These amateur disaster movies, America’s Scariest Home Videos, have gone from storm-cellar oddities to Blockbuster hits. National Geographic’s “Cyclone!” video, a mixture of amateur footage and science, is one of it stop sellers. When NBC ran this hourlong National Geo special in November, 13.6 million households tuned in. The Weather Channel has sold 60,000 copies of its “Enemy Wind” video since 1992. Smelling a franchise, the channel has also put out a video called “Tornados ‘95,” a CD-ROM and a 1996 tornado wall calendar. Oh yeah, and there’s that little Michael Crichton-Steven Spielberg flick “Twister,” blowing into movie theaters this summer.
They may have a hard time topping Mother Nature’s special effects. “One thing I remember was the cow that flew past me: it was screaming,” attests one eyewitness on “Cyclone!” Yikes. “You hear people on that soundtrack really living in the moment,” says National Geographic producer Teresa Koenig. “And you feel like you’re there with them.” Hey, has anybody seen Toto?
