Taurus Entertainment Company

Background
Taurus Entertainment Company was the film distribution unit of the United Artists Communications movie theater chain (not related to United Artists Pictures, though it uses a font the movie company used in some of their logos; these theaters are now owned by Regal Entertainment Group). It was formed in 1987 via a merger between United Film Distribution Company and Artists Entertainment Group, a company ran by Stanley Dudelson. Taurus then spun off into a separate company and has now changed its name to Blairwood Entertainment. Stanley's son James Dudelson currently runs Blairwood.

1st Logo (1987-1997)
Nicknames: "The Taurus T", "The Bull"

Logo: We see a starry background and gradually zoom out until we see the outline of the constellation Taurus (in white) running toward the screen. The Taurus rams into the screen, causing a flash. The flash becomes a gold Taurus emblem that looks like an abstract T, and the words:

wipe in, and the byline

fades in.

FX/SFX: Taurus charging into the screen, the T forming and flashing. Pure backlit animation multi-pass techniques.

Music/Sounds: An '80s synth theme. In some cases, this logo was silent.

Availability: Still intact on many films produced by this company, usually of the horror or comedy variety, such as Slaughterhouse Rock, Angel Town (most likely theatrical prints; the U.S. Imperial Entertainment VHS doesn't save this logo and neither did the 1998 DVD release), The Invisible Kid, as well as Beverly Hills Brats. The silent variant can be seen on Best of the Best (DVD and TV Prints Only) and the notorious John Belushi biopic Wired. A shorter variant of the silent variant can be seen on Guy Magar's Retribution; this same variant can also been seen on trailers for the company's output. An out-of-sync variant can be found on Black Eagle, and is preserved on the 1998 DVD release; It is unknown if it is preserved on the recent MVD Rewind Blu-Ray. It was also probably seen on theatrical prints of Heaven Becomes Hell, Spontaneous Combustion, On the Make, Elliot Fauman, Ph.D., Class of 1999, Martians Go Home, BraveStarr: The Legend, and Two Evil Eyes, among others. It is unknown if the Academy Entertainment VHS releases of Rachel River and Old Explorers saves this logo. It is also unknown if this was seen on U.S. Theatrical Prints of Fist Fighter or the 1988 film, Domino.

Legacy: This is a professional logo, despite how cheesy and dated the animation may be and the choppy animation of the Taurus.

2nd Logo (1997-2014)


Logo: We see the gray smoke background, and a Taurus symbol-shaped medallion appears, showing the human face and the constellation over it (In 2007, the constellation was changed with "20th anniversary"). The name reads below: "TAURUS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" in three equal lines. Lightnings appear behind the logo, changing the face for a second, it flicks with the skull and then with another face picture. Then the logo fades.

Variant: A still version was used prior to 2007, and presented a red medallion, the face with long blue hair and the intact constellation.

FX/SFX: Lightning, which look cheap, and face flicks.

Music/Sounds: Sounds of thunder. None for the still variant.

Availability: Can easily be found on DVD copies of Day of the Dead 2: Contagium and Creepshow III.