This is the Palace Video warning screen from the 1980s-1990s in United Kingdom.
Nicknames: "...OR ELSE!", "The Very Strict Warning", "The Warning That Gives People Nightmares", "The '...OR ELSE!' Warning"
Warning: On a black background, we see the warning text (in white and in Tabloid font):
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 more rare variant has the "ELSE!" of "OR ELSE!" flashing red and blue.
FX: None.
Cheesy Factor: Considering the way it is arranged, the warning makes no grammatical sense.
Availability: Seen on most UK Palace Video releases with the "Haunted Castle/Neon Castle" logo, such as The Dark Crystal. Later Palace releases (that don't have the Neon Castle) such as High Spirits also have this.
Scare Factor: Anywhere from none to nightmare; it all depends on what you think of the "...OR ELSE!" part of the warning screen. Depending on who you are, you might either find it unintentionally funny, rather ridiculous or quite unnerving (due to the ambiguity left by nothing coming after the 'OR ELSE' part, as well as the poor grammar of the arrangement of it). Raised medium to nightmare for the flashing variant, as well as the fact that the Palace Video logo follows this. None for the blue background variant.
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