Malofilm Video

Background

Malofilm Video (formerly "Les Films René Malo/René Malo Vidéo") was a film/home video company founded in 1974 by René Malo in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. During the life of the company, Malofilm published films and released tapes licensed from New World Video, Republic Pictures Home Video, Vidmark Entertainment, as well as French-dubbed titles from MGM/UA Home Video (until the early '90s) and Paramount Home Video. Some of these tapes were distributed in Canada by New World Video. René Malo resigned from the company in 1997 and it was renamed to Behaviour Communications and later Seville Pictures, which is now owned by Entertainment One.

1st Logo (1974-1991)

Nicknames: "The M Filmstrip"

Logo: We see a rainbow shoot forth from the left of the screen as the black background fades to a blue gridded floor with a reddish sunset in the background. The rainbow turns into a bronze filmstrip as it spirals toward a smooth ribbon, joining it near the center to form an abstract M. The filmstrip flashes, and "LES FILMS RENÉ MALO PRÉSENTENT" appears below in a white ITC Avant Garde font. The filmstrip sparkles a little after that.

Variants: On most tapes, the logo is videotaped and the text reads "RENÉ MALO VIDÉO PRÉSENTE".

FX/SFX: The filmstrips twisting and the flashing lights, which were top-notch effects for 1974.

Music/Sounds: "Prestige Logo (1)" by Paddy Kingsland, a track from the KPM music library, but with the arpeggio riser part cut and coupled with whooshes and a few dings.

Availability: Very rare. It can be seen on French-Canadian releases of MGM/UA Home Video titles and Paramount Home Video titles. It can also be seen on Canadian VHS releases of King of the Kickboxers, Mindfield, Black Christmas (1974), The Wizard of Speed and Time, Cyber Ninja (AKA: Warlords in this said country), The Amityville Curse and Matinee (AKA: Midnight Matinee). It also appears on French-Canadian prints of films they produced or distributed.

2nd Logo (Late 80s/Early 90s-1997)

Nickname: "Spiral M"

Logo: Against a grey marble or cloudy sky background, a rainbow ribbon comes up from the bottom of the screen. The rainbow glides around to the right, and then twists itself into an “M”. The rainbow “M” turns gold from left to right while a beam goes through it from right to left. Two more beams shoot underneath the “M” from right to left, leaving behind the words "MALOFILM" and "VIDEO".

Variants:

There is a shorter version, starting when the rainbow begins to glide and twist to the right.
A very short filmed variant starts with the shooting beams; "DISTRIBUTION" replaces "VIDEO". Used probably for trailers and theatrical prints.
There's a version with odd color changes, ending in what looks green-tinted, on the 2002 Platinum Disc DVD of Blind Fear. This is most likely the fault of the DVD company themselves, since at the time, a great majority of their DVD releases were unfortunate enough to be green tinted as well.

FX/SFX: Some early CGI from the looks of it, which is remarkably advanced for the time period and holds up quite well today.

Music/Sounds: A low-pitched chime, then an ascending synth drone (not unlike THX), which leads into a triumphant synth hit and a 7-note chime tune. Reverse cymbal crashes are used for the beams shooting. Later releases use a re-orchestrated version of the theme, beginning with a much more subdued, softer chime-like sound. The distribution version uses the opening theme to the trailer, if not a shortened version of the regular music.

Availability: Somewhat easier to find than the previous logo, but still very rare. Releases with this logo include Monty Python and the Holy Grail and some of the Scanners movies, particularly parts 2 and 3 and Scanner Cop 1 and 2. Also appears on some Canadian releases of Vidmark tapes such as Leprechaun, Spitfire, Heatseeker, and Best Kept Secrets. It also appears on Canadian releases of VHS tapes from Republic Pictures such as A.P.E.X. and French-Canadian VHS releases of Paramount films such as Cool World. Also found on a rare VHS release of Something About Love. This makes a surprise appearance on the 2002 Platinum Disc DVD of Blind Fear and the French-dubbed version of Dead Cold, before the Image Organization logo on the latter film's Canadian DVD release from Seville Pictures. Also appears on Canadian VHS releases of the 1991 film The Psychic, before the Cineglobe and C/FP Distribution logos and on Frame Up before the Cineglobe logo, oddly.