

Music/Sounds: A creepy yet catchy synthesized xylophone/piano tune, then several claps as the logo wipes, and then a music which sounds like an early Sega Genesis game. This is actually an excerpt from A Wonga Dance Song by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Availability: Near extinction. Only seen on a Dutch VHS of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Scare Factor: High, bordering on nightmare. You'll likely find this to be indirectly scary due to the setting and strange music. The scare factor is lower for those who are used to it.