Two sequels that flirted with theatrical release are going direct to videotape this month, along with a pair of sequels that were designed for cassette only.
Originally called "It Runs in the Family" and scheduled to open in theaters last summer, MGM/UA's "My Summer Story" is a follow-up to Bob Clark's 1983 sleeper hit, "A Christmas Story."It's based partly on the same source, Jean Shepherd's 1940s family memoir, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash," and Shepherd once more worked on the script. Clark is the director again, but there's an all-new cast.
Mary Steenburgen and Charles Grodin replace Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin as the parents, and Kieran (younger brother of Macaulay) Culkin plays Ralphie, the role Peter Billingsley made his own more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, everyone's trying too hard to recapture the original's wry tone, and Culkin lacks the gawky, impish charm that Bil-lings-ley brought to Shepherd's childhood alter ego.
MCA Home Video's "Darkman II: The Return of Durant" is also bypassing theaters, even though Sam Raimi's 1990 original was a substantial late-summer box-office hit nearly five years ago. Raimi is the executive producer this time, while Liam Neeson's caped fugitive has been replaced by Arnoo Vosloo (the hitman in John Woo's "Hard Target"). Replacing Raimi as director is Bradford May ("Amy Fisher: My Story").
From the original cast, Larry Drake is returning as crime boss Robert G. Durant, who awakens from a coma after the copter crash that appeared to finish him off in the first film. The $20 million "Darkman" budget was reduced to $5 million; there's already another sequel, "Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die," in the can. The direct-to-video plan was inspired by the success of Disney's made-for-video "Aladdin" sequel, "Return of Jafar."
"Witchcraft 7: Judgement Hour," which involves vampires and a black-magic battle, is supposedly the final installment in A-Pix Entertainment's popular series. There's no such promise accompanying Hulk Hogan's latest drug-running thriller, "Thunder in Paradise 3" (Vidmark).
Several non-sequels are also bypassing theaters this month. Laurence Fishburne's latest picture, "Bad Company" (Buena Vista Home Video) was given a regional release earlier this year in several cities including New York, where New York Times critic Stephen Holden called it a "stylishly directed . . . sleek film-noir thriller." However, its distributor, Buena Vista Pictures (a.k.a. Disney), decided to head for video when it looked at the disappointing New York grosses and the responses of other critics.
New York magazine's David Denby called it "too dreary to qualify as enjoyable trash," while Box Office magazine's Eric Williams wrote that "the characters are so cynical and self-serving you want to be deloused before leaving the theater." Set in Seattle, "Bad Company" was filmed in Vancouver B.C.
Claude Chabrol's new film, "L'Enfer" (Fox Lorber), stars Emmanuelle Beart and Francois Cluzet as a married couple destroyed by his obsessive jealousy. An adaptation of a script by the late director, Henri-Georges Clouzot ("Diabolique," "Wages of Fear"), it's more case study than drama, but very well-acted and quite unnerving in its relentlessness. Chabrol's most acclaimed film in years, it's been playing on the festival circuit, most recently at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight makes his directing debut with "The Tin Soldier" (Republic Home Video), an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." The cast includes Voight, Ally Sheedy, Dom DeLuise and Trenton Knight.
NEW VIDEOS
NOSTRADAMUS - Were it not for an earnest performance by Tcheky Karyo in the title role, Nostradamus could have been dismissed as so much tabloid film-making. But the French star believes so much in this look at the 16th-century prophetic physician that he'll have video viewers re-thinking Nostradamus the man, if not the myth. R, 1994, Orion, $95.98. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
THE MAKING OF "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" - Phil Collins, who was an extra in "A Hard's Day Night," narrates this 65-minute, black-and-white documentary that was shot behind the scenes of the Beatles' first film. The footage was shot in March 1964 just before the Fab Four took the United States by storm, so it's a rather innocent look at the most influential band in the history of rock and roll. Of interest to Beatles buffs is the sequence in which John, Paul, George and Ringo perform the previously unseen "You Can't Do That." Unrated, 1995, MPI, $19.98. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
"ANIME" COLLECTION - Japan's "anime" style of animation is seen on six releases that have been translated into English for America's army of action-oriented tales for teens and adults. Unrated, 1995, Orion, $19.98. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
HANK AARON: CHASING THE DREAM - This revealing 95-minute documentary, first shown on cable in April, is about the life of the baseball star who broke Babe Ruth's career home-run record. One of its strengths is that it gives a strong sense of the racial barriers that Aaron, who is black, had to hurdle. Surprisingly downbeat - not the usual sports-documentary fluff. Includes interviews and highlight footage. Turner, $60. - Dennis Hunt (Los Angeles Times)