House

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.

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! 🐱 🌈 💀

Hausu is basically the most bizarre Haunted House movie I've ever seen. The story follows a group of girlfriends who head to the country for vacation. They go to one of the girl's Aunt's house to spend their time. But beknownst to all of them the Aunt isn't really who she says she is. And there's a cat named Snowflake that obviously has some issues. Girls begin experiencing the supernatural and things don't seem to be slowing up. Reading back what I just wrote kinda makes the movie seem not so interesting. Seems like just another haunted house flick. But if you pop in this flick, almost immediately you will realize you've never seen a film like this. Filmed in a lively, colorful way mixed with a fantastic soundtrack, the flick exceeds on all levels of production. Combine the production values with a children's movie feel, then combine that with some blood, violence and nudity, you get a very different hybrid genre of a flick. Hausu is a flick that all fans of unique horror or cinema for that matter should check out.

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.

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".