Lightning Video

Background : Lightning Video was a division of Vestron Video used to distribute extreme B and made-for-TV movies during the 80's.

(1985-1988)
Nickname : "Cheesy Lightning"

Logo : On a red and black background (similar to the second Vestron Video logo), we see a bolt of lightning come down vertically, and then we see about two more bolts come down. The words "LIGHTNING VIDEO" zoom out in a dark blue, blocky font. We see more lightning crackling over the words, and as it slowly fades backwards to become white, we see two chrome-colored thunderbolts that shine.

Variant : Sometimes, "INTERNATIONAL" will zoom out into the logo when the lightning bolts strike in one at a time. This will mainly happen on tapes from this company that made their way to Canada.

FX/SFX : The lighting, the appearance of the thunderbolts, which are typical of '80s effects. For the international variant, the text "INTERNATIONAL" zooming out.

 Music/Sounds : Stock sounds of thunder (from the BBC library) that is also used in the Ismail Production and Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia logos.

Availability : Appeared on their video releases, like French Quarter Undercover, Acts of Violence, Hands of Steel, Crawlspace, Superstition, Evils of the Night, The Dungeonmaster, The Sea Serpent, Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers, New York Nights, Terrorvision, Blind Date (1984), The Zero Boys, Sky High (1985), The Princess Academy, The Alchemist, Native Son, Zone Troopers, Party Camp, Street Trash, Deadly Mission, The Women's Club, Billy Galvin, American Justice, Chopping Mall, The Party Animal, Manhattan Baby, Every Time We Say Goodbye, and The Wind (1986), among others. This appeared by surprise at the end of the Chopping Mall DVD. On the Lionsgate Horror Collection 8 Movie Pack print of that film, it appears at the beginning, rather than the end, which suggests that a new VHS source was used for this particular release. It also makes a surprise appearance on the (extremely oddly-made) Family Home Entertainment VHS of The Year Without a Santa Claus, which has the Vestron "Red V-Ball" logo on the packaging, and the 1991 FHE logo alongside late-'80s era FHE previews and Tubi's print of Amazing Masters of Martial Arts after the Artisan Entertainment logo. Don't expect this to appear on the Wizard Video titles they distributed in the 1980s.