AKA House 4 : Home Deadly Home.

Tag Line : Step inside, you're frightfully welcome.

The fourth film in the "House" series is set in yet another mysterious old mansion. The building in question this time is the old family home of the late Roger Cobb (played by William Katt from the first film). After Roger is killed in a car accident, his widow Kelly (Terri Treas) and wheelchair bound daughter Laurel (Mellissa Clayton) decide to move into the old property with a view to renovating it.

Unfortunately Roger's greedy step-brother Burke (Scott Burkholder) has plans of his own, and wishes to sell the house to the nearby chemical plant. And so him and his 2 goofy henchmen decide to try and terrorise Kelly and her daughter out of the property.

However, the old house appears to be built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground (how original), meaning plenty of ghoulish goings on for all parties concerned. Some of the highlights include ghostly apparitions of Kelly's late husband, the shower spraying blood out (more originality), Burke's henchman turning into snakes and cockroaches, and a take away pizza coming to life (YES IT'S TRUE!!!)

It is obvious that producer Sean Cunningham was trying to re-inject some of the humour back into the series with this fourth entry, but unfortunately he doesn't quite manage to get the balance of horror and humour quite right this time. The plot is also made a little confusing by the fact that William Katt, who also appeared in part 1, is back playing another character named "Roger Cobb" (though obviously not the same Roger Cobb).

Although in my view this film pails in comparison with the first 2, if you enjoyed the previous movies, you should also enjoy this. The singing pizza monster was certainly a howl anyway!

Overall Marks : 5/10.

Other Information.

• Director Lewis Abernathy also wrote the film "Deep Star Six", which was another Sean Cunningham production. He also appeared in the film "Titanic" playing the role of Lewis Bodine.
   

• William Katt is the only main actor to have appeared in more than one "House" film (unless you count the cameo appearances by Kane Hodder that is). Although his character has the same name, Roger Cobb, it is obviously not meant to be the same person. This film is set in a totally different house and here he has a wife and daughter, whereas before he had an estranged wife and a son.
   

• The Human Pizza monster was actually played by stunt man Kane Hodder, aka Jason from Friday the 13th parts 7,8,9 & 10.
   

• Terry Treas also played Cathy Frankul in the cult "Alien Nation" sci-fi TV series.
   

• Apparently this film was meant to be "House 3", but as the producer's previous film "The Horror Show" had been released internationally as "House 3", they had to title this "House 4". Leading to much confusion in the US.

Cast & Crew.

Buy the UK DVD.

Buy the UK DVD Box Set (parts 1-4).

Buy the UK DVD.

Buy the UK DVD box set (parts 1-4).

Notes on affiliate sites.
 

Other films in the series.

Contemporary Classics.

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