‘About Last Night . . . ‘ Tops This Week’s Releases; RKO Offers ‘Cat People’; Paramount Has Jason No. 6

RCA/Columbia’s “About Last Night . . .,” released this week, is a great advertisement for the one-night stand. It shows how an attractive young couple (Rob Lowe and Demi Moore) haltingly build a relationship out of a sexual fling.

This romantic comedy/drama, based on David Mamet’s play, “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” (a much better title), scored with both critics and fans--grossing about $28 million.

As attractive and appealing as the stars are, many critics felt they were overshadowed by the vivid portrayals by supporting players Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins.

Neither critics nor audiences really cared for “Armed and Dangerous,” RCA/Columbia’s other new release. John Candy and Eugene Levy, normally a funny pair, miss the mark as bungling security guards. But there may be enough Candy fans in the rental market to make this a hit.

If you like “Miami Vice,” chances are you’ll like Karl-Lorimar’s “Manhunter,” written and directed by Michael Mann--the “Miami Vice” executive producer. “Manhunter,” out this week, sports the hip, ominous sound track and the MTV-style visuals that are “Miami Vice” trademarks.

Though you expect Miami Vice cops Crockett and Tubbs to appear any minute to help track down the serial killer, the case is handled by a retired cop played by William Peterson. Look and atmosphere are crucial to Mann, who seeks to capture the audience with a bag of stylistic tricks. Most critics thought he succeeded.

The release date of Embassy’s “Half Moon Street,” starring Sigourney Weaver and Michael Caine, has been moved up a week, to Wednesday. The change apparently is intended to take advantage of all the publicity that the Oscar-nominated Weaver is getting for “Aliens,” which CBS-Fox is releasing next week.

“Half Moon Street,” a political thriller featuring an unusual heroine, didn’t generate much interest at the box office. But Weaver in “Half Moon Street” may attract home video renters who are geared to “Aliens.”

FOREIGN FILMS: The French comedy “Three Men and a Cradle,” just out on Vestron, was a smash in France as well as in American art houses. It’s about three bachelor roommates who are suddenly stuck with a baby. The fun of the movie is watching how the baby disrupts their lives. Audiences generally liked it but some critics dismissed director Colin Serreau’s movie as a one-joke froth (available both dubbed and with subtitles).

A gay romance, between a Pakistani and a white hoodlum in London, is the foundation for the English drama, “My Beautiful Laundrette,” also out this week on Karl-Lorimar. With the help of the hoodlum, the Pakistani converts a ragged laundrette into one that has the aura of a trendy night club. This slow, cerebral movie relies on vivid characterization for its substance. Critics generally singled out for praise Daniel Day Lewis, who plays the likeable thug.

HBO/Cannon’s “Twist and Shout,” out this week, spotlights traumas such as pregnancy and abortion that unsettle some youngsters in mid-60s’ Scandinavia. As coming-of-age movies go, this Danish movie--a critical favorite--is a good one.

HORROR: You won’t find a director of horror movies who isn’t familiar with producer Val Lewton’s early ‘40s’ classic “Cat People” films. RKO just released these chillers--”The Cat People” (1943) and “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944)--on home video at $19.95. Instead of graphic gore, they frighten audiences more by clever use of suggestion and atmosphere.

In the original, a mysterious woman (Simone Simon) is dogged by an ancient cat curse. The plot is silly at times but the movie, directed by Jacques Tourneur, is littered with genuinely terrifying scenes. The sequel, about the daughter of the cursed woman, is more of a surrealistic fantasy and isn’t quite as scary. It’s co-directed by Robert Wise (who directed that classic 1963 fright film, “The Haunting”) and Gunther von Fristch.

There’s nothing subtle or suggestive about Paramount’s “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives,” released last week in time for Friday the 13th. This is hard-core slash-and-splatter--gore for gore’s sake--featuring the indestructible, demented Jason, probably the first homicidal maniac to be a cult hero.

OLD MOVIES: For a romantic comedy like “I Will, I Will . . . for Now” (1976) to work, there has to be sparks between the leads. Surprisingly, Elliott Gould and Diane Keaton make effective sparring partners in this satire on how to fix a crumbling marriage. The script is never equal to the stars but if you’re nostalgic for a decent, ‘70s war-between-the-spouses comedy, this is considered one of the better ones.

Robert Mitchum fans will tell you that the two great villain roles of his career are his sinister religious fanatic in “The Night of the Hunter” (1955) and his vengeful ex-con in “Cape Fear” (1962), which MCA is releasing this week at $59.95. The ex-con terrorizes an attorney (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Polly Bergen) in the Southern bayous. It’s a tossup which Mitchum villain is more menacing.

CHARTS

(Complied by Billboard magazine)

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS

1--”Back to School” (HBO/Cannon).

2--”The Karate Kid Part II” (RCA/Columbia).

3--”Short Circuit” (CBS-Fox).

4--”Labyrinth” (Embassy).

5--”Big Trouble in Little China,” (CBS-Fox).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES

1--”Jane Fonda’s Low Impact Aerobic Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

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

3--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney).

4--”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (Paramount).

5--”Secrets of the Titanic” (Vestron).