Line #9 Film/TheHorrorShow


1	[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_the-horror-show-movie-poster-1989-1020204368_4816.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:290:They tried to electrocute "Meat Cleaver" Max. It didn't work.]]
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4	->''"Lucas, I'm coming back to tear your world apart... I'm going to fuck you up."''
5	-->-- '''Max Jenke''', making a dying promise
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7	''The Horror Show'' is a 1989 horror film. The film was released in some countries outside the United States as ''House III: The Horror Show'', even though [[InNameOnly it has no connection to the previous films]] in the ''Film/{{House}}'' franchise.
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9	The story centers around police detective Lucas [=McCarthy=] (Creator/LanceHenriksen), who becomes a target for otherworldly revenge from an executed SerialKiller "Meat Cleaver" Max Jenke (Creator/BrionJames), whom he helped to bring in.
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11	!!This film has the examples of:
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13	* AchillesHeel: Jenke is a borderline RealityWarper after his resurrection and can't die since he's a ghost, but electrocuting him ''again'' will reverse it and render him mortal and vulnerable to being killed for real. [[spoiler:[=McCarthy=] and his wife electrocute him at a power plant in his realm and do just that.]]
14	* ArchEnemy: Jenke to [=McCarthy=]. After Jenke kills [=McCarthy=]'s partner and some of his other colleagues then it becomes personal.
15	* AnArmAndALeg: Jenke tips off both of Detective Casey's arms.
16	* AxCrazy: Jenke. He uses a large meat cleaver as a weapon (hence his nickname) and he's a pure evil psychopath.
17	* BadassBoast: Max gets one out before the chair’s activated:
18	-->'''Max Jenke''': Your worst fucking nightmare, Lucas... ''''' I’M IT. '''''
19	* BadassLongcoat: Jenke wears it, even in death.
20	* BeardOfEvil: Max has a beard, and is a monstrous serial killer.
21	* BigBad: Jenke's villainy in life and the afterlife drives the plot.
22	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The first person Jenke kills onscreen is [=McCarthy=]’s black partner Casey.
23	* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Jenke after being electrocuted a second time in his realm, dragging him back to the world of the living and fully resurrecting him. As he's now alive again, he loses his powers and becomes mortal, allowing [=McCarthy=] to finish the job.]]
24	* CameBackStrong: Jenke's pure evil and practice with electricity allowed him to come back as ghost far more dangerous than he ever was alive.
25	* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: When a burning Jenke approaches Lucas after freeing himself from the electric chair, Lucas readies himself with a chair.
26	* CouldntFindAPen: After killing one cop in the flashback, Jenke puts his severed head on a table and writes "blue platter special" with blood next to it.
27	* CurtainCamouflage: When Donna is searching the basement for the cat, Jenke's legs and shoes are seen hiding behind the rack of clothes.
28	* DolledUpInstallment:
29	** Thanks to having some of the same creative forces behind it, the film was released as a third sequel to ''Film/{{House}}'' outside the US. The title stuck, and the official third ''House'' film had to be released as ''Film/HouseIV''.
30	** And as if that wasn't enough, it was also released as the seventh ''Franchise/EvilDead'' in Italy.
31	* DoubleTap: [[spoiler:After gunning down the now mortal Jenke, Lucas sticks his gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger, just to be sure.]]
32	* EvilLaugh: Jenke's ratty "hehehehe".
33	* EvilSoundsDeep: Jenke. It is Creator/BrionJames, after all.
34	* FlashbackNightmare: The arrest of Jenke by Lucas is shown through his nightmares.
35	* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:While electrocuting Jenke to make him mortal again, Donna shoves an electric cable into his groin.]]
36	* HighVoltageDeath: Jenke's first death is via electric chair. This was ''Invoked'' on his part, as the only way Jenke could return as a powerful, deadly ghost is if he was killed by electricity. [[spoiler:''Inverted'' at the climax, as electrocuting Jenke a second time makes him mortal and allows him to be killed by gunfire.]]
37	* LargeHam: Jenke. After [[Film/BladeRunner Leon]] and [[Film/TangoAndCash Raquin]] this is Brion James' hammiest performance.
38	* MadeOfEvil: According to Campbell, Jenke has basically become this after death. The fact he was ''already'' pure evil to begin with is actually the ''reason'' he was able to come back to life.
39	* MadeOfIron: It takes a lot of voltage to kill Jenke on the electric chair.
40	-->'''Jenke''': All that did was give me a hard-on!
41	* NoRangeLikePointBlankRange: [[spoiler:Lucas makes sure Jenke is ''really'' dead the second time by sticking his gun in the psycho's mouth and pulling the trigger.]]
42	* OnceIsNotEnough: Defied. [[spoiler:After Jenke is rendered mortal, Lucas fills him full of lead until he stops moving. He then walks over, sticks his gun in the psycho's mouth and fires. After all that happened, the man did ''not'' take chances making sure Jenke's was really dead that time.]]
43	* OffWithHisHead: Jenke's preferred form of murder.
44	* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Jenke has this reaction when he's rendered mortal and sees Lucas pointing a gun at him.]]
45	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Jenke trained himself so being electrocuted would result in him returning as a MadeOfEvil spirit capable of borderline RealityWarper abilities. [[spoiler:He can also be returned to the living by electrocuting him again.]]
46	* PeekabooCorpse: Vinnie's corpse in the basement provides this.
47	* RapeAsDrama: When Jenke captures Bonnie, it's implied that he raped her.
48	* RealityWarper: The now MadeOfEvil Jenke is seemingly capable of warping reality, at least within the house.
49	* ShootTheTelevision: Lucas is tormented by visions of Jenke while he and his family are watching a stand-up comedian on TV. The visions drive Lucas to take out his police-issued handgun and shoot the TV set, to the shock and dismay of the rest of his family.
50	* ShowerScene: Completely gratuitous one provided by Bonnie.
51	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:After Jenke is rendered mortal, Lucas fills him full of lead and doesn't stop until he stops moving. He then walks over, sticks the gun in his mouth and fires one last shot just to make sure he's dead for good.]]
52	* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Jenke starts adding "bitch" to his sentences during the climactic confrontation.
53	* WouldHurtAChild: Jenke slices off a girl's head right in front of Lucas in the opening scene.
54	* YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead: Jenke is essentially invulnerable as a ghost, as he's already dead. [[spoiler:It takes bringing him back all the way and then killing him in a way that didn't involve electricity to put him down for good.]]
55	* YourHeadAsplode: After Prof. Campbell's severed head on the other side reminds Lucas of how to defeat Jenke, he explodes.
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Context Film / TheHorrorShow