House III

I have to confess absolutely loving the first 'House' film. Yes, the (now iconic) marketing poster of a decomposing severed hand ringing a doorbell may have been a tad misleading. You may think you were in for one scary experience when, in fact, you received one hell of a tongue-in-cheek black horror-comedy. The (inevitable) sequel was so-so, but by this third instalment, it had well and truly lost its way.

Where as the first two 'House' films were both heavily linked to - surprise, surprise - a house, this film seems to forget why it's called what it is. In fact I believe in some territories when the film was released the 'House' part of the title was completely dropped in favour of a more ambiguous 'The Horror Show' title. I guess this tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the project, i.e. it's not really a sequel but more of a horror script that was sort of crow-barred in under the familiar (and therefore profitable) 'House' brand in order to increase sales. But is it any good?

Unfortunately, not really. Even by a stand-alone horror film it's a bit lame. However, that's not for the efforts of leading man Lance Henriksen, who does everything in his extensively-cool acting range to bring some drama to the proceedings. It's starts okay enough - Henriksen is a cop tortured by his previous experiences with a serial killer, only for said nasty to come back from the grave to haunt his family (in the house, in case you were wondering). Then it all kind of falls apart as the scares become fewer and further between and the plot descends into predictability. The serial killer is portrayed by (Bladerunner's) Brion James and he too does his best to add some terror with the limited script available to him. However, in the end, both main actors end up just chewing up the scenery in an attempt to try and elevate what is a particularly forgettable B-movie into something vaguely memorable.

There's some nice practical effects here and there and it's always nice to be reminded of a time before CGI gore ruled the horror scene. But, at the end of the day, it's not enough to save this film. I'm a big fan of Lance Henriksen and watch most of his output, but even I would struggle to sit through this film again (I've watched it twice - the first time over twenty years ago and completely forgotten it. Therefore I've just seen it again and felt I better review it before everything about it escapes me again). The first 'House' film is a classic. Just stick to that.

HehHEHhehHEHhehHEHhehHEH the guy's laugh in this is so funny it totally undermines the scary elements of the movie.

Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen) hunts, fights and finally catches the serial killer Max Jenke (Brion James). But after Lucas witnesses Jenke's drawn-out and violent execution - via the electric chair - he instead begins to see and hear him everywhere!

Lance Henriksen is as always great, and much of the movie's appeal comes from him - and, even more so, from a completely insane Brion James!! His totally unrestrained scenery chewing is exactly the right tactic in a film like this. If you blend into the background, you will definitely become part of the crappy movie, but if you stand out from the crowd, you have a 50% chance of being the positive thing that people remember afterwards.

-And Brion James, in the role of Max Jenke, is hard to forget!

On the plus side is also KNB Effects (Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger), who went all-in and created lots of grotesque and disgusting makeup effects and loose body parts....most of which both the American and in particular the Swedish censors then hacked away (however, I did watch an almost completely intact Blu-Ray release).

The story (what story?) is completely bonkers, most of the supporting characters are made of see through plastic played by b-actors, and the very sudden happy ending feels like a bizarre tacked-on solution.

Lance Henriksen, a madly entertaining Brion James and KNB rescue it from the bottom of the barrel, and they - and ONLY they - are what makes me give it a pass.

The Horror Show (1989)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Detective Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen) finally manages to arrest the notorious serial killer known as Meat Cleaver Max (Brion James). However, at the electrocution, something goes wrong but finally Max is pronounced dead. This should be the end of Lucas but instead he becomes convinced that Max has somehow survived and is coming after his family.

THE HORROR SHOW, for some reason, got released in certain parts of the world as HOUSE III even though it has absolutely nothing to do with that series. I stayed away from this film for quite a while just thinking that it was some sort of cheap horror film but it actually turned out to be much better than I expected thanks to some good characters and some bloody effects.

I really thought the character development for the lead detective was quite good and Hendriksen is such a fine actor that even though this is a horror film you don't mind going along for the ride. I thought the screenplay was quite good, if cliché, and it managed to hold you attention through the various scenes where the lead character is basically questioning his own sanity. The detective character was a good one but so was the serial killer. He was certainly a demented character and after the opening sequence and a certain bit of violence, you know this guy is for real and a nut.

Both actors did a very good job with their roles and this certainly helps makes this a bit more than your average slasher. It also doesn't hurt that there are some very good special effects and especially if you're watching the uncut European version, which restores some of the gore that was cut out of the U.S. theatrical release. The film also offers up some nice cinematography and a good music score.

THE HORROR SHOW isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly much better than what you typically get with a film like this. The two lead performances really sell the story and this is very much worth watching.

When Detective Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen) finally captures the notorious serial-killer Meat Clever Max Jenke (Brion James), he feels relieved when Max is executed by the electric chair. However the parapsychologist Dr. Tower (Matt Clark) warns McCarthy that Max will return, but he does not give attention to the doctor. McCarthy is a family man and lives with his wife Donna (Rita Taggart) and their daughter Bonnie (Dedee Pfeiffer) and son Scott (Aron Eisenberg) in a comfortable house. Soon McCarthy becomes delusional seeing Max everywhere. When Bonnie´s boyfriend Vinnie (David Oliver) is found dead in the house, his family believes McCarthy killed the teenager and he is arrested. But he knows that Max is the responsible for Vinnie´s murder and wants to destroy his family.

"The Horror Show" is a supernatural gore film with a rip-off Wes Craven´s "Shocker". Although entitled 'House III" in Brazil, it might have been "Shocker II". Anyway, "The Horror Show" is underrated with good performances of Lance "Alien" Henriksen and Brion "Blade Runner" James. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "House III - A Casa do Espanto" ("House III - The Frightening House")