 |
Released by: Arrow Video
Release Date: April 28th, 1989 (Theatrical)
March 27, 2017 (Blu-ray)
Region Code: REGION FREE (Blu-ray)
REGION TWO (DVD)
Run Time: 1h 35m (European Version)
1h 34m (U.S. Version)
Audio: LPCM 2.0 (English)
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)
Video: 1080p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio) (Blu-ray)
480p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio) (DVD)
The Show Must Go On (11m 8s, HD)
Here we have an interview with stuntman Kane Hodder. Hodder
is one of the only people to work on all four House films and he brings a lot
to the table. He was still starring as Jason in the Friday the 13th films as well as doing the stunts here.
His big scene is a high fall that could have gone horribly wrong because of the
way his body turned in mid-air. Hodder speaks very highly of his working
relationship with producer Sean S. Cunningham. He also says that Brion James
was his favorite actor to double because James had a lot of respect for
stuntmen. This interview is from the Scream Factory version of The Horror Show.
House Mother (10m 54s, HD)
Here we have interview with actress Rita Taggart, who played
Lance Henriksen’s wife in the film. She doesn’t really like horror films and
took the role to work with Henriksen and ousted director David Blythe. She
loved working with Henriksen, but said that after Blythe was fired the set
became a lot less fun to work on. This interview is also from the Scream
Factory version of The Horror Show.
Slaughter Inc. (16m 1s, HD)
This is the only new featurette on this disc and in involves
KNB, who did the effects for the film. Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and
Howard Berger are on hand to talk about their experiences on the film. This is
the first film that had a nice budget that KNB worked on. We also find out that
this was really Kurtzman’s show as he took the head of the bigger effects in the
film. We do get to see some nice behind the scenes footage, including footage
from effects that didn’t make it into the film.
Behind-the-Scenes Footage (20m 57s, Upconverted HD)
This is video that the guys from KNB shot during the making
of The Horror Show. We get to see
how some of the effects were done, as well as seeing the effects as they happen.
There is some comradery with the cast and crew and everyone looks like they are
having fun, especially Brion James
Still Gallery (5m 19s, HD)
Photos from the film, behind the scenes photos, as well as
different posters used for the film are shown while a song plays from the film.
Trailer (1m 31s, HD)
Audio Commentary with Sean S. Cunningham, moderated by
Michael Flescher from Red Shirt Pictures
This is a pretty good commentary track. Flescher asks the
question and Cunningham answers them. It seems like the two men like each other
and they play off of one another very well. This track is miles better than the
track on the House II disc.
THE PACKAGING ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Note: House III
is part of House: The Complete
Collection
 |
 |
| This is the best of the commissioned artwork from the Collection |
 |
 |
blu-ray gets Jenke and the DVD gets
Henriksen,
The blu-ray is REGION FREE and the DVD is REGION TWO
THE PICTURE ⭐⭐⭐
Both versions of the film come from the same source, but
there is a slight difference in the picture. The European version has a nice
level of grain to it, where are the U.S. version does not. Everything else is
pretty good. This film is not a colorful film, but the transfer handles the
darkness just fine. I do think that the film is not good looking in the first
place, so anything done to the transfer is not going to help out in that area.
There is also a softness to the picture that stems from how the film was shot.
Overall, the transfer is as good as we are going to get.
THE SOUND ⭐⭐1/2
The sound here is good, but not great. Dialogue is clean and
clear and there are no distortions, but the film could have used a better
track. The score comes through great, but there is no oomph to the track. While
the track is good it could have been better.
THE FILM ⭐⭐
Let’s get this out of the way first: The Horror Show is NOT a House film. It was only named that in foreign markets because the House name still held water. There is no connection to any of the House films and just because a big chunk of the film takes place in a house, does not make it a House film.
Let’s get this out of the way first: The Horror Show is NOT a House film. It was only named that in foreign markets because the House name still held water. There is no connection to any of the House films and just because a big chunk of the film takes place in a house, does not make it a House film.
That being said, The
Horror Show is an ok film. The first thirty or so minutes are very strong,
but the film gets lost in its own muddled screenplay. There is no history as to
why Jenke is able to show up whenever he wants through electricity. That part
of the film makes no sense. The rest of the film would have been a bit better
if they had left out the electricity angle.
Detective Lucas McCarthy finally apprehends "Meat
Cleaver Max" and watches the electric chair execution from the audience.
But killing Max Jenke only elevated him to another level of reality. Now Lucas'
family is under attack, his sanity in question, and his house haunted. Aided by
a disreputable college professor, can Lucas reclaim his mind, house, and
family?
This film is famous in the horror community for two things:
pairing horror icons Lance Henriksen and Brion James together and the gore.
James has said that this is his favorite role and it shows. From
the first time that we see him we know that this guy is not a guy to be messed
with. One of the first things he does is he cuts his face with a meat cleaver
resulting in a nasty scar. The electrocution scene is the best James scene in
the film. They electrocute him, go to check to see if he is dead, James looks up and says “All that did
was give me a hard-on” the scene gets more intense until James breaks free of
his shackles, starts on fire, and walks towards Henriksen before dying.
Henriksen dives into this role too, as a cop who is haunted
by Jenke. This leads to some great scenes with Henriksen seeing things that he
should know aren’t real, but buys into them anyway. One of these things is
Jenke’s face in a turkey. It is one of the most bizarre things that I have ever
seen in a mainstream film.
The second note is the gore. The Horror Show is very famous for having most of its gore trimmed
from the film in order to secure an R-rating. Only a minute was cut out of the
film, but watching both version back-to-back, you can see that the European cut
is the way to go. The electrocution scene alone takes up most of the time cut
and it shows. In the European cut, Jenke face and arms expand to horrific
sights and his finger break open. I had not seen this version of the scene
before, but I was taken aback by how violent it is. Don’t get me wrong, it is
still a great scene, but I wasn’t expecting what I saw.
The rest of the film is a standard slasher film with Jenke
showing up whenever he wants to so that he can kill whoever the film says he
has to kill. The last hour is mostly confusing which leads to boredom because
you give up trying to figure the film out. I wanted to like this film because
of Henriksen and James, but I couldn’t. They bring their A-games to the film
and the effects are amazing, but the film isn’t very good.
OVERALL ⭐⭐⭐
 Blu-ray Review + Screenshots){kind=link}
0 Comments