The Horror Show

The Horror Show
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by Sean S. Cunningham
Written by
Starring
Music by Harry Manfredini[1]
Cinematography Mac Ahlberg[1]
Edited by Edward Anton[1]
Production
company
Sean S. Cunningham Films
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • April 28, 1989 (1989-04-28)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States[1]
Language English

The Horror Show, also known as House III: The Horror Show, is a 1989 slasher film starring Lance Henriksen and Brion James, produced by Sean S. Cunningham and directed by James Isaac.

Plot

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. However, Max 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. The parapsychologist tells Lucas that the only hope of stopping Max for good is to destroy his spirit before Max destroys his life and family.

As the family move into their new home, Donna (Rita Taggart) searches the basement to find their cat named Gazmo, but it appears that Gazmo is missing. Every day their furnace turns on and flings the door open, with Max's spirit inside it and then he laughs. Lucas starts having hallucination’s by thinking the chicken is Max and shooting the TV into thinking that Max is on TV. Bonnie (Dedee Pfeiffer) goes to the cellar to secretly talk to her boyfriend Vinnie, who is later killed by Max by tricking him by Bonnie’s voice. The next night, Bonnie tells Scott (Aron Eisenberg) to come with her to look for Vinnie, while Lucas goes to the basement and gets angry with Max to stay away from his family. Lucas rushes upstairs to catch Bonnie and Scott, Donna spots them and tells Bonnie and Scott to get back to bed. The next time, Bonnie goes back to the basement and finds Vinnie's dead body. Lucas is framed for the murder and arrested as he was cleared of duty for two weeks.

Max kills Scott with the meat cleaver, transforms into Bonnie’s body, kills the parapsychologist by decapitating him and holding Donna as hostage. Lucas escapes from the prison finds Scott and Bonnie and goes into the cellar, where he fights Max. Lucas sends Max to the electric machine in which his arm gets stuck into, Lucas and Donna use electrics to send more voltage into him. This causes him to appear back into the house where Lucas shoots him dead. The next day, the McCarthy’s are moving out with Scott still alive, where a guy sends Scott many boxes of chilli from Texas. Bonnie goes into the basement and runs outside to find Gazmo in the box and Lucas, Gazmo, Bonnie and Scott stand together while Donna takes a photo where the screen freezes and fades to black.

Cast

Production

Director David Blyth was replaced by James Isaac a week into shooting.[2] Allyn Warner is credited as writer in the film as Alan Smithee.[2]

The Horror Show was originally intended as an entry into the House series of films but was marketed as an unrelated film as the producers felt it was too intense compared to the more comedic earlier efforts.[2]

Release

The Horror Show was released in the United States on April 28, 1989.[3] It has been released as House III in Europe.[4]

Critical reception

Critical reception for The Horror Show was overwhelmingly negative and the movie holds a rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 8 reviews.[5] Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars.[6] The New York Times wrote, "The Horror Show builds up a good head of suspense, then squanders it in mechanical, poorly staged splatter."[7] AllMovie wrote, "this film consists of long periods of tedium punctuated by outbursts of graphic gore and surreal effects."[3] John Kenneth Muir stated 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.[8]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Horror Show". AllMovie. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Stine 2003, p. 152.
  3. 1 2 Binion, Cavett. "The Horror Show (1989) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  4. ↑ Maçek III, J.C. (April 26, 2014). "Books of the Dead: The Followers and Clones of 'The Evil Dead'". PopMatters.
  5. ↑ "The Horror Show (House 3) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger (28 April 1989). "Horror Show :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  7. ↑ Holden, Stephen (29 April 1989). "The Horror Show". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  8. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth (2012). Horror Films of the 1980s. McFarland. pp. 741–742. ISBN 0786472987. Retrieved November 2, 2014.

Sources

  • Stine, Scott Aaron (2003). The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s. McFarland. ISBN 0786415320.


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