The Horror Show
| The Horror Show | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
James Isaac David Blyth (fired; uncredited) |
| Produced by | Sean S. Cunningham |
| Written by | Allyn Warner (as Alan Smithee) Leslie Bohem |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Harry Manfredini |
| Cinematography | Mac Ahlberg |
| Edited by | Edward Anton |
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Production
company |
Sean S. Cunningham Films
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,738,897 (USA) |
The Horror Show (also released as House III: The Horror Show and La Casa 7 or La Casa III) is a 1989 supernatural horror film starring Lance Henriksen and Brion James. Although marketed as a sequel to the film House for the non-US market, its connection to the other House films is limited to the crew it shares (producer Sean S. Cunningham, cinematographer Mac Ahlberg and composer Harry Manfredini, among others) and the premise of a killer haunting a house. The third "true" House film was named House IV in reference to the existence of this film. A similar movie called Shocker was released in October 1989, when this was released in April 1989. The plot points of both movies are almost identical, including a serial killer, execution via electric chair, and said killer making a deal with the Devil. Shocker later became a cult classic. Kane Hodder was the stunt coordinator on the film.
Detective Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen) finally catches the serial killer named "Meat Cleaver Max" (Brion James) who killed over 100 people and watches his execution. McCarthy and the others watching the execution are shocked to see the electric chair send enough voltage through him to physically burn Max's body before finally dying. Max, however, has made a deal with the devil in order to return from the grave and frame Lucas for a series of grisly murders. He also scares the McCarthy family (who have moved into a new house) and the parapsychologist they hire. Lucas' only hope of stopping Max for good is to destroy his spirit before Max destroys his life and family.
Critical reception for The Horror Show was overwhelmingly negative and the movie holds a rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 reviews. Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars.The New York Times wrote, "The Horror Show builds up a good head of suspense, then squanders it in mechanical, poorly staged splatter."AllMovie wrote, "this film consists of long periods of tedium punctuated by outbursts of graphic gore and surreal effects."John Kenneth Muir also panned the film overall, stating that it was "one of those horror movies where the missed potential just cannot escape notice" and that it was also too similar to Wes Craven's Shocker, which released that same year.
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