VIDEO : WILLIAMS GIVES MARKET A WELCOME DIRECT HIT.

Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News

Leave it to a genie to bring magic to the direct-to-video market.

But not just any genie; Robin Williams, who returns to his big blue role for the Disney company's second ``Aladdin'' video sequel, ``Aladdin and the King of Thieves'' (1996, Walt Disney; $24.99). His renewed participation gives ``Thieves'' a cachet and buzz the first sequel, ``The Return of Jafar,'' could not match. And that's left video dealers dreaming of big profits. In fact, dealers are so happy with Williams' entry into the direct-to-video business, they named him Man of the Year at their summer convention.

Williams brings more than just a promise of profits, however. He brings respectability. The direct-to-video market has long been the industry's ugly, if lucrative, stepchild - as Williams himself said during the ``King of Thieves'' promo blitz, ``Normally, a movie goes to video, it's a video like `Forrest Hump.' '' ``King of Thieves'' could be the movie that finally erases that image.

Image shift or not, there's no doubt the market is set to boom. According to Video Business magazine, Disney has direct-to-video animated sequels in the works for ``The Lion King,'' ``Beauty and the Beast,'' ``Pocahontas'' and ``Lady and the Tramp''; and a live-action sequel called ``Honey, I Shrunk the Parents.''

Nor is Disney the only big company busy in the market, particularly when it comes to children's films. MCA-Universal has turned its ``Land Before Time'' franchise into the market's most successful series; the second installment was the video dealers' ``Direct-to-Video Release of the Year.'' A third installment, ``Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists,'' is planned for December.

Paramount, which has its own line of ``Timemaster'' films, could get another series going if kids take to this week's direct-to-video fantasy, ``Magic in the Mirror'' (1996, Paramount; priced for rental).

Smaller companies are getting into the act, as well. This week, BMG Video brings the Cabbage Patch Kids to tape with two stop-motion features, ``The New Kid'' and ``The Clubhouse'' ($12.98 each). The tapes come with a discount coupon to entice you to buy the dolls, but if you take it out fast, your kids need never know about it.

Among adults, most of the video progress has been made in sequels, particularly to films that gained a cult following through video. Earlier this year, MCA-Universal released ``Tremors 2: Aftershocks''; this month, it releases ``Darkman III, Die Darkman Die.'' (How they resisted calling it ``Die, Die My Darkman,'' I'll never know.) At any rate, he won't die, at least not as long as the sequels keep making money.

Despite these signs of progress, the direct-to-video market remains in large part a dumping ground for B-movies no one else would want. For every ``King of Thieves,'' there's a ``Theodore Rex'' (1996, Turner; priced for rental), the Whoopi Goldberg talking-tyrannosaurus comedy that is to date the most expensive film ever to find its way to the video-first market. You can rent it as a curiosity, though why anyone would be that curious is a mystery.

Even worse than the big-screen mistakes are small-screen atrocities, like MVP Home Video's ``Cops: Too Hot for TV'' and ``Cops: Caught in the Act'' (each $19.98). This collection of outtakes from the Fox TV series lets us pay to see human degradation turned into fun family entertainment, and with the added bonus of graphic language and nudity. A good time to be had by all.

Obviously, there's plenty of money and action in the direct-to-video market. What's missing is some attempt to use the medium for artistic ends, to tell stories that are too small for the movies, but too risky for commercial TV.

Maybe Williams will help lead the way. We can only wish.

So few theaters got ``It's My Party'' (1996, MGM/UA; priced for rental), it might as well have gone straight to video. And maybe it should have; this small-scale study of a gay man dying of AIDS who gathers his friends and family for a two-day farewell works far better on TV.

Though intimacy helps ``It's My Party'' enormously, it doesn't solve all of its problems. Despite being based on a true story, the film never quite rings true (too many cheap jokes, too little effort to confront its hero's failings), and it is undeniably manipulative and mawkish. Still, thanks to some fine acting and the inherent power of the film's subject matter, it manages to get to you. Be warned, though: This is one of those parties where you cry more than you laugh.

In the theaters, ``White Squall'' (1996, Buena Vista; priced for rental) was marketed as a boy's life adventure. In the video market, however, this teens-at-sea drama is likely to find its more natural audience: preteen girls, who will swoon over the shirtless boys (especially ``Party of Five'' teen-favorite Scott Wolf).

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Photo

Photo: Robin Williams' renewed participation as the genie i n ``Aladdin and the King of Thieves'' brings, in addition to a promise of profits, respectability to the direct-to-video market.