For a Home Horror Happening; Glut in the Holiday Sales Market?; Third Round of ‘Police Academy’

For those who aren’t going to a Halloween party, or who want to bring one home on film, this may be the time to rent a scary movie. Some of the more obvious ones, such as “Alien,” “The Exorcist” and “Psycho,” may not be easy to find this weekend, so why not try a few other horror hair-raisers available on videocassette? A few suggestions:

“The Innocents” (1961), starring Deborah Kerr as a governess haunted by ghosts. Arguably the best ghost movie ever made. Truman Capote co-wrote the script.

“The Wolf Man” (1941), starring Lon Chaney Jr. is the finest of the werewolf movies. Chaney’s wolf makeup is terrific. This one belongs in the Horror Top 10.

“The Howling” (1981), about a female news reporter (Dee Wallace) in a community of werewolves, features marvelous special effects and an appropriately frightening score.

“The Haunting” (1963), starring Julie Harris, directed by Robert Wise. No haunted-house movie tops this one for thrills and chills.

“The Omen” (1976), with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, who are plagued by a devilish young son. Brimming with terrifying moments. Peck’s battle with the devil-dogs at the graveyard is one of the highlights.

“The Fog” (1980) and “The Thing” (1982), two underrated horror movies by director John Carpenter, both filled with spine-tingling moments. “The Thing” requires a strong stomach.

If you can find it, there’s no scarier movie than “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), about rampaging corpses with an appetite for flesh.

HOLIDAY GLUT? In the home-video market, this holiday season seems to be dedicated to sales. Some popular old movies have been repriced as low as $20. Two blockbusters, Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” and Paramount’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (out just two days ago), are selling for $30.

Can the market, traditionally dominated by rentals, support this flood of low-priced product? Some skeptical industry observers forecast that, after the holiday season, video store shelves will be packed with unsold movies.

Tim Clott, Paramount Home Video’s senior vice president and general manager, disagrees with the skeptics: “Companies are dropping their prices because they’re finally seeing there’s a real sell-through (sales) market out there. There’s no glut. There’s only a glut to those who don’t believe that people will buy rather than rent. But the point is that renters will turn into buyers--if the price is right.”

NEW RELEASES: Warner’s “Police Academy 3: Back in Training,” undoubtedly a candidate for a hit, and Vestron’s “At Close Range”--featuring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken--are out this week.

Next week: “Legend,” “The Trip to Bountiful,” “Under the Cherry Moon” and “Raw Deal,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

COMING MOVIES: “Blue City”--a Paramount release on Dec. 3--proved that those young “Brat Pack” stars don’t do well in crime thrillers. Teen-agers didn’t want to see Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy in this grown-up movie based on a Ross MacDonald novel. Adults weren’t interested in seeing these teen-age stars in this kind of movie either. Its home video outlook is uncertain.

“Echo Park,” the comedy/drama about some colorful characters struggling on the Hollywood fringe and chasing stardom, is due from Paramount on Dec. 3. Susan Dey and Tom Hulce, who starred in “Amadeus,” were praised for their performances. Reviews were generally favorable, though in its limited theatrical release, not too many people saw it. The art-film segment of the home-video market should appreciate this one.

CHARTS: Playboy has done it again with its video centerfold series. “Playboy Video Centerfold 3,” released by Karl-Lorimar, is in the Top 10 on the sales chart. Playboy and Karl-Lorimar have tapped a market--for inexpensive ($9.95) soft-core porn videos--that no one knew was there.

CHARTS (Complied by Billboard magazine) TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS

1--”Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (Touchstone).

2--”Out of Africa” (MCA).

3--”Pretty in Pink” (Paramount).

4--”F/X” (HBO/Cannon).

5--”Gung Ho” (Paramount).

6--”Wildcats” (Warner Bros.).

7--”9 1/2” (MGM/UA).

8--”Runaway Train” (MGM/UA).

9--”Young Sherlock Holmes” (Paramount).

10--”The Money Pit” (MCA). TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES

1--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney).

2--”Jane Fonda’s New Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

3--”Jane Fonda’s Low Impact Aerobics” (Karl-Lorimar).

4--”The Sound of Music” (CBS-Fox).

5--”The Music Man” (Warner Bros.).

6--”Alice in Wonderland” (Disney).

7--”Amadeus” (HBO/Cannon).

8--”Pinocchio” (Disney).

9--”Playboy Video Centerfold 3” (Karl-Lorimar).

10--”The Cage” (Paramount).