House IV | |
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Promotional poster
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Directed by | Lewis Abernathy |
Produced by |
Sean S. Cunningham Debbie Hayn-Cass |
Screenplay by |
Geoff Miller Deirdre Higgins |
Story by | Geoff Miller Deirdre Higgins Jim Wynorski R. J. Robertson |
Starring |
Terri Treas William Katt Scott Burkholder Denny Dillon Melissa Clayton Dabbs Greer Ned Romero Ned Bellamy |
Music by | Harry Manfredini |
Cinematography | James Mathers |
Production
company |
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Release date
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29 January 1992 |
Running time
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94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,600,000 (estimated) |
House IV is a 1992 direct-to-video comedy horror film directed by Lewis Abernathy, produced by Sean S. Cunningham and Debbie Hayn-Cass, and written by Geoff Miller and Deidre Higgins. It is the third and final entry in the House series, following House and House II: The Second Story. House III: The Horror Show was not a direct sequel, only being loosely connected to the other films through the sharing of some crew members and the killer haunting a house premise. The film sees the return of Roger Cobb from the original House film, but the film otherwise does not connect its storyline to the first film. Kane Hodder was the stunt coordinator on the film.
Roger Cobb (William Katt) is now married to Kelly (Terri Treas), has a daughter, Laurel (Melissa Clayton), and lives in the old Cobb family house that is located on a deserted and desolate shoreline. Roger's cynical step-brother Burke (Scott Burkholder) has been pestering him to sell the family mansion to some seedy Mafia real estate developers, without any success. Roger is soon killed in a car accident that leaves Laurel requiring a wheelchair, and Burke is unable to convince Kelly to sell the house.
Various supernatural events start occurring in the house, and after Kelly consults with a Native American spiritual guide, she learns that the spirit of Roger and some Indians have been trying to warn Kelly that Roger's tragic car accident was in fact cold-blooded murder and that Burke is trying to sell the land to the Mafia so that it can be used for the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
While AllMovie wrote, "this installment marks a slightly more effective return to the horror comedy formula that made the original a surprise hit", the film currently holds a low 3.3 out of 10 user rating on the Internet Movie Database based on 1,454 ratings.