Palace Video (UK)

(November 1981-1995)

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  Title
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  The castle

Nicknames: "Haunted Castle", "Neon Castle"

Logo: On a black background, a neon, light blue line appears from the left side of the screen. The line goes up in a very jagged pattern to a silhouette of a mountain with a castle on it (like a path). The castle has a TV tube shape above it. There is a purple haze (with a shade of pink on the bottom) behind the mountain as well. Once the line reaches the castle, lightning flashes as a thunder effect occurs, making a flashing, black and white silhouette of the castle. After the effect, the entire castle flashes and glows with strange neon effects. "PALACE VIDEO" appears twice in a neon, blue font on one of the towers. While the camera pans to the TV tube, "PRESENTS" in the same font appears on the tallest tower. The screen then fills with white.

Variants:

• The red text "OUT NOW" may appear at the end.
• The way the logo ends may either fade out or cut out.
• Sometimes, it may cut to a light blue background with the white text, all stacked up, reading "Before the main feature, PALACE VIDEO Proudly Presents ......"
• Sometimes when the screen would flash to white, it may cut to a B.B.F.C. rating screen on a black background appears as we hear the ending of the music. This can be seen on the original 1982 VHS release of The Snowman.

FX/SFX: The lines and flashing. Early computer effects.

Music/Sounds: An eerie synth hum that sounds like the beginning of the Viacom "V of Steel" jingle, followed by thunder and a dark synth theme, ending with a whoosh.

Availability: Uncommon if you live in the United Kingdom. Palace were usually known for distributing art house and horror films to video. Examples might be UK releases of Jim Henson's shows, Basket Case, and the infamous 1981 release of Pink Flamingos. Both the original pre-cert release and 1990 certified release of The Evil Dead have this logo.

Editor’s Note: This logo is known for being a pinnacle ‘scary logo’, thanks to it’s dark tone, loud thunder and sinister-sounding theme. Special mention goes to their (in)famous "OR ELSE!" warning screen (described in detail here), The logo itself, however, is a favorite of those who are not scared of it, and the music has kept a few toes tapping.