Cobra Films Limited were yet another off-shoot label of Medusa, joining the likes of Pegasus Home Video and New Dimension. Of course, there are suggestions of plenty more, and this is without getting into their distribution deals like that with Pizazz. Seriously, the various layers to Medusa are a fascinating read and would one day make a truly remarkable documentary.
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I make no secret of the fact that Medusa are far and away my favourite video label of all time. Not only great covers and lengthy pre-movie trailer reels, but also, for the most part, simply great movies.
It is in my research of the fabulous label that I discovered their many layers, and none more so than the connection to Guild Home Video. You see, Medusa and Guild cut a deal in November of 1986 that gave birth to the New Dimension label. “Guild’s added Dimension” was a sideline as spearheaded by Guild sales director Peter Johnson, who headed up this new venture. Johnson had been with Guild since day one.
Mr Johnson understood Medusa’s reliability in the market, and so effectively the product would not alter, with New Dimension retaining the appealing artwork. The distribution side of things was all done through Guild Home Video. Continue reading
TVV Films were an off-shoot of VIZ MOVIES, whose sales and distribution was all handled by Global Sales Ltd, previously known as Pricefall Limited. Global were also responsible for two other labels, Renown Video and Fifth Dimension.
It is still unclear what ‘TVV’ stood for, although I think the last V (Video) is pretty much a given.
The Pizazz label is something of a real curio. They appear to have only ever released one movie under the label’s name, a 1976 Italian crime movie called Risking (aka Pronto!, aka Meet Him and Die). The film was actually released as both a pre and post-cert on the same label.
The earlier release was from December ’83, and in connection with another label, Lunar. Lunar were not a label that lasted long in the video world and only released one other title in their own right – Nick the Sting.
The plot thickens with the pre-cert release because this was actually manufactured and distributed by Medusa. The post-cert was not.
As there are no other known releases on the Pizazz label, be it pre or post-cert era, I can only assume that this label is now complete.
The Frontier video label came to the UK market in 1986. The label was independently run but also a full-blown off-shoot of Guild Home Video, making it quite the oddity. Frontier were based at Crown House in Walton-On-Thames, Surrey (also home of Guild), and are believed to have only released seven titles in total, all within the first year of operation.
It has taken me a number of years to finally complete this label as a few of the titles are incredibly rare. The rarest being LA Streetfighters (aka Ninja Turf), which was directed by one half of the infamous Miami Connection team. This tape alone can command upwards of £30 online, on the very rare occasion that it actually turns up. In fact, most of the seven are pretty tough to track down.
