HOUSE III

When electrocuted killers come back

In the late ’80s several movies were made about a violent criminal being executed by electric chair and coming back with a vengeance. “Prison” and “Destroyer” preceded this one by a year and it was followed by “Shocker” six months later and “The First Power” six months after that. I suppose it’s most similar to Wes Craven’s “Shocker,” minus the sense of humor, yet beat it to theaters. Ironically, it heavily borrows from Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” flicks but isn’t anywhere near as effective.

It was originally conceived as the third film in the “House” franchise, however, MGM forced modifications for a fresh beginning with an anticipated new iconic villain; that is, Max Jenke played by Brion James, who hams it up. Hence the name “The Horror Show” for America audiences while it was still called “House III” in other markets.

The first half is quite good with Lance Henriksen as the cop protagonist and lovely Dedee Pfeiffer as his daughter. Regrettably, I found myself getting bored in the second half by the perfunctory storytelling. This is augmented by how reality and a character’s visions are intermixed and so you can’t discern what’s real and what’s not.

The first two “House” flicks are all-around more entertaining, not to mention amusing. A direct-to-video fourth installment would come out in early 1992.

It runs 1h 35m and was shot in Aug-Oct 1988 in Los Angeles, including San Pedro for the power plant sequence.

GRADE: B-/C+