Roger Cobb is a newly divorced horror novelist whose young son has recently mysteriously disappeared. He moves to his aunt's house to write a book about his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam. The trouble is that his aunt killed herself there in strange circumstances and before long Cobb starts to experience malevolent paranormal activity in the house. House was produced by Sean S. Cunningham, the man who directed the hugely influential slasher Friday the 13th (1980) and produced the notorious rape-revenge exploitation shocker Last House on the Left (1972). It would be fair to say that with House, he was involving himself with something decidedly less controversial. This is in actual fact a horror-comedy which is not so far off being family-friendly. While it does admittedly have its share of horror moments such as demonic creatures and some suspenseful events, it certainly plays its comedy hand with more certainty. The result is a very likable film.
This is a film which is not so well remembered now but it was a sizable hit at the time it was released from what I can recall, after all it did manage to spawn three sequels. It benefits quite a bit from very good performances from William Katt as Cobb and George Wendt as his friendly neighbour. Both have good comic timing and work well together, while Katt has to be given extra credit for still being capable of acting while wearing the most 80's V-neck sweater I have ever seen. Aside from the two leads there is also a lot of really good 80's effects and make-up for the various demons who plague the house, including a monster in the closet which I daresay haunted many a little kid who happened across this flick back in the day. It was also an interesting idea to combine the 80's movie staple of the Vietnam War in with a haunted house scenario. These strange bed-fellows are amalgamated pretty successfully I thought though, giving the movie a distinctive angle. Ultimately, House is a fun movie without ever being an essential one. It does display a certain craft and care though and, even if it is a bit limited in some ways, it's a film which is difficult to dislike and one which offers a fun 90 minutes for genre fans.
