Eight Stars Pictures

Background: Eight Stars Pictures was a low-profile/B-movie production company established in the late-1980s as a joint venture between Old Filmstrip Cinema and Big C Pictures, and was headed by Mario F. Kassar. Today, most of Eight Stars' library is now owned by Tigersplace by the way of Architect Entertainment. This company is not to be confused with Ray Stark and Eliot Hyman's "Eight Stars Productions", who merged with Hesker Boys Pictures in 1967 forming "Hesker Boys-Eight Stars".

1st Logo

(1988-1992)

Nickname: "8S"

Logo: On a black background, we see many dots forming the logo. The logo is a box with a stylized "8S" inside a box, and "EIGHT" is shown above the box, and "STARS" under the box. Then we see the byline "TROUGH OLD FILMSTRIP CINEMA /" (with its print logo) on the bottom right of the screen.

FX/SFX: The dots forming the name.

Music/Sounds: Starts out with some tinkles when the stars form the logo, then a synth theme.

Availability: Rare; appears on Redoubled. Some prints have the Big C jingle.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo

(1991)

Nicknames: "8S II", "Shining 8S", "Zooming 8S"

Logo: On a black background, we see a shiny blue 8S zooming out. The Eight Stars text is then seen at a certain point. The logo shines, and the Old Filmstrip byline fades in.

FX/SFX: The zooming, shining, and byline fading-in.

Music/Sounds: A peaceful synth choir theme.

Availability: Rare; seen on Running Flower, and intact on the IFC airing and DVD of said film. Also seen on older video prints of The Decision and Attack a Bit.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo

(1992-1995)

Nicknames: "8S III", "Cloudy 8S"

Logo: Over a orange or purple cloudy background, a 3D cube rotates into view from the top left, when it is facing the screen and in the center, lasers etch a etching of the 8S logo, then the etching explodes, leaving behind the normal 8S logo. The Eight Stars text appears, and the Old Filmstrip byline fades in below.

FX/SFX: The clouds moving, the cube rotating, the lasers, the cube exploding, and the logo forming.

Music/Sounds: A synth fanfare, leading into a synth orchestra fanfare when the logo explodes. Some laser zaps are heard when the lasers etch the logo.

Availability: Rare; seen on Moon Sleeper and Lifes: The Big Bird III. This logo is intact on DVDs of some of these films.

Scare Factor: None; it has a clean, professional look.