Direct-To-Video Movies Dwell On Sex, Horror And Action

Hollywood vaults reportedly contain more unreleased theatrical films than at any other time in the history of the studios.

Some have turned up on cable, some in syndication, some have even made it to the networks (Columbia Pictures' long-shelved 1988 film, ``Flying Blind,'' played on NBC last summer), but most go directly to videocassette.

Later this week, for instance, you can hold your own at-home premieres of an Erik Estrada crime drama in which he co-stars with six Playboy Playmates (``Guns''), a Dean R. Koontz horror film starring Victoria Tennant (``Whispers''), a campy thriller set in a mortuary (``Night Life''), or a bargain-priced collection of soft-core porn films from Luna Video (``Hand of Pleasure,'' ``Hot on the Trail,'' ``The Dreams of Laura'' and ``Fait Accompli,'' each priced at $30).

As with most direct-to-video releases, the stars are less-than-marquee names, the budgets are less than generous, and the subject matter is limited: sex, horror, car chases and gun battles.

More of the same is scheduled: Catherine Oxenberg in something called ``Swimsuit: The Movie'' (Jan. 24); Richard Lynch in the murder mystery, ``Lockdown'' (Jan. 30); Ginger Lynn Allen in ``Hollywood Boulevard II'' (Jan. 30); a thriller about chemical warfare called ``The Rutanga Tapes'' (Jan. 31); a Wings Hauser action vehicle set in Las Vegas, ``Living to Die'' (Jan. 31); and a mystery-thriller starring Tom Skerritt and Michael Parks, ``The China Lake Murders'' (Jan. 31).

In addition, a kung-fu spoof called ``9 1/2 Ninjas,'' about a martial artist who gets turned on by a sexy disciple (Andee Gray), is due Jan. 24. Susannah York has a small role in a romantic comedy called ``Fate'' (Jan. 24); Burt Ward turns up in a featured role in a sex comedy set in a Catholic boarding school, ``Virgin High'' (Jan. 23); and Dan Akyroyd and Jim Belushi make cameo appearances in the biker comedy, ``Masters of Menace'' (Jan. 23).

Science-fiction and the supernatural are also big on cassette. Later this month, video stores will be carrying ``Moon 44,'' starring Michael Pare, Malcolm McDowell and Lisa Eichhorn (it's due Jan. 24); ``Bad Girls From Mars,'' a spoof starring Edy Williams (Jan. 30); and ``Project: Alien,'' a UFO thriller set in Norway and starring Charles Durning, Michael Nouri and Maxwell Caulfield (Jan. 30).

``Soultaker'' (Jan. 22), which deals with a ``spiritual messenger service'' that removes people's souls at the moment of death, received a favorable review from Variety's critic, Larry Cohn, who claimed that star-scriptwriter Vivian Schilling has created a drama that compares favorably to last year's No. 1 box-office hit: ``All told, the mechanics of the afterlife are more consistently presented here than in `Ghost.' ''

``Voodoo Dawn'' (Jan. 24) is a Southern Gothic thriller starring Tony Todd, Theresa Merrit and the late Raymond St. Jacques in the story of a blood feud between a Haitian sharecropper family and a powerful voodoo priest. ``Shock 'Em Dead'' (Jan. 31), which includes Troy Donahue and Aldo Ray in its supporting cast, stars Traci Lords as a rock band's manager who gets involved with a devil worshiper.

Dario Argento, the Italian filmmaker who was nicknamed ``the Italian Hitchcock'' in the early 1970s for his innovative direction of such rarely shown cult favorites as ``Suspiria'' and ``The Bird With the Crystal Plummage,'' has finally found his niche on video.

On Jan. 30, Southgate Entertainment will release Argento's 1990 film, ``The Church,'' about an evil presence that dominates the site of a medieval massacre. It will be available in R-rated and unrated versions. Although Argento produced and co-wrote the film, most of the publicity fails to mention that someone else, Michele Soavi, gets the director's credit.

Less geared to the exploitation market is ``Little Vegas,'' a Jan. 23 release starring Catherine O'Hara (the mother in ``Home Alone''), Michael Nouri, Jerry Stiller and Anthony John Dennis as a group of misfits in a small desert town. Anne Francis plays O'Hara's mother.

The cast and premise sound promising, but last November's Variety review claimed that it ``plays like a bad episode of an ensemble TV drama. . . first-time director Perry Lang ends up wandering aimlessly through this sort-of comedy like a drunken man in the desert.'' Lang is a protegee of John Sayles, the writer-director of ``Return of the Secaucus Seven'' and ``Matewan,'' and Sayles and Bob Goldthwait turn up in cameo roles.

Video Watch by John Hartl appears Sundays in Arts & Entertainment. You can get more video information by calling the Seattle Times' 24-hour free service Infoline. Call 464-2000 from any touch-tone telephone and when instructed, enter the category number 0911 to reach the Video Hotline. You may replay all information by pressing ``R'' (7); back up to previous information by pressing ``B'' (2); and jump over over current information by pressing ``J'' (5).

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New videos in stores this week

Wednesday - Peter Weller in ``Rainbow Drive,'' Erik Estrada in ``Guns,'' Scott Grimes in ``Night Life,'' ``The Hand of Pleasure,'' ``Hot on the Trail,'' ``The Dreams of Laura,'' ``Fait Accompli.''

Thursday - Victoria Tennant in ``Whispers,'' Linda Blair in ``Repossessed.''

New laserdiscs: Eight episodes of ``The Outer Limits'' (boxed set), Paul Newman in ``The Hustler'' (letterboxed), Twiggy in ``The Boyfriend'' (letterboxed), Stephen Boyd in ``Fantastic Voyage'' (letterboxed), Charlton Heston in ``Planet of the Apes'' (letterboxed).