The Horror Show

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")

I got this when i was eleven, and being a kid who loved freddy, jason etc i was always on the look out for another similar villain to get my teeth into, and for me, max jenke delivered. Around the same time, horace pinker came into play with 'shocker', and although good in his own way, the movie became a little too silly with the jumping in and out of TV shows. The two movies were almost the same story, but in max there was a much more evil guy, almost made for brion james, and if it wasn't tied in with the 'house' films i believe it would have had more impact. Bottom line is, if you enjoyed 'shocker' i doubt very much this would disappoint.

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.

First of all, this has been mentioned many a times before, but this film is not a part of "The House" series. I could go on explaining why, but just watch all four films and you will understand.

This is a different movie in style and tone. It is very reminiscent of Wes Craven's Shocker (which was also made in 1989 and despite being a low-budget film itself is much better and more entertaining). Basically it is a horror thriller about a tough cop and a killer he wouldn't stay dead even after being executed. There is, of course, a professor with some totally stupid theory about how pure evil can be transformed to electricity and so electrocuting someone just makes them immortal and omnipotent ... you can clearly see the writers were pulling this plot point out of their asses. They simply saw "Shocker" and thought "Hey, this is a neat idea, let's use it in our movie". As the killer gets stronger, the cop's world start falling apart, he becomes the main suspect in the new killings, the usual clichés are thrown at us one at a time. You can even play the guessing game which one comes next.

What bothered me the most were the constant flashbacks and nightmares. The film actually starts with a flashback in a dream that's really happening in another dream. Wrap your head around that one.

What are really liked about it were the two main actors Lance Henriksen and Brion James. It was fun to watch them as they are both talented actors and were great in their roles. The rest of the cast is OK, even though forgettable.

So, did I like the film? Yes, I did. It was fun to watch (if you can look past its flaws and plot holes). It's not a part of House trilogy and is a story of its own. Take it for what it is and you too can spend enjoyable 90 minutes.