It was only a matter of time before we dived into the world of Italian film franchises. To kick things off, we’ll look at the storied La Casa film series, whose entries rarely had anything to do with each other many happened to be known as very different—and not always linked—films. Not one but two key U.S. horror film franchises contributed to the La Casa series. Here we go….
We all know Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series. Evil Dead (1981) begat Evil Dead 2 (1987), which was approximately 25% remake/75% sequel, and then came Army of Darkness (1992). After a couple decades of dormancy, the series returned with Evil Dead (2013), which was as much a reboot as it was a sequel. A proper follow-up the original trilogy came with Ash vs. The Evil Dead (2015-2018), a three-season television series. And in 2022, we’ll see Evil Dead Rise, produced by the same creative folks, though it’s connection to the previous films, if any, remains to be seen.
But this Franchise Explainer is about La Casa. So why are we starting off with Evil Dead? Because Evil Dead was released in Italy in 1984 as La Casa, (translation: The House). And when Evil Dead 2 arrived in Italy, it was of course La Casa 2.
Now things start to get a little muddled. Ghosthouse (1988) was an Italian production filmed in the U.S. But when it arrived back in Italy, it was released as La Casa 3 despite having no connection to the Sam Raimi films.
Ghosthouse’s success paved the way for another shot-in-the-U.S. Italian film, which was known as Witchery (1988) in the U.S., Ghosthouse II in the U.K., and—obviously—La Casa 4 in Italy. It was in no other way connected to its predecessors, but notably featured David Hasselhoff and Linda Blair.
And then came the truly inexplicable La Casa 5 (1990), which was eventually released two years later in the U.S. as Beyond Darkness. Still with me?
Ok, so technically there is no sixth entry to the La Casa series, at least one not titled as such. But the brilliantly titled House II: The Second Story (1987)—itself a sequel to House (1986), no relation—was released in Italy as La Casa di Helen. If you’re not keeping track of the timeline, this film’s Italian release predated La Casa 3, 4, and 5. Yet, it’s informally considered the sixth entry in the series. (And in case you’re wondering, the original House was known in Italy as Chi è sepolto in quella casa?, or Who is Buried in That House.)
This ridiculous series came to a close with La Casa 7 (1989). Known in the U.S. as The Horror Show, this film was originally intended to be third entry in the House series, but saw a title change due to a shift in tone from its predecessors. But some countries in Europe saw it released as House III.
Despite there never officially being a third film in the U.S. House series, a House IV: The Repossession was released in 1992, bringing back William Katt’s character, not seen since the first film. For whatever reason, the Italians simply released it as House IV: Presenze Impalpabili (Impalpable Presences).
To close things out, it’s worth mentioning Superstition (1982), a notorious "video nasty" titled La Casa di Mary in Italy, predating the release of Evil Dead/La Casa. It was also known as The Witch, because, why not?