Wizard Video

Wizard Video was a home video distribution company formed by B movie producer Charles Band in the early 1980s. It was well-known for its detailed (and often lurid) box art, especially during the time that it sold videocassettes in larger individual boxes. It's VHS releases included Zombie 2, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I Spit on Your Grave.
== History ==
Wizard Video was a subsidiary of Empire International Pictures, a small film studio founded by Band after he left Media Home Entertainment. Wizard's videocassettes were originally duplicated by the company Sound/Video Unlimited.
From 1982 to 1983, Wizard's releases were distributed by Family Home Entertainment. Empire also distributed films under the Force Video and Cult Video labels during this time.
Subsequently, Spectrum Video became Wizard's distribution partner. In 1985, Empire revived the Force Video label, and Lightning Video, a subsidiary of Vestron Video, agreed to distribute Force Video's releases. The distribution agreement with Lightning would be extended to the Wizard label in 1986.
In 1987, Empire formed a new division, Urban Classics, which distributed films both theatrically, and subsequently on video.
Empire and its video labels shuttered in 1988. Band went on to found Full Moon Productions, which would later resurrect the Wizard Video and Cult Video labels.
On February 7, 2013, Wizard claimed that a large quantity of printed but unused "big box" packages, representing 36 titles, had been found in a warehouse. The company began selling these boxes, with newly manufactured videocassettes and inner packaging, as limited-edition collectors' items. Wizard would reduce the number of titles that it would offer from 36 to 32, asserting that the boxes for the remaining titles had been damaged by water, and "were in unsalvageable condition". There were allegations, however, that these boxes, sold as originals, were actually reproductions. Supposedly found along with the videocassette packages were unused boxes for Wizard's two video game titles. The company planned to release these as well, at some later date.
In 2014, the Wizard Video brand was re-launched as Wizard Studios "to spotlight rising independent filmmakers and their cutting-edge genre pictures". The first set of films, Virginia Obscura, Vampie, and Villanelle, premiered on Full Moon's subscription-based streaming service.
==Gallery==
=== Logos ===
File:Wizard Video (1980).png
File:Wizard Video (1984).png
=== FBI Warnings ===
File:Wizard Video Warning.jpg