POLAR bears don't need to worry about global warming. In this, the second animated adventure for Lars the little polar bear - from the picture books of Hans De Beer - he gets locked in a southbound train, washed overboard a trawler and ends up in the balmy Galapagos Islands where he hangs out with some iguanas and a giant tortoise. Hot and bothered?

Lars hardly breaks a sweat.

His companion, a penguin called Caruso, is delighted to be leaving the North Pole because he can't find a female to mate with and wants to make it to the South Pole. Alarmingly, he has spent his time back north making ice sculptures in the shape of the opposite sex.

It's a quaint, if somewhat lethargic, German production with back-tobasics animation. It is aimed squarely at pre-school children who will be awed by the sights and wonders Lars encounters on his adventure. There are simple messages about conservation and the unifying powers of nature for more discerning children. Parents, meanwhile, can sit back and try and figure out how Caruso, that lovelorn penguin, got himself to the North Pole in the first place.

An American Haunting (Courtney Solomon) Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, Rachel Hurt-Wood, Matthew Marsh Running time: 91 minutes . .

SUPPOSEDLY based on real events, this supernatural thriller is chilling for all the wrong reasons. It tells the story of the Bell family, wealthy Tennessee landowners in the early 1800s who are tormented by a malevolent demon. It rattles windows, makes sonorous noises, and levitates their youngest daughter Rachel HurtWood several feet into the air while slapping her about the face.

Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek are the parents who are at their wits' end - unable to put an end to the terror and strangely unable to breathe any life into Courtney Solomon's script. They believe the haunting is the work of a neighbour, a suspected witch who cursed the family over a land dispute. Meanwhile, local teacher James D'Arcy believes a rational explanation is to be found - until a crucifix flies across the room and nearly takes his head off.

The real culprits are The Exorcist and Amityville Horror, who are among the many ghosts that stalk this house with impunity.

Director Solomon, whose previous effort was the forgettable Dungeons and Dragons in 2000, leaves little to the imagination and invests a paranormal amount of energy in leading us up the wrong path.