Dark Castle Entertainment

Background
Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production label and a division of Silver Pictures, a production house formerly affiliated with Warner Bros. It was formed in 1998 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler. Susan Downey was the Vice President of Development until February 2009, a term running congruent to her tenure as a VP of Production at parent company Silver Pictures.

The company name pays homage to William Castle, a horror filmmaker from the 1950s and 1960s. When first formed, the goal was to remake Castle's horror films. After two remakes, it moved on to producing original material, along with remakes of non-Castle films. Starting with RocknRolla, the company began producing films in genres other than horror. While most of the company's films were initially poorly reviewed by critics, their film Splice eventually received better reviews.

(October 29, 1999-)
Nicknames: "Scary Statue", "The House on Haunted Hill", "The Gargoyle"

Logo: On a black background, we see thunder panning around what appears to be a gargoyle head. As we zoom out, the statue opens its eyes and mouth and roars. Then we continue zooming out what is revealed to be a castle in front of a full moon with many clouds surrounding it as it turns cartoonish. A box goes around the picture and crops it as the text "DARK CASTLE" in a grungy font (named Attic Antique) appears, with "ENTERTAINMENT" fading in underneath.

Variants:
 * On the direct-to-DVD films Return to House on Haunted Hill and The Hills Run Red, the text below the name says "HOME ENTERTAINMENT".
 * There is a version where the logo is more contrasted and the clouds are in.
 * On Suburbicon and Seance, the logo is shortened.
 * On The Expecting (the first TV series from the company), the print logo shares the screen with the Platinum Dunes and Propagate logos.

FX/SFX: The gradual zooming out and the gargoyle moving. Excellent CGI.

Music/Sounds: Thunder sounds, a dark, ominous music composition, and the terrifying gargoyle's roar.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * Sometimes, there is no music and only the sound effects are heard.
 * On a few films, the opening theme plays over without any sound effects.
 * On House on Haunted Hill, after the last note of the music composition, it morphs into the opening theme.
 * On Suburbicon and The Expecting, the logo is silent.

Availability: Common. It was first seen on House on Haunted Hill, which was also the first film produced by the company, and can be seen on films such as Thir13en Ghosts, Ghost Ship, Gothika, House of Wax, The Hills Run Red, and Getaway. Also seen at the end of Suburbicon, the company's first film in four years and most recently on Seance, both films albeit shortened. Also seen on The Expecting on Quibi, which is the company's first TV series. It's expected to appear on Orphan: First Kill.

Editor's Note: Even though it's clearly intentional, the dark atmosphere and especially the gargoyle's design can still startle first-time viewers.