Due to a deadline change, the review for Brain Candy, the Kids in the Hall movie, will wait for next week. In its place, we present a theme review of some recent video releases.

Last summer, moviegoers were hammered by an onslaught of cyberfilms — movies about computer culture and the Internet. Johnny Mnemonic, The Net, Hackers and Virtuosity all tanked at the box office, and after seeing three out of four, they did so with good reason.

They are now out on video, and avoiding all of them may be a good idea.

In Virtuosity, Denzel Washington is a jailed cop released to catch Sid 6.7, a composite of 200 terrorists and serial killers who escapes his virtual-reality home in the form of a nanotechnology android (don’t ask).

Sid is nearly indestructible, highly intelligent and capable of learning as he goes. Washington is the only one to catch Sid in a VR simulator, so he gets the call to find the runaway machine.

This combination of Demolition Man, The Terminator and about 10 other sci-fi flicks has a couple of trump cards, namely the always good Washington and a romp by Russell Crowe as the charismatic Sid.

Other than that, it’s a case of the concept being better than the final product. The design work is shockingly average, and the “high-tech” equipment seems to be constructed from leftovers from a Radio Shack fire sale.

MPAA rating: R

Entertainment Value: 5

Overall Quality: 4

Johnny Mnemonic is a grotesquely bad version of a great William Gibson short story. This film is so rotten that for viewer safety it should only be seen with protective goggles and a heavy dose of Pepto.

Information courier Keanu Reeves has a file in his head that all sorts of nasty characters want, information which could cure a worldwide epidemic. A chase ensues. Oh, boy.

It’s Reeves at his “hey, dude” worst, with amateurish direction by first-time helmer Robert Longo. Lousy, boring computer-graphics effects, a standard, lurching, low-speed chase story and a lack of any real cohesion and tension sink this one fast.

MPAA rating: R

Entertainment Value: 3

Overall Quality: 2

Hackers may well be the worst film of 1995. Supercool, techno-savvy teens accidentally piss off a corporate system operator and nearly cause an ecological disaster, which is, of course, avoided by the intrepid hackers.

This “film” tries to be the Top Gun of the the Internet, but fingers flashing over keyboards does not make for riveting entertainment.

It’s pretty clear that the film’s producers know absolutely nothing about computers, the Internet or most of hacker culture. The proof is in the details, from the overblown computer graphics to the super-trendy hackers.

They must have read Neuromancer and Macs for Dummies and figured that they knew it all; that’s the only answer. One big question — how come none of these guys look like Kevin Mitnick?

MPAA rating: PG-13

Entertainment Value: 1

Overall Quality: 1

If it’s a slow night, check out Virtuosity for some cheap thrills. But avoid Johnny Mnemonic and Hackers at all costs. Run, don’t walk, away from those two tapes.