The Horror... The Horror...

If you've attended the cinema at all in the past ten years or so, you've no doubt seen this ominous logo for Lionsgate Studios. Founded in 1997, they're the most commercially successful independent film company of all time.

Lionsgate of course specializes in the horror genre, with a dash of torture porn thrown in for good measure. They have several highly successful and lucrative franchises under their belt. This is but a small sampling of their massive output over the years.

They also distribute this.

I'm betting there are some parents out there who don't see any difference between the Thomas series and Lionsgate's prodigious horror output. Whoa, ZING! Am I right, folks? Especially when your precious little snowflake insists on watching the same damn video every single day of the year...

Odd as it may seem, maybe it's not a bad idea after all. Maybe Lionsgate is just being cagey and diversifying. If the horror genre ever goes belly up, they'll still have the "Anthropomorphic British Railroad With A Touch Of Whimsy" genre to fall back on.

By the way, take a close look at that train over at the left of this cover, whose name I can't be bothered to look up. Go on, zoom in, I'll wait. Tell me that that train's face wasn't modeled on Al Lewis, of TVs Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters fame. Go on, tell me! You can't, can you? It's a dead ringer for him!