The Chair [1989]

Like the superior Prison, this is a horror movie about a prison haunted by an electrical spirit. It opens with an eerily effective rendition [by Lonette McKee] of 'The Folks who Live on the Hill', and then struggles with a silly plot about a vengeful warden who was strapped into his own electric chair during a riot, and on prison psychiatrist James Coco's problems with a group of mixed-up prisoners. Coco gives a fine, amusing performance, but his genuinely unpleasant and cruel death scene sits amiss with the hokey scare stuff. Michael Palin's American Friend Trini Alvarado is very good in the thankless role of the hesitant heroine, adding to the list of leading ladies who have made their debut appearances in schlock horror pictures.
KIM NEWMAN

First Published In: Empire [issue unknown]

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