By Geno McGahee
“That only gave me a hard on!” – Max Jenke (Brion James)
In 1989, two movies came out with similar stories. Both had a killer that was executed via electrocution and came back to cause trouble. The first and more well-known is SHOCKER with the lovable Horace Pinker, but there was another called “THE HORROR SHOW” with the equally cuddly Max Jenke.
Jenky (Brion James) is a sadistic killer that has done all sorts of bad things, which included rape and murder. The one detective, Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen), is trying to stop the madness, but he had to lose some loved ones along the way. His partner was left in a heap with both of his arms chopped off…and other good cops were left in pieces. Jenke is not a joke. He is a killer and he sees Lucas as the only worthy adversary.
Lucas brings Jenke to justice and waits eagerly to see him executed. When he is electrocuted but it takes several jolts and at one point he breaks out of the chair and approaches Lucas and tells him that he is “coming back” to fuck him up. Lucas was visibly shitting bricks.
Even though Jenke is dead, a scientist is concerned. Peter Campbell (Thom Bray) believes that Jenke is now stronger than ever and that he will be screwing with the life of McCarthy. McCarthy dismisses him initially, but after a lot of Jenke showing up in his life, he begins to entertain the notion.
Thanks to the antics of the returned to life killer, Lucas is now suspected in two murders and his family is in deep trouble. He must heed the advice of Campbell and use electricity against Jenke, bringing him back into the human world and kicking his ass and taking names the entire time. Henriksen vs. James: How can you beat that?
THE HORROR SHOW isn’t a great movie, but it is kept afloat by Henriksen and James and their incredible acting and charisma. I really enjoyed the ridiculousness of it. It was so absurd and so silly that you have to enjoy it. I recommend it…it was just good fun.
Rating: 6/10 – What a (Horror) Show!