There will be a lot of weeks this summer when a lot of great movies will be released on video. This isn't one of them. A pair of obscure and dubious- sounding films are about the best this off-week has to offer.
BROTHERS IN ARMS (1988) (Republic) $79.95. 95 minutes. Todd Allen, Dedee Pfeiffer, Charles Grant, Jack Starret. Two brothers, searching the remote Colorado wilderness for a missing friend, become the quarry of a deranged backwoods family that performs human sacrifices.
PICASSO TRIGGER (1988) (Warner) $79.95. 99 minutes. Steve Bond, Guich Koock, Harold Diamond. Soap star Bond plays a federal agent who, with the help of a gaggle of Playboy Playmates, sets out to stop an art-collecting killer on a rampage.
RECENT MOVIES
PIN (1988) (New World) $79.95. 103 minutes. David Hewlett, Cyndy Preston, John Ferguson, Terry O'Quinn. Horror outing about a strange plastic figure that becomes the murderous fixation of a disturbed young boy.
THAT'S MY BABY (1989) (Trans World) $79.95. 97 minutes. Timothy Webber, Sonja Smits. Comedy about a househusband more interested in his new arrival than in a career.
YOUNG LOVE: LEMON POPSICLE 7 (1987) (Warner) $79.95. 91 minutes. The Porky's-style amorous adventures of a trio of college boys at a summer resort.
VINTAGE FILMS
JUNE NIGHT (1940) (Crocus) $79.95. 90 minutes. Ingrid Bergman, Marianne Lofgren, Olof Widgren, Marianne Aminoff. An early Bergman film, before she was well-known in this country. After rumors surface about her promiscuity, a woman flees a small town and is trailed by a gossip-hunting reporter. In Swedish with English subtitles.
SWEDENHIELMS (1935) (Crocus) $79.95. 88 minutes. Ingrid Bergman, Hakan
Westergren, Gosta Ekman, Karin Swanstrom. In this early film, Bergman stars as a member of a wealthy family plunged into turmoil when it becomes clear that the father will not win the Nobel Prize. In Swedish with English subtitles.
MUSIC
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: BALL AND CHAIN (1967) (Rhino) $14.95. 30 minutes. Janis Joplin and her band perform (in the studio) some of their hits, including "Down on Me," "Light Is Faster Than Sound" and "Oh, Sweet Mary."
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (1989) (Kultur) $39.95. 145 minutes. Joan Sutherland and the Australian Opera perform Donizetti's opera set in 17th-century Scotland.
QUEEN . . . THE MAGIC YEARS (1989) (MPI) $19.95 each. 55 minutes each. Three-volume collection depicting the evolution of the British rock band: Vol. 1: The Foundations, Vol. 2: Live Killers in the Making and Vol. 3: Crowded in Glory.
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: A BUNCH OF VIDEOS AND SOME OTHER STUFF (1989) (MPI) $24.95. 55 minutes. As the title suggests, a compilation of videos by the singer/songwriter and his band. Songs include "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Refugee."
TOSCA (1989) (Kultur) $39.95. 123 minutes. Eva Marton and the Australian Opera perform Puccini's tragic opera of love and betrayal.
COMEDY
THE FLYING KARAMAZOV BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR (1989) (Forum) $19.98. 59 minutes. The comedic juggling team performs (taped before an audience at the sold-out Broadway show).
JONATHAN WINTERS ON THE LEDGE (1989) (Forum) $19.98. 60 minutes. Winters is joined by Robin Williams, Martin Mull, Milton Berle and Phyllis Diller for a series of comedy sketches.
INSTRUCTION
HIT IT LONG (1989) (Longball Enterprises) $29.95. 33 minutes. Jack Hamm, who is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having made the longest PGA-sanctioned golf drive (406 yards), offers his tips on power driving. To order, call 800-284-0368.
HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY (1988) (New World) $19.95. 59 minutes. Stan Lee, founder of Marvel Comics and creator of Spider-Man, and John Buscema, the artist behind Conan the Barbarian and Silver Surfer, offer basics on drawing comic-book characters.
STREET VIOLENCE: YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF (1977) (New World) $14.95. 31 minutes. Police officer Lidon Griffith of the New York Housing Authority demonstrates techniques that people can use to avert street crimes and what to do if you are attacked.
SPORTS
BALL TALK: BASEBALL'S VOICES OF SUMMER (1989) (J2) $29.95. 50 minutes. Reminiscences by some of the great baseball announcers, including Mel Allen, Red Barber, Jack Brickhouse, Curt Gowdy, Jack Buck and Ernie Harwell.
MICKEY MANTLE: THE AMERICAN DREAM COMES TO LIFE (1989) (Fox Hills) $19.95. 60 minutes. A look at the life and career of one of baseball's all-time greats.
PRO WRESTLING
CHI-TOWN RUMBLE '89 (1989) (Turner) $39.98. 120 minutes. National Wrestling Association action includes bouts featuring "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Ricky ''The Dragon" Steamboat.
MADE FOR TELEVISION
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRIZZLY ADAMS (1989) (Forum) $14.98 each. 50 minutes each. Two episodes from the series starring Dan Haggerty as the rugged fur trapper and mountain man. Titles: Blood Brothers and Beaver Dam.
PERRY MASON: THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS (1985) (Forum) $29.98. 95 minutes. Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, Al Freeman Jr., William Katt. Originally titled Perry Mason Returns, this is the original episode of the occasional series with Burr reprising his role as imperious attorney Perry Mason. In this one, Perry, now a judge, steps down to defend his old secretary, Della Street, who has been accused of a murder.
POKER ALICE (1987) (New World) $59.95. 109 minutes. Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Skerritt, George Hamilton. Western comedy in the Destry Rides Again vein, with Liz as a New Orleans card shark who wins a Western brothel at the game table and Hamilton as her charming cousin, who offers to help her run the place.
RETURN TO MAYBERRY (1986) (Forum) $29.98. 95 minutes. Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors, Jack Dodson, Ron Howard, George Lindsay, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn. The highly rated reunion movie of the old Andy Griffith Show gang finds Andy returning to Mayberry to try to get his old job as sheriff back, only to learn that Barney is running for the job, too.
DOCUMENTARIES
JOHN WAYNE: THE DUKE LIVES ON - A TRIBUTE (1989) (Turner) $19.98. 48 minutes. The life and career of this superstar, featuring clips from many of his films.
VINCENT: A DUTCHMAN (1989) (Home Vision) $29.95. 30 minutes. Actor Christopher Reeve narrates a look at artist Vincent van Gogh.
OTHER
JUNIOR G-MEN (1940) (Rhino) $24.95. 250 minutes on two cassettes. Compilation of the movie serial starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys as kids who join forces with the FBI to battle crime and corruption.
LITTLE RASCALS & OUR GANG (1989) (Republic) $9.95 each. 30 minutes each. Six cassettes, each containing two episodes from the popular Little Rascals and Our Gang series from the 1930s and '40s. Titles: Little Sinner/Two Too Young, Pinch Singer/Framing Youth, Honkey Donkey/Sprucin' Up, Our Gang Follies of 1936/The Awful Tooth, Divot Digger/Mama's Little Pirate and Reunion in Rhythm/Mike's Fright.
THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935) (Rhino) $24.95. 250 minutes on two cassettes. Compilation of the movie serial starring Gene Autry as a science-fiction crusader battling evil robots and mad scientists.
MARKDOWNS
MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT has announced price reductions to $19.95 on these films: Assassination (* '87), Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (* '87), The Delta Force (* * * '86), Firewalker (* '86), Murphy's Law (* '86) and The Octagon (* * '80), plus three Elvis Presley videos: Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii, Elvis '68 Comeback Special and Elvis '56. Also, these animated children's videos, featuring Charlie Brown and the Peanuts characters, have been reduced to $14.95: Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown; Charlie Brown All-Stars; A Charlie Brown Christmas; He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown; Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown; It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown; It's Magic, Charlie Brown; It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown; It's the Flash Beagle, Charlie Brown; It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown; What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown; You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, and You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown.
TURNER HOME ENTERTAINMENT has announced re-releases, at $19.98, of these John Wayne films: Allegheny Uprising (* * * '39), Back to Bataan (* * * '45), Flying Leathernecks (* * * '51), Fort Apache (* * * * '48), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (* * * * '49), Tall in the Saddle (* * * '44) and Tycoon (* * * '47). Allegheny Uprising, Fort Apache and Tall in the Saddle also have been released in colorized versions for the same price.
COMING NEXT WEEK
Dan Aykroyd marries an extraterrestrial in MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN, and Meryl Streep plays a woman unfairly accused of killing her child in A CRY IN THE DARK.
RATINGS:
* * * * Excellent
* * * Good
* * Fair
* Poor
(Videos with no stars were not reviewed by The Inquirer.)
