Background: Lightning Video was a division of Vestron Video used to distribute extreme B and made-for-TV movies during the 80's.
(April 1, 1985-88)[]
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 and the appearance of the thunderbolts, which are typical of Eighties effects. For the international variant, the text "INTERNATIONAL" zooming out.
Music/Sounds: Stock sounds of thunder (from the BBC library), which 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, The Zero Boys, Sky High, 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, The Wind, and The Toxic Avenger, among others.
- This appeared by surprise at both the beginning (on Lionsgate's Horror Collection 8 Movie Pack) and end (the original 2004 DVD) of DVD prints of Chopping Mall, both taken from video masters.
- It also makes surprise appearances 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. It also surprisingly appears on the 1992 Mexican VideoVisa VHS of Strangers: The Story of a Mother and a Daughter.
- This doesn't appear on the Wizard Video titles they distributed in the 1980s.