User reviews

In the realm of WTF there are some movies that mess with your mind and make you ask what the hell that was. Movies like Eraserhead, Tetsuo the Bullet Man and The Holy Mountain are brought up as examples of this. But none of them hold a candle to the serious mind screw that is "House" or "Hausu" depending on your preference.

A bunch of schoolgirls head to a creepy house in the countryside owned by an aunt of one of the girls. Each one is named after a skill, ability or character trait. Gorgeous is pretty, Kung Fu likes to fight and Mac likes to eat. And once they get there things get weird.

To try to even describe this movie is a challenge. Things happen. Really weird things happen. It's got a charming 70's vibe to it. The effects, although amateurish by today's standards, are well done for the era. And while the actors do a decent job, it's full of theater acting. The difference is that their actions tend to be a little over the top and not natural. This is of course a hallmark of Japanese cinema where a more stylized take is preferred over something more natural that we expect over here. That's not a bad thing though as it lends an air of other worldliness to what would otherwise be a rather tepid story.

In short, it works. If you're a fan of the bizarre you really ought to take a look at this.

The Summer holidays have arrived, and a young schoolgirl known as Gorgeous can't wait to spend time with her film composer father in their palatial villa. It's always been just the two of them, as her mother died when she was young. However, upon returning from a trip to Italy, her father states his intentions to remarry; and Gorgeous immediately changes her vacation plans. Leaving her father and taking six friends along, Gorgeous travels to her reclusive aunt's decrepit mansion in the countryside. At first, everything seems fine, until signs start showing that the house is haunted and that Gorgeous's aunt may not be the kindly old lady she initially seemed to be.

Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, 'House' is a comedy-horror of the surrealist variety shot with a distinct, original visual style. The images in the film are bizarre and comedic, not to mention rather dark- particularly in the latter half. Making effective use of odd angles and irregular composition, Yoshitaka Sakamoto's cinematography- as well as the overall look of the film- is occasionally reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's early work with 'Monty Python,' or perhaps a comic-book.

The use of color is also very effective, as well as the juxtaposition of the banal with the grotesque. Sakamoto's work under Obayashi's assured direction results in some unforgettable, incredibly strange sequences and shots. The soundtrack- composed by Asei Kobayashi and the band Godiego- is eerily light and breezy, which is made all the more off-putting when put together with the dark images the film contains.

Unpredictable and macabre, Chiho Katsura's screenplay is a trip into the absurd. From the characters' names to the narrative structure, nothing about this film is ordinary or very serious. You're never really sure what'll happen next, nor where the next joke will come from; watching 'House' can be a deeply rewarding, funny experience (if you appreciate the dark and the strange, that is). Abstract, oddly humorous and thoroughly original; the story is anything but what you'd find in your routine haunted house film.

The set design is fantastically rich, with the main location of the aunt's mansion being especially complex and highly detailed. Combined with the striking cinematography and Nobuo Ogawa's frenetic editing, the film quickly establishes an uneasy atmosphere that makes the oddness and intricacy of the sets even more evident. Add to this the oftentimes kaleidoscopic color design and efficacious use of special effects and you've got a particularly off-beat, distinctive and memorable movie.

It's surprising to learn that many of the cast weren't professional actors at the time, as every performance in the film is strong. Miki Jinbo and Kumiko Oba are particularly good, as two of Gorgeous's pals who accompany her on the holiday, named Kung Fu and Fantasy respectively (as one knows martial arts and the other has an active imagination). They are unselfconscious performers who give their roles their all, both impressing with their tenacity and acting depth. Jinbo also gets to show off her fighting skills throughout the film, leaving an indelible impression on the viewer.

The late Yoko Minamida also stands out as the sinister aunt, obviously reveling in the chance to play such a weird, creepy character. Kimiko Ikegami's star turn as Gorgeous must also be mentioned, as she brings an unsettling, subtle intensity to the role that is very interesting to watch. She's sympathetic, as well as being- especially later in the film- rather frightening: a very fine piece of acting overall.

Well-acted, strange as can be and arcanely dark, 'House' is a unique experience at the cinema that is both unforgettable and unfathomable. Full of abstractions, this horror is made with an artistic sensibility as well as a pitch-black sense of humor (that occasionally borders on parody). If you want to watch something different- something outside of the ordinary realm of filmmaking- you can't go wrong with 'House.' It's bloody, unpredictable and a whole lot of fun.

About 2 months after obtaining this title, I've not been able to find words to describe this movie, other than strange and bizarre. Depending on your mood it's either a noble failure or a triumph in film making. I couldn't use the terms ground breaking to describe it, but there's something important about the texture of this film.

Imagine John Hughes and Sam Raimi kicking back and doing some hard drugs and deciding to make a movie together. It might look like this. It spends a good amount of time before it gets anywhere, focusing on four teen girls whose names seem to support their abilities, expertise, or interests. At this point, it plays almost like an average teen rom-com. But note the campy soundtrack, dancing school girls, and some rather strange almost comic book like backgrounds.

It starts getting interesting as the girls set forth to movie's namesake house. They flashback and do storytelling in the form of a silent movie. We get to see some slapstick characters which don't belong in a horror movie, and we have a roll call of our four heroines as they head off into the woods. Enter the House alluded to in the film's title.

So the horror begins. But this is Sam Raimi style horror. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of this inspired Evil Dead - if the film was available - who knows. There's a whole series of odd scenes. Most notable is the infamous piano scene, where a piano devours someone. But that's not all. There's an evil kitty, a clock the spills out blood ala Evil Dead, a river of blood and some kooky camera work and odd cut aways! "Ambitious" might be the operative word to describe this movie. When I watch it, I'm not quite sure if it all works. The effects are crude, but not in the Ed Wood "you can see the strings" style. For me, some of it is like reading a comic book. They're bigger than life, not meant to scare you in the classical sense. But it is unlike anything you've seen before.

I guess if I have any gripe about the film, it's that it takes a good while to get really fun, but when you get there, it's an insane joyride. But it's not a normal movie viewing experience and a rating does not serve it well. Watch it for yourself - and it probably wouldn't hurt to have a drink or two while doing so.

Oh my goodness, what at trippy, crazy, cheesy little movie this is. I don't think it has a single scene in it which doesn't have some type of campy, surreal special effect. Early on it seems like part Wes Anderson, part after-school special, part J-pop, part … I don't know, just 'out there', and certainly unique. It gets weirder and weirder as it goes. If you love the bizarre and the downright silly, movies which don't take themselves too seriously and are out to throw wild images at you, you'll probably love this film. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi has a real flair, and he's not out to make things look super-realistic, he's out to entertain. If you're looking for a ghost story, real drama, or horror, well, this isn't it. You never feel real tension, even as the cute little girls are attacked by mattresses, devoured by a piano, etc etc. For me I suppose I fell more in the latter camp, wishing the film had some balance in creating a film about the supernatural, but you can easily see why it has a bit of a cult attraction to it, and your mileage may vary.

This movie is the directing debut for (the great) Nobuhiko Obayashi. He has directed commercials for television before he got into directing movies. This experience helped Obayashi learn many special effects used in TV commercials. It shows in this movie as almost every scene contains some sort of special visual effects.

In the mid '70s Toho studio was looking for fresh ideas for movies that would be a box office success. They've decided to use the then relative unknown Nobuhiko Obayashi to direct a movie with fresh new approach. Many of Toho's experienced staff expressed concerns over this because Obayashi never had experience of being an assistant director. Project manager for this movie then said "Us experienced directors aren't coming up with hit movies, so experience is not the criteria for making a successful movie. Lets allow this young director to make a movie to see if he knows more about what the audience really wants."

The original plot of this movie was written by the then 13 year old daughter of Obayashi himself.

The movie has a strange career as it was rediscovered by an Asian movie affectionado who had connections with Janus films (which is the parent company of the Criterion Collection) after being released in Japan over 30 years ago. It then made limited showings in theaters around the U.S.. Very unusual as not too many film gets a roadshow in another country 30 years after it was made.

Seven girls makes a plan to go on a vacation at one of the girl's aunts house in the country side. They don't suspect that the aunt died long time ago, and what inhabits the house is the apparition of the aunt that can remain young only by devouring the bodies of others.

The movie is a horror comedy with bit of erotic exploitation starring many actors who were teen idols at the time. When it was first released, Miki Jinbo who played the role of Kung Fu gathered the most votes by the young male audiences, as she kicked her way around the house wearing skimpy tank top and shorts.

This movie is very original in almost every way. Visuals are unusual as expressed earlier that Obayashi used many of the special effects he's learned while making TV commercials. Color is also very surreal as is the acting, but the movie has strange charm all its own, and not boring to watch. You can almost say that this is an artistic film that's also geared to entertain the audience.

In the end Toho studio got just what it was hoping to achieve - a box office smash hit. This movie also established the career of Obayashi as a bankable director. Obayashi went on to direct many other successful movies including the original "Girl who leaped through time".

So Hausu was a film that I was really eager to check out for myself after hearing how incredibly weird it was supposed to be, and it certainly didn't disappoint in that regard, it was probably the most bizarre flick I had ever seen. It's about a young girl named Gorgeous who invites a group of her young friends to come along with her on a trip to her sinister aunt's house in the country, only what they don't learn until they get there is that the old place is haunted, and sweet old auntie is an evil spirit! It took a bit to get going but once it did it was packed with some seriously crazy stuff that had my jaw dropping, there's ghoulish disembodied heads that fly about and bite rear ends, a lot of silly slapstick that really goes back and forth between scary and a cutesy childlike tone of fantasy, a possessed white cat that in one scene hysterically meows the movie's theme tune, and there's a man-eating killer grand piano! I suppose back in the seventies and in Japan this may have been viewed as a sort of children's adventure, well then Roald Dahl eat ya friggin' heart out! It might be a bit too wildly offbeat for some to take but there's a lot of cheesy fun to be had here, along with genuinely dark moments aplenty, it made me kinda wish that more of out fantasy films could have been half as madly inventive in their approach. Too unsettlingly off-the-wall, cuckoo-clock nuts to be truly endearing and loveable, too lighthearted to properly be labelled as true horror, this twisted fairytale falls somewhere in the middle and exists in its own very strange little bubble that is both whimsical and occasional frightening, but whatever it is it sure makes for a fun little ride that gets progressively more insane as it goes on, and while I didn't love the entire thing it had enough great moments to be good and was quite charming overall, and I can certainly say that I've never seen another one quite like it, it's fun enough that I'd say it's a hidden gem that's worth a look at least once just so you can take in the experience of it for yourself, because this Hausu is well worth a visit! 🐱 🌈 💀

A girl has just gotten a new stepmother, which greatly displeases her. So she decides to take her six one-character-trait friends and go visit her aunt on the countryside. In her aunt's house strange things start to happen.

House, or Hausu if you prefer, is certainly something you'll remember for the rest of your days. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi intentionally wanted to make something with a very low budget, blatantly simplistic characters and events so bizarre and out of the left field that they would need no justification. And this honest commitment to weirdness is what makes the movie so enjoyable. Pretty much from the get-go you're being told that you're not supposed to take this too seriously, not supposed to think too much about it.

And when you allow yourself to relax, lean back into your cushions and just take it in, it's a lot of fun. Does it make any sense? No, but it's not supposed to. However, it is a bit hard to follow, which can be a problem even with a film such as this. The seven girls are hard to tell apart, especially when they all dress and act pretty similarly. There are some outliers, but even still the character roster could have used a trim.

Still, it's hard to criticize a film whose entire purpose is to step outside the norms and the expectations. If you're looking for an experience and don't mind horror tropes being made fun of, this might be your film.

This film falls into the comedy, fantasy and horror genres according to this site. So let's start from there. Is it funny? No, not really, unless your sense of humor is driven by a stream of wacky non sequiturs. Is it scary? No, not at all. How scary is a dancing skeleton? Or a chest of drawers that opens and closes to dance hall music? Is it fantastical? Yes, definitely. Especially if your idea of fantasy is hallucinatory, akin to an acid trip.

I can say one good thing about this film. The production values were good--most of the time.

It's the story of seven young girls who decide to spend a vacation at the mansion of one girl's aunt. They know next to nothing about the aunt or the mansion or the surrounding environs. Consider it one big slumber party.

The girls, like the seven dwarfs, are caricatures of personality traits. There's Prof and Mac (the "fat girl") and Gorgeous, among others. They are a giggly bunch who chatter non-stop likes girls of that age. Do we really care that much what happens to them? No, because the story is presented in such a way that we take nothing seriously.

There is no cohesive unity in this film. How can there be when it changes styles every second? Resembling a cross between a Monkees episode and the worst music video ever, the action is accompanied by every special effect imaginable. Seriously, it looks like the director was checking off a list of in-camera and extra-camera effects, from the Hitchcock effect, to green screen effects, to changes in film speed.

The music, likewise, is chimerical--changing, without reason or purpose, from classical to disco to nursery rhyme styles.

And the director employs every editorial cut he could think of, too. It is very distracting.

The difference between this film and one of Tim Burton's is cohesion. Burton lives in the whimsical and populates his films with quirky characters and imaginative happenings, but his productions are unified by style and music.

Is there any underlying story in the film? Some opinions about that are posted on this site. I tried to find meaning in the film by considering it to be an allegory about the damage done to Japan during WWII by its military and political missions. But I see no other opinions along those lines and, besides, I don't think that theme works throughout the film.

Watching this film, I think most viewers will feel confused or bored. Afterwards, I think they will wonder what the point was.

I mean...I...I have no words. WHAT was this? Is it a secret masterpiece or does it sit in the exclusive "so bad it's good" zone? I honestly couldn't tell you after my first watch, I just couldn't. Reviewing this surreal experience would be like describing relativity in sign language, seemingly impossible. Alas, here I am attempting to detail the indescribable. Seven young girls travel to the countryside where they visit one of their aunties and stay in her residence. Unbeknown to them, they have actually stepped into a house that turns realism into fantasy. The story is incomprehensible, it makes no logical sense. The visual effects are downright atrocious to the point that it's actually hilarious. The editing of sequences is incredibly frantic. The acting is questionable and the narrative's tone is incredibly inconsistent. But, I don't know how, this film hypnotised me. Ôbayashi's direction was clear, both for viewers and Toho Studios. Experimentalism. Pushing the boundaries of what one can do with the art of filmmaking. Mixing horror, comedy and fantasy into a cauldron of frenetic energy to create something that is totally Japanese. A girl named Kung-Fu who consistently kicks and punches projectiles like an anime superhero, schoolgirls dancing and gleefully loving life, spellbound housing items attacking the group of girls and even long ominous smirks to the camera. You couldn't get anymore Japanese than "Hausuuuu". That, 70's visuals that one would find in an old 80's CD-I video game and the hilarious death sequences are all part of the appeal. Its charm is the fact that it never takes itself seriously, it doesn't try to be something metaphorical or meaningful. Just pure insane entertainment. Having said that...I honestly don't know what this was trying to be. It's so confused and purposefully "out there" that actually the outlandish segments detracted from the aesthetic appeal of the film itself. A masterpiece? Honestly I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm definitely watching it again!

In the hands of experimental Japanese filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi, the tale of seven "unmarried" young high-school girls who, during a school break, travel to a spooky, remote hilltop house to visit the reclusive, mysterious Aunt of one of their fold only to be consumed one at a time by the Ghost-House/Aunt in increasingly novel ways, is escalated into a spastic, phantasmagorical confetti burst of avant-garde techniques and tonalities. Not a minute goes by without some kind of imaginative and spirited experimental visual manipulation or interjection; from kaleidoscopic color schemes, to frame and time altering collage montage, to wild, high-concept mixed media integration (animation, mattes, props, sets, etc), to mini-movie injections (lovingly parodying/mimicking everything from silent film stylistics, to romantic fantasies to obligatory action scenes). Any and all workings of the film form are here incorporatedly warped; from imagery and editing to music and sound to content and presentation. Even the sketches of characters and their respective performances by the actors are hemmed in time with the overall off-the-wall configuration. (Example: Each girl is intentionally drawn with their stock personalities (the musician, the over-weight eater, the athlete, etc) novelly paraded in gleeful iconic irreverence.) The moods and tones of the film are equally melodic in their own discordant tangential way; seamlessly walking the line between comedy, horror and the deadpan aloof. It all adds up to a whole lot of fun. Where else could you see a girl eaten by a piano, an upright Bear helping cook dinner at a roadside noodle-stand or a man turned into a pile of bananas because he doesn't like melons!? With all its packed in candy-colored confections and novel door prizes, "Hausu" is a cinematic surprise party all in one...just add you.

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Although it is clearly either incompetence, lack of budget or indefference to failure that make House so one of its kind -maybe even all three-, in the end it is an hour and a half of pure unapologetic stimuli that is hard to shake off.

The combination of an unprecedented directing style and an unprecedented writing style somehow plays like two wrongs making a right. It is so weird, that any conventional sense of humor or horror doesn't apply to House being a "horror comedy". It isn't funny or scary enough; at least not for the right reasons. But also, those two adjectives are just too small and restrinctive to define it, really.

I was looking for something fun and original to get my hands on, that I could have a blast with, that could catch me off guard. I finally heard this film descripted as a "nuts Japanese film, about a group of girls that are eaten by a house set to colorful psychedelics and upbeat music". I said "I'm in". I rolled my blunts and got stoned at least to the point where I could still understand the basic plot. I didn't, but it wasn't my fault.

Needless to say, I had a blast. I don't rate movies as high experiences (in which case this would have a perfect score), so I decided to see it again sober, and I have to say, as clumsy as it may seem on the surface, it is quite impressive. Every scene is its own sacrilect statement to the art of filmmaking, so much so that at first it can trick you into thinking it is a children's movie. It is not. It contains enough blood and nudity to have an R rating at least.

I'm not surprised at all about all of the underground praise this movie gets despite the Japanese critic's distaste for it when it came out. The truth is it was so ridiculous and amateurishly put together by former commercial dirtector Nobuhiko Obayashi, that it ended up breaking new grounds.

In a Trouth Mask Replica kind of way, you can't tell for sure if the people involved are either very ignorant and punching above their weight, or highly ambitious and punching below it. Is it a striking success or a deafening failure? It has convoluted editing, anachronistic sound design, obnoxious soudtrack, and it works! This film is effective in the first place because it misifres so much, you can't help but admit it's consistent.

I'm not automatically a big fan of it. It doesn't work all the way through for me as it can get boring in the corniest of moments. I'm probably not seeing it again unless I'm doing pot or with friends or something. But its whacky style is sure to gain it fresh fans even today; it is that original. Those that are open-minded have a chance to get a novelty to fall in love with.

I recommend it, but only to those who are truly up to the test of surrendering disbilief -not only in logic, but also in our pre-conceptions of how films should be overall- in the search for something greater.

Wow! Noribuki Obayashi's "Hausu" aka. "House" of 1977 is easily one of the weirdest films I ever saw and I generally generally am a fan of the bizarre. A Horror-fan and avid lover of Japanese cinema, especially from the 70s, I had high expectations for this film, and I was not disappointed, even though the film was totally different than what I had expected. Having read no reviews of the film before seeing it, I expected a pure Horror film, but it turned out to be an incomparably bizarre and experimental Horror-parody, with a delightfully macabre and grotesque humor rather than scares. The film already starts out extremely strange (in an awesome manner), and it gradually gets weirder and weirder as it goes on.

The film starts off with a bunch of teenage high-school girls, all of whom have certain distinctive characteristics that are mentioned in their nicknames, who travel to the countryside to visit the aunt of one of the girls. I don't want to spoil even a tiny bit of the plot of this unique Horror-parody, and therefore won't carry with a plot description, but I can assure that fans of surrealism and weird cinema will be delighted. While "Hausu" is not a film I would recommend to everyone, this is an absolute must-see to all my fellow fans of Japanese film, the Horror-genre and bizarre art-house cinema. Director Obayashi uses a bizarre of editing imaginable, with grotesque cutting, totally insane effects. Sometimes the editing equals that of a (bizarre) video-clip, only to jump to an entirely different style. Yet all this strangeness never draws the viewer away from the story, which is itself just as surreal as the film's style. Overall "Hausu" can be described as a unique and bizarre fairy tale with a grotesque and ingenious, often macabre and always unique sense of humor. There are moments in this film at which the viewer will just stare at the screen not knowing what to think, and scenes at which one is barely able to breathe in laughter, and every second of the film is very strange. Very delightfully strange that is, as "Hausu" is a bizarre gem that must not be missed by lovers of the surreal. Mainstream audiences might not know what to think of this, but every fan of a more unique form of cinema should give this a try. Surreal, exceptional, and one of a kind!

This is my second attempt at watching this and at least this time I stayed awake. It is a very slight tale starring a bunch of delightful young women and packed with vivid and varied visuals. Every still I have ever seen from this makes me want to give it another go. Almost every second of the film is a visual delight. But, where exactly is it all going? These constant surreal episodes of candy floss horror and innocent eroticism are interspersed with Scooby Doo moments as the girls go flying about the house in search of one another or something else. There is no logical progression from one sequence to another and this makes it very difficult to stay with. It is short, it is pretty but completely empty.

Six teenage girls go to spend a pleasant week at an Aunts remote house. Unknown to them, the Aunt – and the house – have other intentions.

Hallucinogenic horror-comedy from Nobuhiko Obayashi - very much like stepping into a live action Salvador Dali painting with a horror motif. The familiar, simplistic horror plot is just an excuse for an unrelenting assault on the senses as conventional cinematic story telling is shown the door and replaced by every cinematic trick and gimmick imaginable.

Obayashi fills every minute of screen time with weird camera angles, slow motion dreams, fast motion tracks, unconventional sounds, psychedelic animations and colorful backdrops to move things along. It sets a surreal, absurdest tone which pervades every scene.

In fact, each scene is extremely bizarre in its own right - especially as the girls are individually besieged by evil forces. A laughing, decapitated head floats through the air and attacks one of the girls – biting her on the ass, another girl freaks out at dinner as the host secretly watches her with three eyes – the third peering out of her mouth, a gravity defying karate match ensues between the most athletic girl and a demon possessed lamp shade, and in one of the stranger scenes in cinema, a girl playing a piano is literally eaten by the instrument. As her consumed body parts reside within the casing, her floating, disencumbered fingers begin playing a tune on the keyboard - complete with flashing colored lights!

At its core, this is a Carmella-like vampire flick with the old Aunt getting younger each time one of the girls disappears. What sets it apart from similar movies is its whimsical air, nonsensical imagery and unending gimmickry. While some people admire the film's experimental nature, I think more will be turned off rather quickly. I was already annoyed after ten minutes and had a hard time sitting through the whole thing.

I've seen it twice. It's a wonderfully crafted mishmash of thousands of cinematic tropes, ideas, and feelings packaged into 88 minutes of film. Yes, it is a movie with a plot, but like 2001, it's about the journey of interpretation and emotion that drives the film rather than resolving anything. It's goofy, horrifying, tense, lighthearted, crazy, but always perfect. I know the metaphor of a "roller-coaster ride" means almost nothing now-a-days, but it's the most apt comparison. It's like being shot into a haunted house on the moon in a different dimension. You will NOT see a single thing coming. I promise you. It's like watching a hour and a half trailer for a horror movie while you're on acid. None of this is hyperbole, but merely an attempt to accurately portray the film with a few words. Stop reading this review, get the highest quality copy of this film out there and watch it because there's nothing else to say.

Except maybe Kung Fu is best girl, but that's just like, my opinion man.

When Oshare finds out that her Father's girlfriend is joining them on their summer trip, she and her friends decide to go to her aunt's farmhouse instead. From the moment they arrive, strange things begin to happen and the girls slowly begin to realize Oshare's Aunt may not have their best interests in mind.

I saw this film on the big screen at the Portage Theater in Chicago as part of a 24-hour horror movie marathon. I had never heard of it prior to it being added to the lineup, and was particularly excited to see something I considered obscure. While it was nothing like what I expected, I definitely witnessed the most unusual film of the marathon.

While this is a horror film, it is done in a very non-traditional horror style that I think only the Japanese can get away with. There are plenty of silly moments and many fantasy elements. At times, you just have to say "what the heck" -- had the same film been made in America, I think people would not have been able to handle it.

My only real problem with it was the score. The same theme runs through the movie again and again. While I understand the importance of tying together different scenes with an underlying score, they repeated the same tune more than twenty times... by the halfway point, it became rather tedious (one guy in the audience audibly said, "oh no, not again" and despite being an annoyance, I agreed with him).