• Note: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be released April 11 on DVD and VHS. You can pre-order it through Amazon.com

The Romantic heart of a hero beats even stronger in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a sorcerous sequel that offers darker evils and greater heroics than the original.

Based on the book of the same name, the new Harry Potter film picks up where the first one left off. Harry has completed his first year as a youngling wizard at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is spending his summer holiday with this Muggle, non-magic-using aunt and uncle. Life is horrible with the unimaginative Dursleys, who despise anyone who practices magic (as Harry's parents did before they died saving him from the evil archmage Voldemort). They would prefer that Harry had never been born, and treat him accordingly, forcing him to hide in his room when company visits.

What's worse, Harry hasn't received a single message from his friends all summer, and he's beginning to feel utterly cut off from the only world where he ever felt ... normal. His sense of isolation and the unrelenting tedium of life with the Durselys is suddenly punctured by the appearance of an unexpected ally: a diminutive house elf named Doby. He warns Harry that he must not return to Hogwart's, that if he returns, he could die.

Naturally, Harry ignores his advice and finally finds his way back to Hogwarts, only to find that the elf was right -- something horrible is going on at the school. Students are being petrified by an unseen foe, a monster whispered to have dwelled in a hidden chamber that was only accessible by the heir of its arcane creator. As the school year progresses, Harry and his friends search with an intensifying passion for the lost Chamber of Secrets ... and to reveal the identity its heir.

The Chamber of Secrets is faithful to the book that inspired it, and like the book, is darker and scarier than the original. It's no Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -- no one gets his heart torn from his still-beating chest -- but while the first movie was appropriate for five and six year olds, this one's probably better for mature 7 and 8 year olds.

Much has been made about this descent into darkness, but its important to note that its not Harry and friends who take on this tinge ... it's their surroundings. Some of it is just human reaction to certain kinds of creepiness -- specifically arachnids -- but there's no denying that this movie has more openly horrific elements to it. Particularly scary, especially for young kids, is the ominous, murderous voice that Harry alone can hear and the various