If you've seen this video, what rating would you give it? 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Other videos put out by Blockhead:   Debbie Does Blockhead (1992)   Recycled Rubbish (1991)   Adventures in Cheese (1990)

Splendid Eye Torture Blockhead 1989, 46 minutes Current Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Splendid Eye Torture is Blockhead’s first skate video. The folks at Blockhead were one of the more memorable "little-guy" companies, competing with the big corporations of the day like Santa Cruz, Vision and Powell Peralta. Not being able to outspend their competition, they relied on innovation to turn heads. Most of the skating in this video is on transition (vert, mini and pool) but there’s ample street footage and it’s no longer just powerslides and bonelesses. January 15, 2004 Thankfully, with the re-releases of the Blockhead videos, contemporary skaters can now appreciate just how innovative this company was. Its first video, Splendid Eye Torture, is a fine introduction. While other skate videos (Animal Chin, Streets On Fire) threw in plot lines to set them apart from other videos of simply compiled skate footage, Blockhead experimented with artsy editing and arguably set a precedent for videos like Alien Workshop's Memory Screen. Editing aside, there are other reasons to watch this video like all the amazing skaters, such as street and mini-ramp gnarler and all-terrain killer, Sam Cunningham, Jim Gray, and familiar names like Steve Berra and Rick Howard. With respect to the latter two, older videos like this show that they didn't simply come out of nowhere but paid their dues to get to the top of their game. My only complaint with Splendid Eye Torture is that it's heavy on vert and mini-footage, which dates the video. But who could have foreseen the death of vert skating back in 1989? Not Omar Hassan, Mike Barnes and Andy Scott who all rip it up. OneLoveJamDown

What to Expect: Featured Skaters: Frank Atwater Mike Barnes Dave Bergthold Kevin Bergthold Steve Berra Andy Brayman Ron Cameron Chris Carlstrom Sam Cunningham Adam Effertz Brian Frostad John Gibson Jim Gray Zak Grove Omar Hassan Rick Howard Chad Jackson Sean Jones Ron Lemen Geoff Ortlip Brandon Perry Joe Peterson Fred Reeves J.J. Rogers Phil Rouchard Andy Scott Jeff Taylor Steve Teague Paul Wright Sound Track: If you dig the music from Splendid Eye Torture, check out the soundtrack for it.