Straight-To-Video Releases Are Receiving More Attention

Although straight-to-video releases frequently outnumber theatrical movies making their video debuts, they've received remarkably little press coverage.

That's beginning to change. Several national publications have recently done stories about the phenomenon, including Entertainment Weekly, which published Frank Lovece's comprehensive article, "On Video Only," last month.

Lovece broke the market down into five useful categories: "So Bad They're Unreleasable" (turkeys originally intended for theaters), "Casualties of Bum Luck" (orphaned movies), "Almost Foreign Movies" (English-language movies shot and theatrically released in foreign countries), "Victims of Failed Producers" (movies caught in legal or financial limbo) and "Meant For Video All Along" - a genre that's only six years old. The magazine also profiled Cynthia Rothrock, an American star of Chinese martial-arts pictures who is one of the first made-for-video stars.

Her last movie, "China O'Brien," sold more than 25,000 cassettes. She'll be represented this month by "Fast Getaway," a Sept. 18 release co-starring Leo Rossi and Corey Haim as a bank-robbing father-and-son team. Variety's critic called it "a pleasant, unpretentious action picture (that) will appeal to video fans tired of overblown, hyped-up cinema . . . Rothrock is given a good showcase combining her high-kicking violent streak with sex appeal."

Some fading marquee names have also become direct-to-video

stars. John Saxon has an R-rated new science-fiction film, "The Arrival" (due Thursday), that sounds like a time-tripping remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. co-star in a thriller called "Coverup" (Sept. 11), and Peter Weller, Kelly McGillis, Charles Durning and Frederic Forrest turn up in the erotic thriller, "CatChaser" (Sept. 18), based on an Elmore Leonard story and directed by B-movie veteran Abel Ferrara ("King of New York").

Jan-Michael Vincent has two movies out this month. He co-stars with Glenn Ford and ex-porn star Traci Lords in "Raw Nerve" (due Wednesday, it was panned by Variety as "a perfunctory murder mystery"); he's also the star of "Xtro-2: The Second Encounter" (Sept. 25). The latter, which features special effects by Harry Bromley Davenport ("Alien," "Superman"), is an R-rated sequel to a 1983 British film starring Maryam D'Abo.

One category Lovece left out was the made-for-video sequel. Also out this month are "Ghoulies II" (Sept. 18), starring Kevin McCarthy and Griffin O'Neal, and "American Ninja 4: The Annihilation" (Sept. 25), with martial-arts star Michael Dudikoff again playing the title role.

A few television stars have also shifted into the straight-to-video market, among them Susan Anton and Michael Sarrazin ("Lena's Holiday," a family comedy that's due Thursday) and Dirk Benedict ("Blue Tornado," a "Top Gun"-style thriller due Sept. 18). Benedict's co-star is Patsy Kensit, who is getting quite a build-up for her British movie, "Twenty-One," which arrives in theaters next month.

Occasionally a marquee name or two will stray into video land. Jason Patric, star of "The Lost Boys" and "After Dark, My Sweet" but best-known as Julia Roberts' latest beau, turns up in "Denial" (Sept. 19). Also in the cast of this neurotic love story are Rae Dawn Chong ("The Color Purple") and Robin Wright ("The Princess Bride").

A few deceased actors have also turned up in movies that are just now surfacing on cassette. Ian Charleson, who played the reluctant runner in the Oscar-winning "Chariots of Fire" a decade ago, died of AIDS in January 1990. But he's listed as the star of Dario Argento's "Terror at the Opera," a rehash of "Phantom of the Opera" that makes its video bow Friday. It's available in its original "uncut" version and an R-rated edition that The Los Angeles Weekly called "breathtaking and horrific."

Easily the most ambitious movie to bypass theaters this month is Peter Watkins' 14-hour epic about the nuclear arms race, "The Journey" (Sept. 15). Watkins won an Academy Award 25 years ago for his anti-nuke British film, "The War Game," and he intended "The Journey" to be an extension of it. He spent several years filming the documentary in 14 countries; much of it is made up of interviews with survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and Hamburg. A Chicago company, Facets Multimedia, is releasing it.

Also going straight to video this month:

"Twenty Dollar Star" (Sept. 12). An R-rated thriller about a rich movie star (Rebecca Holden) with a secret. Dick Sargent co-stars.

"Sex and Buttered Popcorn" (Sept. 12). Ned Beatty hosts this 70-minute compilation film, made up of footage from such vintage exploitation movies as "They Wear No Clothes" and "Forbidden Daughters."

"The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend" (Sept. 12). A G-rated, feature-length account of the childhood of the late basketball legend, Pete Maravich, played by 14-year-old Adam Guier. The movie's distributor, SVS, is planning an extensive television campaign on The Family Channel.

"California Casanova" (Sept. 15). Jerry Orbach plays a fake Russian count and dance-school instructor in this romantic comedy co-starring Tyrone Power Jr. as a bumbling stage hand in love with a nightclub singer (Audrey Landers). Variety called it "tiresome . . . a minor direct-to-video release."

"The Masque of the Red Death" (Sept. 18). A remake of the Edgar Allan Poe classic, starring Frank Stallone, Brenda Vaccaro and Herbert Lom in the old Vincent Price role as the aging aristocrat who throws a grisly party.

"No Secrets" (Sept. 18). Adam Coleman Howard, one of the young discoveries of "Slaves of New York," plays a houseguest who terrorizes three teenage girls (Amy Locane, Heather Fairfield, Traci Lind). The Los Angeles Times' Michael Wilmington called this thriller "perfectly acted, sharply photographed, intelligently written and directed."

"Arena" (Sept. 18). A futuristic wrestling epic starring Paul Satterfield as the first earthling in 1,000 years to compete in a galactic gladiator contest. His opponent is a creature named Sloth.

"Hunt For the Night Stalker" (Sept. 19). Richard Jordan and Lisa Eilbacher co-star in this account of a serial killer's six-month reign of terror in Los Angeles in 1985.

"Bikini Summer" (Sept. 19). Shelly Michelle, who was Julia Roberts' body double in "Pretty Woman," stars in this soft-core skin epic.

"Inner Sanctum" (Sept. 25). An R-rated thriller about an unfaithful husband who plots to kill his rich, invalid wife. The cast includes Tanya Roberts, Margaux Hemingway and Joseph Bottoms.

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). ---------------------------------------------------------------

New videos in stores this week

Today - "Films by Jane Campion" ("Peel," "A Girl's Own Story," "Passionless Moments"), "The Sacred Art of Tibet" and "The Visible Compendium," "ESPN's Aerobic Stair Intermediate Workout," "Aerobic Stair Advanced Workout With Weights," "The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert," "Jim Beard: Song of the Sun," "Chroma: Music on the Edge," "Rhythmstick Featuring Dizzy Gillespie."

Monday - "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes: "Encounter at Farpoint," "The Naked Now" and "Code of Honor."

Tuesday - "Raps Most Wanted."

Wednesday - Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita," Jan-Michael Vincent in "Raw Nerve," "L. Ron Hubbard: An Introduction to Scientology."

Thursday - Chrisopher Walken in "The Comfort of Strangers," Susan Anton in "Lena's Holiday," John Saxon in "The Arrival."

Friday - Ian Charleson in Dario Argento's "Terror at the Opera."

Saturday - "Gamblin' Man."

New laserdiscs: "Tom and Jerry Cartoon Classics," Jack Nicholson in "Carnal Knowledge" (letterboxed), Mel Gibson in "Hamlet," Robert De Niro in "Awakenings," Sean Connery in "The Russia House" (letterboxed), Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood," Gene Hackman in "The Poseidon Adventure" (letterboxed), Robert Downey Jr. in "Too Much Sun," Paul Newman in "Harper" (letterboxed), Judy Holliday in "Bells Are Ringing" (letterboxed), Howard Keel in "Kismet" (letterboxed).