After the failure of House II and the collapse of New World pictures, the franchise took a bit of time off. When Sean S. Cunningham found new studio for funding, the new team wanted to give the franchise a fresh start. So in America, they called the film the Horror Show, while in Europe it would be called House III. Cunningham decided this was better than nothing.
But the end result is that there is nothing that really ties the film to the franchise. There is no house the film is centered around. Instead, the film focuses on traumatized detective Lucas McCarthy. A family man, he is overwhelmed by nightmares about Max Jenke, a notorious serial killer he put away. Okay, most of the kills happen in the house and Max’s spirit is primarily focused on the McCarthy family, but the house never feels like a center piece or character as the two prior films.
But when Jenke is put to death by electrocution, he is actually set free as a vengeful spirit and sets out to torment McCarthy.
McCarthy must try and stop Jenke, while convincing himself, the police and his family that he is not going crazy and homicidal. This film also lacks the sense of fun of the previous two entries, it’s tone dreadfully dark. I mean, Brion James turns in a wicked performance, but he is a much darker take on the Horace Pinker character, making this film a more dreary ride. Even with Lance Henrickson at the lead, it never rises above the standard fare of super natural horror. Writer Allyn Warner even took the infamous Allan Smithee credit. This one just lacks the identity of the first two films.
Jesse has inherited his ancestral home and finds himself drawn to the history of the structure. His girlfriend works for a sleazy music executive and so his friend Charlie arrives with his girlfriend, the singer in a band to try and get her career a boost.
So, in the early 80’s Sean S. Cunningham was working on expanding on his success with the Friday the 13th franchise. Teaming up with Fred Dekker (screenwriter and director of Night of the Creeps and the Monster Squad) and Ethan Wiley to make a haunted house film directed by Steve Miner (Director of Friday the 13th pt 2 and Halloween H20).
As noted, in spite of there being plenty of monsters, this film is tonally light. But it benefits the film. House is a lot of fun to watch, and overcomes any limitations of it’s budget to be a memorable time.
Richard Stanley has returned after nearly a 20 year absence from theatrical filmmaking. And I must say, it is a welcome return.
A young man goes to a small town in Germany in a search for his father. His search for the truth leads to the discovery of a meteorite that landed years before and corrupted the land.
This adaption of the Color of Space picks up at the time the meteorite crashes. Going back to a small farm setting the focus is on the struggling Crane family. The local realtor is working on a secretive deal to get people to sell their land to him cheap, but Nathan is holding out.
Lovecraft is a writer that, in spite of his personal failings (you know…racism), inspires creative people. His stories are creepy cosmic and occult based horror. Die, Monster, Die! adapts the memorable the Color Out of Space.
When five Indigenous men in Sydney are accused of murder, a lawyer (with no experience in murder defenses) is called on to provide their defense. But instead, he finds he may have always been a part of something larger.
The Invisible Man opens mid story. A mysterious bandaged stranger arrives at a tavern and demands a room.
When the Tom Cruise update of the Mummy crumbled, so did the planned Dark Universe that Universal was placing hopes on. Instead, Universal penned a deal with low budget horror production studio Blumhouse. They brought in director Leigh Whannell to make a lower budget re-imagination of the character.
Tripping Through Gateways 