AllMovie

In 1963, Screen Gems, a division of Columbia Pictures that primarily produced and distributed material to television, changed their logo from a variation on the classic Columbia trade mark to a new image of a stylized S accompanied by a fanfare played on an early Moog synthesizer. Was an entire generation scarred by this decision? Filmmaker Rodney Ascher recalls his own reactions to the Screen Gems logo as well as those of other children of the 1960s and 70s in his satiric documentary The S From Hell; combining interviews, found footage and new material, the short subject explores how the futuristic corporate symbol rubbed viewers the wrong way and even sent some into spasms of terror. The S From Hell was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.