House

MOVIE #1,201 •🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿• 10.20.23 50 MOVIES IN 32 DAYS! I have recently bemoaned the fact that too many movies have been labeled “cult classics” and while that title is extremely subjective, I think we can agree that not a single entry in the Slumber Party Massacre deserves the recognition. But alas… And that’s why House, the 1977 masterpiece by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was so refreshing. This is the true definition of a cult film: it came out to little fanfare and middling reviews and built a following slowly over the years. And yeah, perhaps all that’s true for flicks like the Slumber Party series, but the difference is this is legitimately good! It’s insanely inventive, wildly entertaining, and beautifully weird. This is the aspect of a cult classic that’s so often lost: they should not simply be subpar films with amazing posters that you put on to mindlessly giggle at.

Ultimately, this is a matter of personal opinion I suppose. You can like what you like for whatever reason(s) you like. I wish there was a little higher standard for this one, incredibly inconsequential idea, but I’ve already spent too many words bitching about it.

I hesitate to say too much about this movie because I went in completely cold and was rewarded greatly by the mystery and splendor of what unfolded. I simply knew it was one of those films “I had to see.” This is such a glorious, singular vision: Obayashi serves as director, writer, producer, editor and special effects coordinator. I feel like I need to rewatch it to best unpack the narrative and thematic elements because the first viewing was such an overwhelming visceral/visual experience. The editing is relentless and the pace rushes so exponentially towards a fever pitch of pure chaos that you are simply forced to live inside each moment and, really, each frame, barely cognizant of what happened before let alone the story at large. This was both more ridiculous and more playful than I anticipated (for some reason I thought it would be a far darker horror picture, but it’s so bright and fantastical).

So I won’t be making any gifs (I’m sure there are 1,000s out there if you want to look), though 90% of the movie is gif-worthy. Just go watch House! I’m pissed I waited so long. Next Saturday, we will conclude our decade-by-decade look at Japanese horror with another TRUE cult classic I’ve neglected all these years: 1989’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

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House (Japanese: ハウス, Hepburn: Hausu) is a 1977 experimental comedy horror film directed and produced by Nobuhiko Obayashi. It is about a schoolgirl traveling with her six friends to her ailing aunt's country home, where they come face to face with supernatural events as the girls are, one by one, devoured by the home. It stars mostly amateur actors, with only Kimiko Ikegami and Yōko Minamida having any notable previous acting experience. The musical score was performed by the rock band Godiego. It was released on July 30, 1977.