‘Ice’ May Soon Be Rental Property

If you haven’t seen “Cool as Ice,” the movie starring rapper Vanilla Ice that opened last weekend, you don’t have to rush to your local theater. Sometime in December, according to sources close to the film, you’ll be able to rent it at your video store, on MCA/Universal Home Video.

The movie has one of the shortest theater-to-video timetables ever. Movies usually don’t hit video stores until about six months after their theatrical debuts.

Since MCA/Universal hasn’t made an official announcement of the video release yet, executives aren’t talking publicly about why they are turning it around so quickly.

But the apparent reason is that “Cool as Ice”--aimed at teens and pre-teens--has been cold as ice at the box-office, raking in a paltry $500,000 over the weekend. So Universal wants to get it to the rental market as quickly as possible, while consumer awareness is still high, to capitalize on all the advertising and promotion.

Silver on Video: It turns out that the short films of Long Dong Silver, the porn character mentioned in the recent Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill Senate hearings, do exist on video--though they’ve been off the market since about 1983.

Curious customers have besieged both standard and adult video stores in the past two weeks looking for videos of Silver, played by an unnamed, well-endowed actor. Most had nothing to offer. But a handful of stores--particularly those specializing in out-of-print videos--do have some in stock. Some of the Silver shorts wound up in Vols. 1 and 3 of a British series of soft-porn compilations, “Electric Blue.”

One of the stores that carries them is Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, which is cashing in on the demand. “It’s been renting nonstop since the hearings,” said store co-owner Lance Lawson.

Lesser-Known Horror Movies: Sometimes on Halloween, the famous scare movies are already rented out and you’re faced with shelves full of unfamiliar movies. Here are some lesser-known chillers that are likely to be carried by most video stores.

“Dead of Winter”(CBS-Fox, 1987). Mary Steenburgen stars in a thriller about an actress being held captive in an old mansion.

“Carnival of Souls” (VidAmerica, 1962). Low-budget, supernatural cult chiller about apparently dead woman (Candace Hilligoss) haunted by an eerie figure.

“The Hand” (Warner, 1981). The severed hand of a cartoonist (Michael Caine) goes on a homicidal rampage. A camp classic, it seems silly at times but has a few genuinely frightening moments. Written and directed by Oliver Stone.

“When a Stranger Calls” (RCA/Columbia, 1979). A deranged killer terrorized a woman (Carol Kane) twice in a seven-year span.

“The Watcher in the Woods” (Disney, 1980). A young woman (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is haunted by a ghost in an eerily atmospheric British house, tended by a sinister caretaker (Bette Davis). Familiar stuff, but some major scares in the second half.

“Jack the Ripper” (Vestron, 1984). If you like gore, there’s plenty in this grisly rerun of the tale of London’s prostitute killer, this time played by Klaus Kinski.

“Village of the Damned” (MGM/UA, 1960). Cute little blond kids are the monsters in this one. They terrorize a tiny English town. Excellent, underrated chiller that’s usually found in the old movie section.

“Dawn of the Dead” (HBO/Cannon, 1979). In director George Romero’s big-budget sequel to his “Night of the Living Dead,” four humans battle flesh-eating ghouls in a shopping mall. Great special effects, often terrifying, usually overlooked when top-notch horror films are mentioned.