The initial batch of releases came out in mid-1980 and were easily recognisable by the sky blue, stylised 'G' symbol that the company retained throughout its life (with only a colour change to gold in 1987) and the logo was redrawn for an updated, cleaner look in 1984.

The original Guild catalogue included a large array of features ranging from creaky and dated British science-fiction/horror fare such as The Beast in the Cellar, The Body Stealers and Doomwatch, to documentary/non-fiction titles such as The Entertaining Electron and Reardon on Snooker as well as recent box office hits such as David Cronenberg's Scanners and Jack Nicholson's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice.

The original catalogue was uncommonly large by the standards of most labels at that time, with well over 100 titles released within the first two years of trading alone, and Guild became well known for the professionalism of its product.

At a time when many of the independent labels were resorting to tacky and often distastefully lurid cover designs to get its products noticed (Go Video's Cannibal Holocaust/SS Experiment Camp and Vipco's The Driller Killer being prime examples), GHV adopted a much more subtle approach.

As each film would cost hundreds of pounds to classify if re-submitted, many independent labels found it uneconomic to submit their entire back catalogues and several simply went out of business.

GHV, by now exclusive distributors to the likes of Cannon, The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Lorimar were able to continue on the strength on their newer titles and the older back catalogue generally disappeared from view.

[5] In 1987, Guild decided to expand and supply into theatrical distribution via subsidiary Guild Film Distribution (formerly Guild International Distributors), and it was on good terms with film distributor Carolco Pictures in order to acquire all UK rights to Extreme Prejudice, as well as video rights to Carolco's upcoming pictures Angel Heart and Rambo III, and decided into a package of three films that were produced by New Century Entertainment, which included Russkies, Nowhere to Hide and Kid Gloves, and picked up home video rights to an Australian feature, which was Coolangatta Gold, and Guild picked up theatrical rights to A Prayer for the Dying, which was produced by The Samuel Goldwyn Company.

In 1988, they secured a distribution deal with Hollywood mini-major Carolco Pictures, which resulted in them gaining exclusive UK video rights for big budget blockbuster movies such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, Cliffhanger, Rambo III and Judge Dredd.