10 Foreign Horror Films That Claimed to Be Sequels to American Hits

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Now this next one is really bizarre and complicated, but I’ll try my best to explain.

In 1989, a film called The Horror Show came out, which starred genre fave Lance Henriksen. Much like Wes Craven’s Shocker, which was released the same year, The Horror Show was about a serial killer who was sentenced to death via electric chair, an execution attempt that only served to make him grow stronger. In other words, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the House films.

Likely because Sean Cunningham produced it, The Horror Show was re-named House 3 for its UK and Australian releases in an attempt to connect it to the success of the House films from the ’80s. Now that’s all good and well, but here’s where things get real odd…

Because of the fact that this film, which had nothing to do with House or House 2, utilized the title House 3, the makers of the true second sequel to the House franchise were forced to call their film House 4, even though it was actually the third installment in the franchise. So House 4 is technically House 3, and House 3, aka The Horror Show, has nothing to do with House, House 2, or House 4.

Movies, man. Movies.

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Four years before Sam Raimi made Army of Darkness, which was technically Evil Dead 3, Italian filmmaker Umberto Lenzi made a film called Ghosthouse, about a haunted house. Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 went under the titles La Casa and La Casa 2 in Italy, and Ghosthouse was retitled La Casa 3 – also known as Evil Dead 3. The bogus Evil Dead 3 would go on to spawn an Evil Dead 4 and even an Evil Dead 5, though unfortunately the real franchise ended at just three installments.

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Cashing in on the success of 2007’s Paranormal Activity, a Japanese filmmaker decided to essentially make the Japanese version of the film, which he called Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night. Causing much confusion, the film was actually released worldwide, including here in the US, under that title, even though it had nothing to do with the American franchise. The real Paranormal Activity 2 was released the very same year.

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