TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Reader’s Digest Videomanual of Home Repair.” Random House. $29.95. Before calling the plumber for that dripping faucet, consult this video. Its Rapid Access Index lets you speed immediately to the segment on faucets--or any of more than two dozen other chapters--and follow the illustrated step-by-step instructions. This classy, two-hour tape covers everything from breakdowns (clogged sinks and running toilets) to spruce-ups (recaulking bathtubs and replastering wall cracks), along with a stream of background information (faucets develop two basic problems: They can drip through the spout or they can leak around the handle). Packaged with a helpful manual and punctuated with safety warnings, this clearcut video could be indispensable for the amateur repairperson. However, the rank beginner, who doesn’t know a channel-lock wrench from a deep-bodied socket wrench, should probably not be tempted. Information: (212) 872-8036. ****