{{Short description|1989 American slasher film}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = House III: The Horror Show | image = File:House III - The Horror Show official poster.jpeg | alt = | caption = Official theatrical release poster | director = {{Plainlist| * James Isaac * David Blyth }} | producer = Sean S. Cunningham | writer = {{Plainlist| * Allyn Warner * Leslie Bohem<ref name="allmovieCast">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-horror-show-v23154/cast-crew|publisher=AllMovie|title=The Horror Show|access-date=December 18, 2017}}</ref> }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Lance Henriksen * Brion James * Rita Taggart * Dedee Pfeiffer * Aron Eisenberg * Thom Bray * Matt Clark }} | music = Harry Manfredini<ref name="allmovieCast" /> | cinematography = Mac Ahlberg<ref name="allmovieCast" /> | editing = Edward Anton<ref name="allmovieCast" /> | studio = United Artists<br>Sean S. Cunningham Films | distributor = MGM/UA Communications Co. | released = {{Film date|1989|04|28}} | runtime = 95 minutes | country = United States<ref name="allmovieCast" /> | language = English | budget = $4 million<ref name="HorrorShowCF">{{cite magazine |last=Goldman|first=Lowell|date=January 1990|title= THE HORROR SHOW How directors, too, got the axe|url=https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2020%20No%203%20%28Jan%201990%29/page/n51/mode/1up?view=theater|url-status= |magazine=Cinefantastique|location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=May 29, 2025}}</ref> | gross = $1.7 million<ref>{{cite book|title=80's The Gold Decade Of The Horror Movie|author=Matteo Tortora|isbn=978-1693297076|year=2019}}</ref> }} '''''House III: The Horror Show''''' (also known simply as '''''House III''''' or '''''The Horror Show''''') is a 1989 American slasher film directed by James Isaac, from a script co-written by Allyn Warner and Leslie Bohem. Produced by Sean S. Cunningham, it serves as the third installment in the ''House'' film series. Presented as a standalone installment in the series, it stars Lance Henriksen and Brion James in the lead roles. Centering around Detective Lucas McCarthy, who arrests a serial killer known as Max "The Cleaver" Jenke; the plot revolves around the latter's return from the dead as a malicious spirit to terrorize the detective and his family in their house. The film was followed by ''House IV''.
==Plot== Detective Lucas McCarthy finally catches serial killer "Meat Cleaver Max" Jenke and watches his execution. McCarthy is shocked to see the electric chair physically burn Max before he finally dies promising revenge. Max has made a deal with the devil to frame Lucas for his murders from beyond the grave. Max scares the McCarthy family (who have moved into a new house) and the parapsychologist Peter Campbell they hired. Campbell tells Lucas that the only hope of stopping Max for good is to destroy his spirit.
As the family move in, Donna searches the basement to find their missing cat Gazmo. The furnace turns on and the door flings open; apparently Max's spirit is inside the house and focused on the basement. Lucas starts having hallucinations that lead him to behave erratically. Bonnie goes to the cellar to secretly meet her boyfriend Vinnie, who is later killed by a physical manifestation of Max with a cleaver. The next night, Bonnie tells Scott to come with her to look for Vinnie, while Lucas goes to the basement and angrily calls for Max to stay away from his family. Bonnie returns to the basement and finds Vinnie's body for which Lucas is suspected of the murder.
Max kills Scott with the meat cleaver, transforms into Bonnie and decapitates Campbell before holding Donna hostage. Lucas escapes from questioning and goes into the cellar to fight Max. Lucas sends Max to the electric machine where his arm gets stuck, Lucas and Donna use the chair to shock Max causing him to appear back in physical form in the house where Lucas shoots him dead.
The next day the McCarthys are moving out with Scott still alive. Bonnie goes into the basement and runs outside to find Gazmo in a box. The family takes a photo as the screen freezes and fades to black.<ref name="House3_AH">{{cite web|url=https://www.allhorror.com/worth-watching/house-iii-the-horror-show-1989|work=All Horror|title=House 3: The Horror Show (1989) Review|author=Adrian|date=October 30, 2018|accessdate=August 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name="House3_HN">{{cite web|url=https://horrornews.net/53641/film-review-house-iii-1989/|work=Horror News|title=Film Review: House III (1989)|author=Gammon, Dave|date=February 8, 2020|accessdate=August 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name="House3_Medium">{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/framerated/house-1986-house-ii-the-second-story-1987-house-iii-the-horror-show-1989-house-iv-aed84e599168|work=Medium|title=House: The Complete Collection (1986–1992) • Blu-ray [Arrow Video]|author=Owen, Dan|date=December 10, 2017|accessdate=August 29, 2022}}</ref>
==Cast== * Lance Henriksen as Detective Lucas McCarthy * Brion James as Max Jenke * Rita Taggart as Donna McCarthy * Dedee Pfeiffer as Bonnie McCarthy * Aron Eisenberg as Scott McCarthy * Thom Bray as Peter Campbell * Matt Clark as Dr. Tower * David Oliver as Vinnie * Terry Alexander as Casey * Lawrence Tierney as The Warden * Lewis Arquette as Lieutenant Miller
==Production== Fred Walton was initially slated to direct the film, but disagreements between him and producer Sean S. Cunningham led to Walton departing the project.<ref name="HorrorShowCF" /> Director David Blyth was replaced by James Isaac a week into shooting as Cunningham was dissatisfied with the dailies.{{sfn|Stine|2003|p=152}}<ref name="HorrorShowCF" /> Allyn Warner is credited as writer for the film as Alan Smithee.{{sfn|Stine|2003|p=152}}
''The Horror Show'' was originally developed as an entry into the ''House'' film series, but was marketed within the U.S. as unrelated, as the producers felt that it differed greatly and was a traditional horror movie compared to the comedic earlier installments.{{sfn|Stine|2003|p=152}} Despite this, the film kept its original title and was released as ''House III: The Horror Show'' outside of the U.S. market.<ref name="House3_Medium" /> Cunningham was further motivated to distance the film from the ''House'' name as ''House II: The Second Story'' failed to match the success of its predecessor.<ref name="HorrorShowCF" /> Matters were further complicated by the fact the original screenplay was written to be more in tone with the prior ''House'' films and included the signature surreal humour, and as part of distancing the film from the ''House'' name the script was being reworked during production which was attributed to the accelerated schedule distributor MGM/UA placed the film on.<ref name="HorrorShowCF" />
The film was originally rated "X" by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for the amount of gore and was later cut down to an R. The uncut footage from the film was later reinstated in a disc release by Arrow Video in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.movie-censorship.com/news.php?ID=11468|title=House-Quadrilogy Release by Arrow Video|publisher=movie-censorship.com|date=2016-12-13|access-date=2024-07-03}}</ref>
==Release== ''The Horror Show'' was released in the United States on April 28, 1989.<ref name="allmovie" /> MGM/UA gave it a limited release theatrically in 444 theaters and it opened in thirteenth place. In total, it grossed $1,738,897 total at the domestic box office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl626558465/weekend/|title=House III: The Horror Show|work=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2024-10-25}}</ref>
The film was released as ''House III'' in Europe and other foreign markets, but as part of the ''La Casa'' series in Italy.<ref name="PM">{{cite web|work=PopMatters|title=Books of the Dead: The Followers and Clones of 'The Evil Dead'|author=Maçek III, J.C.|date=April 26, 2014|url=https://www.popmatters.com/170551-books-of-the-dead-the-followers-and-clones-of-the-evil-dead-2495762653.html}}</ref> On some home video media, the film was released as ''House III: The Horror Show''.<ref name="House3_FR">{{cite book |last=Hayward |first=Anthony |year=1990 |chapter=Video Releases |title=Film Review 1990-1 |publisher=Columbus Books Limited |isbn=0-86369-374-1|page=144}}</ref><ref name="House3_Medium" />
==Critical reception== ''The Horror Show'' received mostly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 0%, based on eight reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/horror_show/|title=The Horror Show|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango Media|access-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref>
Critic Roger Ebert gave the film a score of one out of four stars.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 April 1989 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link= Roger Ebert |title=Horror Show |work=rogerebert.suntimes.com |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/horror-show-1989 |access-date=August 4, 2012 }}</ref> Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "''The Horror Show'' builds up a good head of suspense, then squanders it in mechanical, poorly staged splatter."<ref>{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=29 April 1989 |title=The Horror Show |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DE5D8123AF93AA15757C0A96F948260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes |access-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref> AllMovie's reviewer stated, "this film consists of long periods of tedium punctuated by outbursts of graphic gore and surreal effects,"<ref name="allmovie">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v23154 |title=The Horror Show (1989) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie |last=Binion |first=Cavett |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=December 18, 2017}}</ref> while John Kenneth Muir opined 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 was released later that same year.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Muir|first1=John Kenneth|title=Horror Films of the 1980s|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786472987|pages=741–742|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJ1vcmaOd7wC&q=%22horror+show%22+Henriksen&pg=PA741|access-date=November 2, 2014}}</ref>
==Sequel== ''House III'' was followed by a sequel, ''House IV: The Repossession'' in 1992, which was a return to form horror-comedy similar to the first two movies. Each respective film in the series was met with mixed critical and financial reception.
==See also== * ''La Casa'' series – an Italian rebranding of several otherwise unrelated horror films, including ''The Horror Show''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book|last=Stine|first=Scott Aaron|title=The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786415320|year=2003}} {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0097527}} * [https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0097527 House III: The Horror Show (1989)] at Box Office Mojo * [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_horror_show_1989 The Horror Show] at Rotten Tomatoes
{{Portal bar|Film|United States|1980s|Speculative fiction/Horror}} {{House series}} {{James Isaac}}
House 3 Category:1989 films Category:1989 horror films Category:1980s slasher films Category:1980s serial killer films Category:1980s ghost films Category:1980s supernatural horror films Category:American ghost films Category:American slasher films Category:American serial killer films Category:American supernatural horror films Category:Films scored by Harry Manfredini Category:Films directed by James Isaac Category:United Artists films Category:Unofficial sequel films Category:Supernatural slasher films Category:1989 directorial debut films Category:1989 English-language films Category:1989 American films Category:English-language horror films Category:Films produced by Sean S. Cunningham Category:Films directed by David Blyth