November 1981–1992[]
Nicknames: "...OR ELSE!", "A Strict Warning"
Warning: On a black background, we see the warning text (in white):
WARNING
THE COPYRIGHT PROPRIETOR HAS
LICENCED THE FILM
(INCLUDING ITS SOUNDTRACK)
COMPRISED IN THIS VIDEOCASSETTE
FOR HOME USE ONLY.
ALL OTHER RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.
ANY UNAUTHORISED COPYING, EDITING,
EXHIBITION, RENTING, EXCHANGING,
HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCES,
DIFFUSION AND/OR BROADCAST OF THIS
VIDEOCASSETTE OR ANY PART THEREOF
IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
...OR ELSE!
Variants:
- On some tapes, the text is white on a blue background, and the "OR ELSE!" is missing.
- An even rarer variant has "ELSE" or "OR ELSE!" flashing red, purple and blue just as the warning finishes fading in.
FX/SFX: None, except for the flashing on the flashing variant.
Availability: Very common. Seen on most UK Palace Video releases with the "Haunted Castle/Neon Castle" logo, such as The Dark Crystal, The Snowman, The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, Big Meat Eater, Lenny Henry Live and Unleashed, Night of the Demons, The Streetwalker, The Evil Dead, Asterix in Britain, and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. Palace Pictures releases (which don't have the Neon Castle logo) also have this warning screen, such as High Spirits, A World Apart, The Hit, Blood Simple, When Harry Met Sally..., and King of New York. The blue background variant appears on That Sinking Feeling, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and the Virgin Video pre-cert release of The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. The "flashing" variant appears on the UK pre-cert tapes of Angel and The Honeymoon Killers (with just 'ELSE!' flashing), and on the 1988 UK rental releases of River's Edge and Good Morning Babylon paired with the Palace Pictures logo (with 'OR ELSE!' flashing).
Editor's Note: This warning's infamous for its "OR ELSE!" message at the end of the message, as well as being followed by the bright and loud Palace Video logo that has unnerved a few on many early tapes. The flashing variant pushes this even further, but it's more of an distraction than anything else, not to mention being cheap and only appearing when the warning fades in. The blue background variant is exempted from this for obvious reasons.