01:00 AM EST on Friday, April 2, 2004

Hangman's Curse (Fox, no suggested price cassette; $24.98 DVD). A group of high school students fall victim to a mysterious illness that leads to severe paranoia, hallucinations and, eventually, death in an eerie thriller based on the best seller by Frank Peretti.

The Most Terrible Day in My Life (Kino, $29.95 cassette or DVD). A Mike Hammer-like Japanese detective, known as Mike Hama, scours the Yokohama underworld in search of a missing Taiwanese waiter and along the way finds lots of blood, body parts and dark humor.

Posers (Hart Sharp, no suggested price cassette; $24.99 DVD). Four women kill another in a nightclub restroom, but when one of the killers turns up dead, the three survivors fear one of them is guilty.

Ripley's Game (New Line, $22.99 cassette; $26.98 DVD). Jonathan Malkovich plays an older Tom Ripley, the sociopathic murderer and identity stealer of The Talented Mr. Ripley, this time caught up in a murderous game to wipe out members of the Russian mafia.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line, $22.99 cassette; $27.95 single-disk DVD or $39.92 double-disk DVD with bonus features). Remake of the cult horror film about a chainsaw-wielding killer who terrorizes four young people stranded on his property. The double-disk DVD includes a removable metal plate with an embossed image of Leatherface, crime scene photos, deleted scenes and an alternate opening and ending.

Vampire Effect (Columbia TriStar, no suggested price cassette; $24.96 DVD). Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung, of the best-selling Asian pop music duo Twins, go on a hunt for vampires, with help from a high-kicking paramedic.

Two German films by famed directors Douglas Sirk and Fritz Lang, before they immigrated to Hollywood from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, are available from Kino. Sirk's La Habanera is about a woman whose old flame tries to rescue her from a loveless marriage in Puerto Rico. Lang's Liliom has Charles Boyer as a carnival barker whose attempts to get money for his family end in death and a heavenly tribunal. Rodgers and Hammerstein later adapted the story for Carousel.

For children

The Wiggles: Cold Spaghetti Western (HIT Entertainment, $14.95 cassette; $16.99 DVD). The live-wire Australian entertainers ride into the Old West where they help a friend find a missing ingredient for the past cook-off at the town fair.

The Wiggles: Toot Toot! ($16.99 DVD). More songs from the Aussie group, including a sing-along.

Documentaries

The American Nightmare (Docurama, $24.95 DVD). Probing look at the origins of bloody horror films and America's fascination with them.

Crash of Flight 111 (WGBH, $19.95 cassette; same price for DVD to be released April 27). Investigators make the alarming discovery that factors which caused a Swissair flight to plunge into the Atlantic in 1998 still exist on many planes today.

Jupiter's Wife (Docurama, $24.95 cassette or DVD). Documentarian Michel Negroponte spent two years following a homeless woman living in New York's Central Park who claimed to be the wife of the Roman god Jupiter to uncover her real story.

Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's (Docurama, $24.95 cassette or DVD). A look at the final days of the fabled Hollywood restaurant which served everyone from Ronald and Nancy Reagan to Liz Taylor and Madonna.

Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (The Disinformation Company, $9.95 DVD). A look at the "spin and hype" that led up to a pre-emptive war.

Sports

The Last Round: Chuvalo Vs. Ali (Docurama, $24.95 DVD). Ringside look at the 1966 match between heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali and George Chuvalo, a Rocky Balboa-type underdog from working-class Toronto.

Billy Blanks' Tae Bo Contact 1 and Contact 2 (GoodTimes, $19.95 or $9.95 each singly on DVD). A total body fitness system designed to build muscle, burn fat and lose inches created by Blanks, whose disciples include Paula Abdul, Brooke Shields and Goldie Hawn. Also available as Contact Complete in a box containing the two workout disks and lightweight punching bag equipment for $29.95.

From TV

The Cisco Kid (MPI, $49.98 cassette or DVD). Duncan Rinaldo in the title role and Leo Carrillo as his sidekick, Pancho Gonzales, thrilled western fans on TV from 1950-56 in daring exploits against the bad guys. This first collection contains 20 episodes -- on four disks or five cassettes -- all in color as they were originally filmed, even before anyone owned a color TV set.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation -- The Complete Third Season (Paramount, $69.99). All 23 episodes from the third season of this hit crime thriller arrives as a six-disk set, with the sixth disk containing behind-the-scenes featurettes about the show.

Dark Shadows DVD Collection 11 (MPI, $59.98). The 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins rises again in Maine in 40 episodes from the old soap opera on four disks.

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Season Three (A&E, $119.95). Eight-disk set containing all 25 episodes from the hit show's 1994-95 season.

Homicide: Life on the Street: The Complete Season Four (A&E, $99.95). All 22 episodes from this gritty series arrive on six disks.

Mr. Bean: The Animated Series: Set 2 (A&E, $29.95). This two disk set from Rowan Atkinson's cartoon series based on his bizarrely bumbling character, Mr. Bean, contains 18 episodes. Or, you can purchase the disks separately, as It's All Bean to Me or Whatever Will Bean, Will Bean, for $19.95 each.

Resurrection Blvd. -- The Complete First Season (Paramount, $39.99). Five-disk features all 20 episodes from the Showtime series about a tight-knit Latino family in East Los Angeles.

A Touch of Frost Season 1 (MPI, $39.98 cassette or DVD). British crime drama about an unconventional detective.

On DVD

George Burns, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Art Carney and Lily Tomlin are among the stars of the comedies The Sunshine Boys, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Going in Style and The Late Show, from Warner for $19.98 each.

Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, stars in a story about murder among card players in Liar's Poker, from Ardustry for $14.98. Also at that price, Ardustry has Threat of Exposure, about a troubled ex-boxer who uncovers frightening memories of his past through hypnosis.