13th Child: Legend of the Jersey Devil

Color, R (mature themes, language, gore, violence), 98 min., VHS $49.95, DVD $24.95

DVD: behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes

Street: Sept. 2, Prebook: Aug. 14

First Run: L, Oct. 2002, $$1 mil.

Cast: Cliff Robertson (Spider--Man), Christopher Atkins (Tequila Express), Lesley--Anne Down (The King's Guard), Michelle Maryk (Happy Hour)

ARTIST VIEW/MTI

Story Line: For 250 years, a man-beast with wings has been snacking on humans in the forests of New Jersey's Pine Barrens. Investigator Christine Tatum (Maryk) is sent by the Attorney General (Down) to get to the bottom of a recent rash of mutilations, and along the way Tatum meets eccentric recluse Shroud (Robertson).

Bottom Line: A reinvention of the longtime myth that gave the New Jersey NHL team its name, this tepid title moves by the numbers at a single-digit pace, with long stretches of walking and talking about nothing interesting. Genre fans will laugh just as hard at the beast's costume as they will the collection of clichés that pass for dialog (written by Robertson and undistinguished star Maryk's dad Mark). Box art and previous knowledge of the folklore behind it are all this Legend has going for it. --Buzz McClain

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