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9 Horror Movies That Began With Cool Custom Studio Logos

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It’s the little things in life that make me happy.

Every movie begins with a small handful of company logos, and most of those production/distribution companies have logos that are by now instantly recognizable to most anyone who spends a decent amount of time watching films. The logos for Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Universal probably just flashed in your head the very moment your eyes scanned past this sentence, and us horror fans are as familiar with the logos for companies like Lionsgate and Blumhouse.

But not every movie plays by the rules.

Some movies, often in the hopes of immediately setting a tone, play around with their studio logos in a way that makes them totally unique to those movies, and it’s those movies that I personally have a whole lot of respect for. There’s something about seeing an iconic logo get tinkered with that always makes me smile, and a handful of horror films have done it over the years.

Here are 9 of them that come to mind!

1) THE RING (2002)

Gore Verbinski’s 2002 version of The Ring is one of the best horror remakes ever made, and it won me over almost immediately with a modified DreamWorks logo that evoked the feeling of watching an old VHS tape. The ominous opening logo sequence featured distortions and those familiar tracking lines, and if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that the iconic “ring” appears just before the moon turns into the “D” in DreamWorks. As we spotted in the official trailer, it looks like next year’s Rings will feature a similar custom logo, this time courtesy of Paramount.

2) ORPHAN

Before bringing a terrifying shark to the screen in The Shallows, Jaume Collet-Serra shocked audiences with a creepy little girl who wasn’t quite a little girl. The 2009 film Orphan ended with one hell of a twist, and it began with a nice little bit of foreshadowing. The Warner Bros. logo that begins Orphan is splattered with glowing paint, which later pops up as a crucial plot element in the film. As it turns out, Esther has been painting violent and sexual images on her bedroom walls that can only be seen under a black light, and the clever logo teased what was to come.

3) GREMLINS 2

No film has ever changed its studio logo more than Gremlins 2, which featured a brand spankin’ new “Looney Tunes” animation from the legendary Chuck Jones. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Jeff Bergman) appeared in the fun animated sequence, which led into the Gremlins 2 logo and an establishing shot of New York City. Director Joe Dante has said that he commissioned the highly unique opening to “set the anarchic tone,” and a longer version of the Warner Bros. cartoon short can be found on the film’s DVD and Blu-ray releases.

4) THE GRUDGE 2 (2006)

You may not remember much about the 2006 American film The Grudge 2, but if you’ve seen it, you probably do at least remember the way it cleverly played around with that iconic Columbia Pictures logo. The opening sequence starts off normal enough, but then the woman holding the torch grows long hair and literally transforms into franchise villain Kayako. The logo then glitches and the text “Columbia” briefly turns into “Grudge 2.” Props to whoever came up with that!

5) THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS

One year prior to Rosemary’s Baby, Roman Polanski released horror-comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers, which took the liberty of turning the MGM lion into a vampire. Just as the lion roars, it transforms into a cartoony vampire, and a droplet of blood falls out of its mouth and drips down across the hand-drawn opening credits – the blood eventually becomes a flying bat.

6) JURASSIC PARK 3

We wouldn’t exactly classify the Jurassic Park films as horror movies, but this bit of clever logo manipulation was just too cool to not share – besides, we feel that any movie that features dinosaurs attacking humans is worth being covered here on BD. The Universal and Amblin logos at the start of Jurassic Park 3 were cleverly modified to reference a memorable moment from the original film – the logos both ripple and distort as if they’re being reflected in puddles of water, and the loud stomps of an approaching dinosaur can be heard. Talk about setting the mood early!

7) CONSTANTINE

As you’ve surely gathered by now, Warner Bros. is pretty cool with filmmakers messing with their logo, and the 2005 film Constantine took that liberty one step further by, well, completely destroying the studio’s logo. A hellish, post-apocalyptic wind sweeps in and totally decimates the logo, subsequently crumbling the logos for Village Roadshow Pictures and Vertigo.

8) ALIEN 3

This one is a little bit different, but deserves to be on the list all the same. The 20th Century Fox logo at the start of Alien 3 wasn’t visually changed at all by David Fincher, but he did modify the studio’s signature theme in a creative way. The tune starts to slow down to a crawl and then takes on a sinister tone, leading right into the film itself. Subtle but incredibly effective.

9) POLTERGEIST (2015)

The most recent logo modification I can think of came courtesy of last year’s Poltergeist remake. The film, which didn’t bother to bring anything new to the table, was forgettable at best, though we’ve certainly seen way worse remakes. In any event, the opening MGM logo was creepily distorted for the modern day revamp, so there’s that. Nothing special, but worth mentioning.

Can you think of any other horror movies with custom studio logos? Let us know!

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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