Logo description by mr3uriousLogo captures and video courtesy of ThatLogoDude
Background: Bryanston Pictures was a distribution company headed by Louis "Butchie" Periano, a leading man in the Columbo Crime Family, and was created after the success of
Deep Throat. Their first big deal came from distributing
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the predecessor movie of the TCM franchise. However, shady business practices (such as giving directors FAR less than 35% of the profits made from the movie, and threatening theaters to fork over 50% of the profits) led them to be sued into oblivion in 1976. Reports from people who allowed them to distribute their movies said, "It was like making a deal with the devil.". You can find out the rest of their controversial history
HERE.
(1972-1976)
Nickname: "BP Box (from/of Hell/Doom)"
Logo: Against a black BG, the yellow letters "BP" zoom out. Then, we see a series of small multicolored lines waver in the center, followed by a yellow multilined cross shape with the same "BP" in the middle, which leaves several multicolored residue trails. Then, the cross shape shifts a little taller. Then, all of a sudden, it dissolves, and forms the word "PRESENTS", also in yellow.
FX: The zooming, stretching, trailing, and dissolving.
Cheesy Factor: This logo uses all manner of primitive (by today's standards) computer or Scanimate effects.
Music/Sounds: A series of warbly video game-like sounds produced by a Moog synthesizer.
Availability: Extremely rare; may be found off a United Home Video VHS of
Dark Star. Also appeared on
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
The Devil's Rain, Bruce Lee's
Return of the Dragon,
Andy Warhol's Dracula and
Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. All current DVD releases and TV prints of the two
Andy Warhol's horror movies are sourced from the original European versions, so the Bryanston logo is no longer seen at the front. Similarly, the most recent versions of
Return of the Dragon utilize Golden Harvest's "international" print, and feature the 1978 GH logo at the front. (However, the previous CBS/FOX laserdisc and DVD releases featured the GH logo, but retained the Bryanston logo soundtrack underneath!)
Scare Factor: High to NIGHTMARE, due to the darkness, horrible Scanimate effects, and creepy sounds.