The CLog

Archives | RSS

Monday, October 25, 2010

Film / Film Reviews / News Haunted House for Halloween

Posted By on Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 3:34 PM

House1

By Matt Brunson

HOUSE (1977)

***

DIRECTED BY Nobuhiko Obayashi

STARS Kumiko Ohba, Miki Jinbo

Barely making a ripple when it debuted stateside in 1977, Japan's House (Hausu) required an NYC re-release earlier this year to finally start building momentum for the wide cult following it will eventually enjoy.

A gonzo horror flick that surely must have influenced Sam Raimi as he prepped The Evil Dead, this dizzying extravaganza — just released on DVD by Criterion — centers on seven school girls (with such character-appropriate names as Gorgeous, Fantasy and Melody) who elect to vacation at a remote residence inhabited by a malevolent matriarch. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi establishes his schizophrenic style from the start, employing everything from speeded-up slapstick sequences to matte shots to bleeding color schemes, but it takes a full half-hour for the house to unleash its horrors. And what a delirious ride it proves to be, with the mansion throwing a demonic cat, a carnivorous piano and much more at our plucky heroines. The seven teens are an ingratiating bunch, though my favorite is the one named Kung Fu — energetic and courageous, she's like the missing Spice Girl.

househero

Despite the ceaseless visual assault, the picture does have its slow spots, but any film savvy enough to include a visual shout-out to Denis Gifford's superb book A Pictorial History of Horror Movies gets a hearty recommendation from me.

DVD extras include interviews with Obayashi, Obayashi's daughter Chigumi Obayashi (who as a child provided her pop with many of the film's scenarios), and screenwriter Chiho Katsura; Emotion, Obayashi's 40-minute experimental film from 1966; and a 4-minute discussion with The House of the Devil director (and House fan) Ti West.

house2

(For more new DVD releases suitable for Halloween viewing, see this week’s upcoming View From The Couch column in print and on this website.)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Favorite

More The CLog »

Speaking of...

  |  

Comments

Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS

Add a comment

Creative Loafing encourages a healthy discussion on its website from all sides of the conversation, but we reserve the right to delete any comments that detract from that. Violence, racism and personal attacks that go beyond the pale will not be tolerated.

Search Events

all events
concerts
restaurants
movie times

www.flickr.com
items in Creative Loafing Charlotte More in Creative Loafing Charlotte pool
Most Popular
Most Shared
Most Commented

© 2019 Womack Digital, LLC
Powered by Foundation