VIDEO . . . WHAT’S NEW : Who Knows What Evil Lurks in B-Films? The Phantom Knows

Somewhere near your VCR you probably keep a movie reference book or two--and if it’s Leonard Maltin’s excellent “TV Movies and Video Guide,” you probably can do without all the others. (The 20th Anniversary Edition just hit the stands three weeks ago, all 1,277 pages of it--$5.95 from Signet.) However, there’s a new reference work that’s worthy of standing alongside Maltin’s: “The Phantom’s Ultimate Video Guide” ($12.95 from Dell).

Don’t let the odd title put you off. The Phantom has been the anonymous B-film and video critic for the New York Daily News since 1984. His specialty (and the Phantom does indicate, at least, that he is male), to quote the cover, concerns “the weirdest, rarest action, horror, sci-fi, cult, camp, comedy and classic videos.” Note the order and you’ll get the idea. If it’s scary, cheap, violent and/or exploitative and it’s on videocassette, it’s probably covered here.

The Phantom’s focus isn’t the only thing that makes this book worth buying for video fans. He ends the 756-page book with a descriptive listing of mail-order and specialty video suppliers (with addresses and phone numbers). That’s something you won’t find in Maltin’s work.

Also to this incognito critic’s credit: He doesn’t go overboard with appreciation for “cult classics”--the brief opinions are relatively reliable. And if the Phantom hasn’t seen a film, he just decribes it and adds NR for “not rated.”

Speaking of ratings, the Phantom and Maltin books share one minor but annoying omission: neither provides MPAA ratings (R, PG, etc.) when applicable. This added information would take little space and would be valuable, especially to parents renting tapes for the whole family or just for the kids.

THIS WEEK’S MOVIES

With most of the big early-to-mid-1989 films already out on video--the outstanding exceptions being “Batman” (Nov. 15) and “Ghostbusters II” (Nov. 22)--the emphasis this week is on old movies. Fortunately, they’re great old movies.

David Lean’s monumental “Lawrence of Arabia” has previously been released on videocassette, but this week RCA/Columbia is making available the restored version that played theaters this summer. Not only has most of what was cut after the film’s 1962 premiere been put back in, but the new video also is in letterbox format. And the price is nice: $29.95 for both cassettes--all 218 minutes of this desert-set biography starring Peter O’Toole as the troubled British adventurer T. E. Lawrence. MPAA Rating: PG.

Considering that Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of the best-selling video-vintage-movies ever, it’s surprising to learn that two of his other classics, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (starring Gary Cooper and the great, now-underappreciated Jean Arthur) and “You Can’t Take It With You” (also with Arthur, as well as James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore), are just now reaching the video stores. They’re only $19.95 each from RCA/Columbia. The latter, from 1938, is a delightful screwball comedy based on the Kaufman-Hart play; “Deeds” (1936) is a more serious-toned satire concerning a small-town poet who has unorthodox plans for the $20 million he inherits.

Several other movies from the past get their prices reduced this week to $19.95 by MGM/UA, including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (the original 1958 version), “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Thin Man” (as well as five sequels), “The Dirty Dozen” and “Carrie.”

More recent pictures new to video include:

--”Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie” (Portfolio/Virgin, $99.95 for two cassettes, no MPAA rating). This winner of the 1988 documentary Oscar is, like director Marcel Ophuls’ previous “The Sorrow and the Pity,” an intelligent, detailed and very long (267 minutes) examination of Nazi cruelty in WWII France, compromised morality and related issues.

--”A World Apart” (Media, $89.95, PG), an uneven but interesting true-life drama about how South Africa’s apartheid separated an imprisoned journalist (Barbara Hershey) from her daughter.

--”Dead Calm” (Warner, $89.95, R), a tense thriller about a couple who take a mysterious shipwreck survivor aboard their yacht.

--”No Holds Barred” (RCA/Columbia, $89.95, PG-13), a predictable wrestling flick starring champ Hulk Hogan.

--”Dead-Bang” (Warner, $89.95, R), a dumb, groddy cop film starring Don Johnson and directed by John Frankenheimer.

OTHER NEW VIDEOS

MUSIC: “Harry Connick, Jr.: Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” (VIEW, $29.95) is a 72-minute, 14-song introduction to the fast-rising singer and his smooth, Sinatra-esque style. “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation” (A&M;, $24.98) is the dance-filled, four-video accompaniment to Michael’s sister’s newest (and most pretentious) album. “Yngwie Malmsteen--Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad” (PMV, $24.95) features the hard-rock guitarist in concert. “Luther Vandross: Live at Wembley” (CMV, $19.98) is an 11-song London show by the R&B; singer.

SPORTS: “ESPN’s Amazing Biff Bam Boom Anything Goes Sports Bloopers” ($9.95, 45 minutes) is the for-sale version of a Sports Illustrated subscription premium. “Strange Reigns at Oak Hill” (True North, $29.95) offers 40 minutes of highlights of the 1989 U.S. Open golf tournament.

KIDS: “Ghostbusters: Spirits, Spooks and Specters,” “Sherlock Hound in the Dogs of Bowserville” and “Clementine: A Young Girl and Her Dreams” are three animated titles from Just for Kids ($39.95 each).