Vestron Pictures
Encyclopedia
Vestron Pictures was a film studio and distributor of the late 1980s, and a division of Austin O. Furst, Jr.'s Vestron Inc., best known for their 1987 release
of Dirty Dancing
. The company was a spin-off of the earlier video distributor, Vestron Video
. Vestron also had a genre film division, Lightning Pictures, a spin-off of Vestron's Lightning Video. Today, Lionsgate
owns the rights to the Vestron library (previously owned by LIVE Entertainment, later Artisan
).
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
of Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
. The company was a spin-off of the earlier video distributor, Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
. Vestron also had a genre film division, Lightning Pictures, a spin-off of Vestron's Lightning Video. Today, Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
owns the rights to the Vestron library (previously owned by LIVE Entertainment, later Artisan
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
).
Productions
- Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College (1991) (released by Taurus Entertainment Company)
- Love HurtsLove Hurts (film)Love Hurts is a 1990 comedy-drama film co-produced and directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays a womanizer who goes home to Pennsylvania for a wedding and finds his past catching up with him....
(1990) - A Gnome Named Gnorm (1990)
- FearFear (1990 film)Fear is a thriller/horror/suspense film. It is directed by Rockne S. O'Bannon and stars Ally Sheedy, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Michael O'Keefe, Lauren Hutton, Keone Young, Stan Shaw, Dean Goodman, Don Hood and Jonathan Prince.-Plot summary:...
(1990) - Blue SteelBlue Steel (1990 film)Blue Steel is a 1990 action thriller film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver and Clancy Brown.-Plot:Megan Turner is a rookie New York City policewoman who shoots and kills a suspect with her police-issue .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver while he's...
(1990) (eventually acquired and released by Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
due to financial problems.) - Class of 1999Class of 1999Class of 1999 is a 1990 science fiction film directed by Mark L. Lester. It is the director's follow-up to his 1982 film Class of 1984.-Synopsis:...
(1990) (released by Taurus Entertainment Company) - CatchfireCatchfireCatchfire is a 1990 action-thriller-drama film starring Jodie Foster, Dennis Hopper, and Fred Ward. Several other notable actors have cameos. The film was disowned by its director, Hopper, before release and he is therefore credited under the fictional pseudonym Alan Smithee...
(1990) - Enid Is Sleeping (1990)
- Spies on Ice (1990)
- Hider in the HouseHider in the HouseHider in the House was a British children's game show presented by Jason King and Joel Ross . In the programme, a celebrity had to be hidden in a family's house by three children and a parent. If the family have fewer than three children, they use friends or related children to make up the numbers...
(1989) - C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. is a 1989 comedy horror film, directed by David K. Irving, written by M. Kane Jeeves and stars Brian Robbins, Tricia Leigh Fisher and Bianca Jagger.-Plot:...
(1989) - Little MonstersLittle MonstersLittle Monsters is a 1989 comedy-drama film starring Fred Savage as Brian Stevenson, a sixth-grader who has recently moved to a new town, and Howie Mandel as Maurice, the monster under the bed....
(1989, Vestron produced the film but sold the film to United ArtistsUnited ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
due to financial problems.) - TwisterTwister (1989 film)Twister is a 1989 comedy film starring Suzy Amis, Crispin Glover, Harry Dean Stanton, and Dylan McDermott.-Plot:Based on Mary Robison's 1981 novel Oh, the film relates the story of the eccentric Cleveland family during the event of a tornado's hitting their rural Kansas home...
(1989) - The Rainbow (1989)
- Cat ChaserCat ChaserCat Chaser is a 1989 film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Peter Weller and Kelly McGillis, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It was adapted from the novel by Leonard and James Borelli....
(1989) - Far From Home (1989)
- Sundown: The Vampire in RetreatSundown: The Vampire in RetreatSundown: The Vampire in Retreat is a Western horror/comedy directed by Anthony Hickox, and written by John Burgess and Anthony Hickox. Filmed in and around Moab, Utah, in 1988, Sundown was Vestron Pictures' last film and it was never released to theaters. Its only public screenings were at film...
(1989) - Earth Girls Are EasyEarth Girls Are EasyEarth Girls Are Easy is a 1988 American musical comedy film directed by Julien Temple. It stars Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Michael McKean, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans. The film is marketed with the tagline "An out-of-this-world, down-to-earth comedy adventure"...
(1989, distribution only) - Dream a Little DreamDream a Little DreamDream a Little Dream is a 1989 teen film directed by Marc Rocco and stars Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton and Corey Haim. It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Released in 1,019 theaters, it accumulated $5,552,441. This was the third film...
(1989) - ParentsParents (film)Parents is a 1989 horror-comedy film written by Christopher Hawthorne and directed by Bob Balaban. The film is about a suburban 50's boy living who suspects his parents of cannibalism. The film starred Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, and Bryan Madorsky...
(1989) - Paint It Black (1989)
- The UnholyThe UnholyThe Unholy is a 1988 horror film directed by Camilo Vila and starring Ben Cross, Nicole Fortier, and Ned Beatty. It also features Trevor Howard in his final role.-Plot:...
(1988) - Burning SecretBurning SecretBurning Secret is a 1988 drama film, based on the short story Brennendes Geheimnis by Stefan Zweig, about an American diplomat's son who befriends a mysterious baron while staying at an Austrian spa during the 1920s. The film was written and directed by Andrew Birkin, and stars Klaus Maria...
(1988) - The Beat (1988)
- Waxwork (1988)
- Young GunsYoung GunsYoung Guns is a 1988 action/western film, directed by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. The film was the first to be produced by Morgan Creek Productions...
(1988, international and video distribution only, 20th Century Fox owned North American theatrical rights) - Call MeCall Me (film)Call Me is a 1988 erotic thriller film about a woman who strikes up a relationship with a stranger over the phone, and in the process becomes entangled in a murder. The film was directed by Sollace Mitchell, and stars Patricia Charbonneau, Stephen McHattie, and Boyd Gaines. After its theatrical...
(1988) - Midnight Crossing (1988)
- And God Created WomanAnd God Created Woman (1988 film)And God Created Woman is a 1988 film that starred Rebecca De Mornay and Vincent Spano. It is a remake of the 1958 French film Et Dieu… créa la femme starring Brigitte Bardot....
(1988) - Spies Inc. (1988) (Released on videocassette in 1992 by Live Home Video, under the name "Code Name: Chaos")
- ParamedicsParamedics (film)Paramedics is a 1988 comedy film starring George Newbern and Christopher McDonald.-Plot:When this group of rowdy and raunchy, laid-back medics are transferred from their cushy uptown district to the rough south-end, they find plenty of trouble when they discover the tough guys are playing a...
(1988) - Dangerous CurvesDangerous CurvesDangerous Curves is the fifth studio album by British-American hard rock/heavy metal singer and guitarist Lita Ford, released in 1991. Though popular among her fans, the album failed to success as musical tastes were shifting towards alternative rock in late 1991...
(1988) - Promised LandPromised Land (1987 film)Promised Land is a 1987 drama film written and directed by Michael Hoffman, and it stars Kiefer Sutherland and Meg Ryan. It is set in Utah and is apparently based on a true story...
(1988) - The Lair of the White WormThe Lair of the White Worm (film)The Lair of the White Worm is a 1988 film based loosely on the novel by Bram Stoker of the same name and drawing upon the English myth of the Lambton Worm...
(1988) - Anna (1987)
- China GirlChina Girl (1987 film)China Girl is a 1987 film directed by independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara, and written by his longtime partner Nicholas St. John.-Story:China Girl is a modern take on the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet...
(1987) - The Princess BrideThe Princess Bride (film)The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
(1987, international distribution only; 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
owned North American theatrical rights.) - Dirty DancingDirty DancingDirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
(1987) - The Adventure of the Action Hunters (1987)
- MalcolmMalcolm (film)Malcolm is a 1986 Australian cult film, written by David Parker and directed by Nadia Tass. The film stars Colin Friels as the titular tram enthusiast who becomes involved with petty crime. The film won the 1986 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film.At the start of the film Malcolm is...
(1987, US distribution only) - Nightforce (1987)
- Blood Diner (1987)
- Billy GalvinBilly GalvinBilly Galvin is a 1986 film directed by John Gray. It stars Karl Malden and Lenny von Dohlen.-Plot :Conflict arises between a steelworker and his son...
(1986) - Slaughter HighSlaughter HighSlaughter High is a 1986 slasher film written and directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Litten.-Plot:The day begins with a popular student, Carol Manning , jokingly asking Marty Rantzen , the school nerd, to have sex with her in the women’s locker room...
(1986) - The Pointsman (1986)
- Alpine Fire (1985)