The Chair

The late 80s saw a spate of prison/electric chair themed horror movies: Prison (1987), Shocker (1989), House III (1989), and The Chair (1988), the latter easily being the worst of the bunch. The Chair is clumsily directed, poorly written, badly acted trash, with just a few seconds of reasonable make-up effects preventing the film from being a total waste of time.

Andie MacDowell lookalike Trini Alvarado (The Frighteners) plays Lisa Titus, who takes a job at the High Street Correctional Facility, run by Dr. Harold Woodhouse Langer (James Coco), who hopes to rehabilitate a group of prisoners (including Fright Night's Stephen Geoffreys) through his emotional guidance and growth project. What they don't realise is that the building is haunted by the angry spirit of a warden who was fried in the electric chair by his prisoners during a riot.

The one and only film to be directed by Waldemar Korzeniowsky, this film is ineptly made drivel from the outset, the action moving clumsily from one terrible scene to the next with zero regard for narrative cohesion. The whole film has a bizarre, offbeat vibe that is reflected in the quirky performances, all of which feel completely out of place in a horror film -- the whole thing is just too damn strange to be scary.

2/10.

"The Chair" is another set in prison horror film,which reminds me "Prison"(1988).I loved "Prison",but this one is pretty bad.The performances are mostly awful,the special effects are cheesy beyond belief and there's absolutely no suspense.The gore is also absent,so horror fans will certainly be disappointed with "The Chair".However if you have some time to waste,check it out-you have been warned!!!The plot:Twenty years later there was a riot in prison.During it one of the wardens was electrocuted.Now he is back for revenge...

Warden Edward Dwyer (Paul Benedict of THE JEFFERSONS) re-opens a dilapidated prison with the help of 8 trustee inmates. Along for the ride are psychologist Dr. Langer (James Coco) and his assistant Lisa (Trini Alvarado), who try to help the prisoners with some 80s "I'm okay, you're okay" therapy. Of course, this prison has - I hope you have already guessed - a history and there is a ghost out for revenge. Believe it or not, this is one of the few flicks produced by Angelika Films, a production company offshoot that predated NYC's famous Angelika Film Center (same logo and everything). For a group known for having its finger on the indie pulse, they sure didn't know crap about making a viable commercial product. Actually, husband and wife industrial filmmakers Waldermar Korzenioswsky and Carolyn Swartz are mostly to blame here as they never make it horrific enough, unless you count their terrible attempts at comedy and the ill-fitting piano score and opening blues tune. Just what the hell was the film supposed to be? And how can you waste such a good location and actors? The film ends with an on screen dedication reading "For Jimmy" as Coco died during filming. Poor Jimmy (in both regards). Co-starring Mike Starr, Brad Greenquist, Stephen Geoffreys and a underutilized Richard Edson.

This film is okay for a 1988 B-movie. Feature released on HBO and direct to video in the day.

I remember renting it at a Blockbuster because Stephen Geoffreys (Fright Night) starred. The other core cast, Trini Alvarado, James Coco, Paul Benedict hold their own. The direction is mediocre at best, but Interesting. With the prisoners inflected in some lame rehabilitation program that lacks luster and goes nowhere. The plot surrounds the gruesome murder of the prison's former warden. And strange things begin happening. Which is typical for a horror suspense thriller. It has its moments. One area seems to highlight a potential romance between the female intern and a streetwise inmate.

When I went down to the video store to rent this movie I looked at the back of the film and read the short description of the movie. It looked kind of cool and had a somewhat interesting story so I decided to rent it.

In the introduction of the movie you see people cleaning out an old prison and in the background you hear this blues/soul music. This was the first hint that the movie was bad.

If I wanted blues I would have rented The Blues Brothers, but I wanted a horror movie so the tune felt all wrong.

To sum this up. The movie was bad and not really a horror movie. More of a drama/thriller. I have three carefully chosen words for this movie. Avoid, avoid and avoid.