My good friend Fred Adelman has started a unique project over at his site Critical Condition. He is uploaded nice scans of video boxes from the 1980s according to label. So far he has up Lighting Video, Magnum, Media, Paragon, Prism, Trans World Entertainment (TWE), Vestron, Vidmark and Wizard. Some of these are really a thing of beauty, akin to the ad mats of the 70s. Anyway, if you have the time, check them out (just click on the label logo to go to that specific gallery):

http://www.critcononline.com/video_companies_cover_art.htm

Awesome site!

You could lose some serious time in there. Saw some stuff I had thankfully forgotten about (SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND) and some I'm going to poke around for (RADIOACTIVE DREAMS).

Apparently James Farentino was the star of DEVIL DOG: HOUND OF HELL...

For all early 1980s British video release check out this site:

Pre Certification Video

Database and active discussion forum for collectors of old video tapes.

Plus my book, Shock Horror: Astounding Artwork from the Video Nasty Era ;)

YOWZA! Fred Adelman deserves a medal for this amazing, jaw dropping project!!!

Can't get enough!

Scanning the covers, I was surprised how many times I saw John Gavin's name appear. Which is to say twice.

I think I got the biggest laugh out of this one:



Does the "never before seen erotic footage" involve Wille and/or Kris? :lol:

I also thought Vidmark's video cover for Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos is a little odd since this woman appears nowhere in the film (and the film's actual protagonist is an elderly man!)


Thanks for the link, this is a fun site. I can remember renting a few of the horror movies represented here from a grocery store during my Freshman year of college.

This just goes to show how much work there is left for Anchor Bay, Shriek Show, Code Red, etc... So many movies I remember renting or just seeing the boxes of that need to come out on DVD: Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat, The Carrier, The Bell Jar (OK, maybe that one's not right up Code Red's alley... but somebody's gotta put this out!), Judgement Day... what the heck is Curse of the Blue Lights? I don't know, but I want to rent the special edition! Come on, guys! Stop rereleasing the same frickin' films and get to work on these!

The most OMG-I-Need-That-and-I-Need-It-NOW covers in the gallery for me are the handful of teen sex comedies. If I don't find a copy of that Lightning TEEN LUST VHS, I'm gonna pop!

Some people like to claim popular cinema gets more pandering and stupid, but I say the movies have stopped giving us what we want. Proof: why don't they make movies called CHEERLEADERS BEACH PARTY anymore? You can't tell me VAN WILDER is the same kind of movie as the lunacy depicted on Vestron's TAKIN IT OFF cover(s).

They have this tape at a local Ma and Pa vid store I frequent. I've never had the guts to rent it...

I always found the cover very strange probably because said "lust" is seen from the female perspective (if I'm not mistaken, a girl is looking "through" a fence at some guy either putting on or peeling off a t-shirt!?) yet there's something titillating about it from a hetero perspective as the chick's ass is quite provocative...in a cartoony sort of way... :P

Sorry to re-pimp this thread but Fred did an amazing update on the little known video label RaeDon. There is an excellent piece about the company written by Mike Malloy and a beautiful gallery of some of the best covers ever. As I always say, "If it's on RaeDon, you know it's got it going on!"

http://www.critcononline.com/video_companies_cover_art.htm

Is there an Andy Warhol thing going on with this one, what with "Punk Rock Vacation" and "Ain't No Way Back" both getting three images each?

Personally, I'm not really that thrilled about any of these video-box covers since I've seen, have had, or still have a lot of these old video releases. I'm actually kind of sick of looking at 'em! Still, I guess if you weren't around during those years or didn't have many video stores around, these displays should be a pleasure to look at. And I didn't know someone was trying to get $69.75 for a copy of "Alien Private Eye" over on half.com. Since I have 3 of em' laying around, maybe I'll only ask $68.00 each and make a bundle. Ya, those will sell right away - ha!

After Raedon, what's next? Donna Michelle Video?

Well, hopefully the hundreds of the people clicking on this thread are a little less haughty and enjoying checking them out. Video sleeves are almost the admats of the 80s/90s and, even though I am a huge collector, I am sure there is still a ton for me to see and discover and that is why I posted this link for others. It is, after all, free.

PS: Fred informs me he will definitely be doing Donna Michelle Video!

Ouch - I've been called haughty! :o

Anyway, I was just voicing my personal reaction to these displays as, yes, I've been dealing in videos for a long time. I have no problem with hundreds of people enjoying them and praising it to high heaven. In a way, I suppose you are right - that these are like the ad-mats of the 80's/90's and its cool they are being assembled in one place to some degree. So enjoy!

By the way, I actually praised Fred quite a while back over on the Maniacs thread where he was posting all those cool ad-mats and tv guide ads. Those brought back a lot of memories and were fresh to me, just like these video boxes that I've seen a million times must be fresh to many others. So it's all good.

And I do look forward to checking out Donna Michelle!

There's something poetic about:

One man...
One gun...
Simple justice...
COLE JUSTICE

And dig the cover for GETTING LUCKY. The guy lifting that cheerleader's skirt is on his way to GETTING HIS ASS KICKED...

How can you pass up a movie called FEELIN' SCREWY complete with "Fun... Romance... Rap... Reality!"

I'm definitely there for "Not just another love story...THE WEIRDO"

I can't believe they didn't go with:

Revenge is a dish best served...COLE

I forgot to comment on your post Marc. There are truly some amazing images in there. I love these variations for Duke Mitchell's THE EXECUTIONER:

http://www.pre-cert.co.uk/cgi-bin/cms/Film/73692

http://www.pre-cert.co.uk/cgi-bin/cms/Film/66624

Thanks for sharing!

Bumping this one up to let everybody know Fred has added some more amazing companies including Continental Video, Gorgon Video, Mogul (some of the best cover art going), Simitar Entertainment, Thriller Video, Video Gems and some smaller labels (at the very bottom).

http://www.critcononline.com/video_companies_cover_art.htm

There's a couple in the Mogul listings I have to see:

Kurt Russell in SNIPER...

And HAVE A NICE WEEKEND (the artwork for this is totally warped...)

This is a surprisngly tight litte thriller with Russell starring as Charles Whitman, the guy who shot all those people from that tower in Texas. It is also known as THE DEADLY TOWER. Apparently the real life officer (Officer Ramiro Martinez), who was the basis for the lead, successfully sued the producers. Strange in that they portray him as a hero.

Just one more in a long line of '70s TV-movies that would do very well if somebody was smart enough to put it on DVD. I'd be a zillionaire by now if I owned the rights to some of these movies.