VIDEO . . . WHAT’S NEW : Freddy Is Back for Christmas

If you want to find your Christmas-week movies at the video store rather than contend with the crowds at the theaters, it’ll help if you’re a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddy Krueger, the “Star Trek” crew or Almodovar.

Almodovar is how Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s name is often shortened in the credits for his offbeat films, and the most popular of his outrageous, Bunuel-on-speed comedies, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” is new to videocassette this week (Orion, $79.98, R). The surreal farce about a woman who entertains several odd visitors after losing her lover stars Carmen Maura and Fernando Guillen.

Also just out is a horror film that might have been subtitled “Teen-Agers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (but wasn’t)--”Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (Media, $89.95, R). Robert Englund once again does his thing as dream-haunting slasher Freddy Krueger. The tape includes a rap video by the group Whodini, if that’s a big selling point to you.

“Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (Paramount, no list price, PG) shows the sci-fi series well past the verge of overextending its welcome, especially with William Shatner directing (flaccidly) instead of Leonard Nimoy. But if you’re a Trekkie set on collecting all of the films, at least wait a few months until Paramount reduces this one to the $15-$30 range. That “no list price” means that you’d have to pay almost $100 for it now.

“Great Balls of Fire!” (Orion, $89.98, PG-13) seemed to evoke the same descriptive word from every critic who reviewed it earlier this year: cartoon. They didn’t mean that this film about singer-pianist-wild man Jerry Lee Lewis’ rise and fall was animated by the folks who did “Roger Rabbit”; they meant that it treated Lewis’ fascinating story (focusing on his marriage to his 13-year-old second cousin) colorfully but superficially. Dennis Quaid stars.

Other new-to-video movies: “La Lectrice” (Orion, $79.98, R) is a clever, whimsical comedy starring Miou-Miou. It’s all about, believe it or not, reading. Michel Deville directed.

“Lock Up” (IVE, $89.95, R) is a prison drama for die-hard Sylvester Stallone fans only.

“How I Got into College” (CBS/Fox, $89.98, PG-13) satirizes college recruitment and stars Corey Parker, Christopher Rydell and Anthony Edwards.

“Renegades” (MCA, $89.95, R) boasts a heavyweight bunch of brat-packers (Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jami Gertz) in a weakly scripted cop/buddy film.