Customer Reviews

House (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Every once in a while you read about a film that it's indescribable and like nothing you've ever seen before. Usually that's hyperbole; it's just a bit offbeat. Not in this case. House (made in 1977) is genuinely like no other film I'd ever seen before, and I loved every minute. The closest in vibe to this film that I've seen is Funky Forest: The First Contact - but that one's all over the place, and lacks the continuity of a single strange story like House. It's surreal horror, a hallucinatory and often hilarious supernatural thriller about Japanese schoolgirls who spend their school vacation visiting the aging aunt of their classmate. This is the kind of film you want to see in theaters if you have a chance - but barring that see it at home, after it's out on dvd, with an open-minded crowd of friends who dig foreign, cult or arthouse films.

Gorgeous, as she's known, is irate that her father has decided to remarry, and so she invites her friends to stay in the aging and empty country house of her aunt rather than go with her father and his fiancee on vacation. We are introduced to each of her friends, all of whom have nicknames that describe their temperament and character: there is the beautiful Gorgeous, there's the apparently dreamy and gullible Fantasy, the brainy Professor, the always hungry Mac, the musical Melody, and so on. Along the way, on a magical train ride in which the animated fantasy background that shines through the windows of the train seems to resemble a film strip, she tells them how her aunt had once loved a man who promised to come for her after the war, but never returned. When they arrive, their aunt seems a bit too eager to see them, and odd remarks lead to inexplicable occurrences, and pretty soon it's over-the-top scary silly supernatural surreal mayhem. The director seems to delight in retro-styled effects and sight gags, using stop motion and many other inventive techniques to create a fantastic realm of visual jokes and horror. Combining live action and animation, the film transcends kitch and schlockiness into a realm of cinematic magic, that draws upon Japanese magical traditions of Yokai and witches and vengeful ghosts, but also evokes the era in which it was made, and appears to be making fun of a certain kind of depiction of youth in cinema. Fun stuff, and exciting to see that Criterion is releasing it (not surprising given that Janus films is supervising the current critically acclaimed theatrical rerelease).

Here's what to expect on the 1-disc Criterion set:
-a new, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
-a video piece featuring interviews with director Nobuhiko Obayashi, story scenarist and daughter of the director Chigumi Obayashi, and screenwriter Chiho Katsura
-Emotion, a 1966 experimental film by Obayashi
-a new video appreciation by director Ti West (House of the Devil)
-the theatrical trailer
-new and improved English subtitle translation
-and an essay by film critic Chuck Stephens

Criterion is a great company -- arguably, the best DVD releasing company in the world. They are known for standards of excellence that aren't traditionally seen in most other companies' releases; not only in their DVD transfers and special features, but for the consistent high quality of the films they release. Most of the films Criterion release are already well-established, traditional, "classic" films. So, it's always nice to see a somewhat more "obscure" film get the Criterion treatment -- this film definitely deserves it.

While not completely "obscure" -- it's quite well-known in Japan, as well as amongst underground horror and experimental film lovers around the world -- it certainly doesn't seem as, dare I say, "important" as many other Criterion releases. But being the underdog works here, since the film only costs $26 brand new (well below most "big" Criterion film's releases) so it will hopefully motivate more people to check out this work of art.

...YES, a work of art. While touted as a "horror" film, this most resembles an art film, one of the more experimental variety, and it is masterfully-shot and -directed. Utilizing all sorts of outrageous effects and downright bizarre editing, this often brings to mind directors like Shuji Terayama (Emperor Tomato Ketchup) and Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral Procession of Roses). While there are some more straightforward "horror" elements -- skeletons, an evil kitty -- most of them are downright silly, and remind me somewhat of American "classic" b-movie cheesefest Spookies than any serious work of horror. It is NEVER scary, and gets by mainly on absurdity and cheese.

So, why is this film getting 5 stars? Why is it "worthy" of a Criterion release? Well, opinions will differ, but I found this movie absolutely brilliant, one of the most entertaining I have EVER seen, with brilliant scene after brilliant scene of surreal absurdity. This film is downright INSANE, but it's charming. It's one of those films that you'll watch and say, "Okay, I HAVE TO show this to every single one of my friends now!" Infinitely rewatchable (I've probably watched my Japanese copy 20 times in the past 5 years), hilariously madcap, and endlessly inspiring. There is violence here, but it's all so silly... this is about as much a "horror" film as Riki-Oh is a "kung-fu" movie; it has all the "cool" elements of a genre film, but it's really just an excuse to cram as many insane scenes into a film as possible.

Oh, did I mention a piano eats a girl? ... The effects are what really make this film a sight to behold. They're actually surprisingly well-done, and even though I already own this film, I'm going to buy the Criterion edition just to see how they pulled off some of this stuff! Yes, as usual, the Criterion DVD is loaded with great special features, the best of which has to be the 1966 short film "Emotion" -- without a doubt one of the greatest short films ever, and definitely my favorite of the "experimental Japanese New Wave" school (along with the aforementioned Matsumoto and Terayama). Honestly, "Emotion" is even better than the main feature -- how insane is that? This is just one unbelievably value packed release, one that everyone needs!

So, yes, it is a very unlikely Criterion release, but kudos to them for taking a chance with this one. It is a film that needs to be seen -- I can't imagine anyone NOT having a good time with it. And I really hope it sells well, because there just flat-out aren't many DVD companies releasing these kinds of crazy Japanese films anymore, since Tartan folded. Maybe, just maybe, if we're lucky, we'll all be able to see a Pastoral: To Die in the Country (aka "the greatest film ever made") release from Criterion sometime in our lifetimes....? Well, I can dream. But until that day comes, I'll be watching this one about once a month. Order it today!

House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)

When a movie has me asking "what the hell is THIS?" less than five minutes after I start watching it, I would have to call that movie, on at least some level, a success. In the case of House, the infamous 1977 horror comedy from Nobuhiko Obayashi (who's still making movies well into his seventies, including the recent The Last Snow and Song of Goodbye), it only gets weirder from there. I'm not entirely sure I can call the movie a success as a movie, but it's certainly something.

Plot: Angel (Kimiko Ikegami, currently the star of the long-running TV-movie series Furin Chosain Katayama Yumi) is excited about summer break; she's going to get to spend a lot of time with her father, which she can't do during the school year. They're even planning a trip. But dad springs a surprise on her just before break begins: he's getting married to Ryoko (Haruko Wanibuchi, recently of One Missed Call 2), an ethereally beautiful jewelry designer. It's been years since Angel's mom died, but she still takes the news badly enough that she writes to an aunt (the late Yoko Minamida, who would once again team up with Obayashi for one of her final films, 2004's The Reason) she hasn't seen in a decade and asks if she can spend the summer there instead. The letter she receives back states Auntie would be delighted, and asks Angel to bring all her friends. So, under the sponsorship of one of their teachers (After the Rain's Fumi Dan), Angel and six of her closest friends plan a trip to the countryside. A freak accident with a bucket sidelines the teacher, however, and the girls are on their own in Auntie's house... where they begin disappearing one by one.

It's obvious a great deal of thought went into the girls' nicknames (Melody is a pianist, Kunfuu is a martial artist, Prof is the brain of the bunch, etc.), which kind of makes the question of whether Angel will survive a moot one, even though she's the obvious final girl. But as I intimated in the opening paragraph, House is not a movie that you watch if you're actually looking to watch a movie--you know, a piece of film with plot, characterization, that sort of thing. It's the same kind of weird "how many drugs did these people ingest?" experience you get from, say, Spider Baby or Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. And for what it is, House is a stunning example of the genre; you're likely to sit there with your jaw on the floor the entire movie. One wag, reviewing the movie at IMDB, says "I kinda want to watch it on drugs, but I value my life too much." Indeed. Still, it's the kind of thing you should definitely see once, simply because it puts such American attempts at psychedelic horror (think Death Bed or the movies of Herschell Gordon Lewis here) into perspective. ***

It's official: there is an insane streak in the Japanese that no other country can rival, and it's been there for a LOOOOONG time.

Exhibit A: "House," a low-budget horror movie that seems like the acid-addled love child of a funhouse and a slasher movie. Its biggest failing is that it doesn't really have a plot, and for awhile there it looks like there should have been one -- but rich insanity is what is really fun here, with an evil cat, a carnivorous piano, a butt-biting head and... various other weird things.

Oshare (Kimiko Ikegami) is looking forward to a vacation trip with her dad... but is horrified to find that his creepily cheerful new fiancee will be coming too. So instead, Oshare decides to vacation at her aunt's remote country mansion, along with her friends Fanta (sweet flake), Gari (nerd), Sweet (tidy), Mac (glutton) Melody (musician) and Kung-Fu (do I need to explain this one?).

At first, everything seems pleasant and peaceful for the girls... but then some of the girls go missing. Mac's head is found in the well, Sweet is seemingly swallowed up by the bedding, and Oshare is enspelled by her mysterious old aunt. Will the girls be able to escape before the House eats them alive, or will they be sucked in one by one?

"House" is a crazy, frenetic funhouse ride -- it starts out light, sunny and psychedelic, slowly becomes hilariously gruesome, and turns into a haunting finale on river of Kool-aid blood. I mean, how many movies have a giggling girl being dismembered and eaten by a piano? Or a man becoming bananas... literally? Or single hopping legs doing kung-fu moves? Or a butt-biting disembodied head?

The movie's biggest flaw is that, well, it has no plot. Teens come to a mansion, weird stuff happens, and they start dying one by one while their red-herring teacher drives aimlessly through the countryside. That's... really all there is.

But director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi spackles the weird on so thickly that you really don't care about the movie's flaws. The movie is splashed with bright colors, Monty-Python gore, some gratuitous nudity and entertainingly bad special effects, and it does manage to spook you every now and then (Oshare's aunt has an eyeball in her mouth!).

And unlike most horror movies, the girls on this vacation don't bring the horror down on themselves by anything THEY have done. They're actually quite sweet and innocent, and though each one is mainly set apart by her defining characteristic, they all care about each other and do their best to fight the evil ghosties. Kung-Fu is particularly fun.

"House" is somewhat hampered by a paper-thin plot, but the insanely wacky horror-comedy pretty much makes up for that. A trippy, wacky little ride.

The people who are giving this movie bad reviews need to loosen up. This movie is great. The most amazing 70's visual effects I have seen besides Star Wars... If you are in to the "vintage 70's film look", Michel Gondry, Japanese pop art, 70's horror movies, Phsycedelic art, ect.., you will love this! And NO you do not have to be high to love this, you just have to have good taste.

Length:: 4:36 Mins

Video review by future world famous serial killer Christopher Mackshere.

There is very little I could say about House to do it justice. It is such a unique film that anything I say about it will be misleading. Suffice it to say that in a world where the same movie is remade over and over and over House is something that appears to be completely original. It is also extremely entertaining. I am grateful to the Criterion Collection for bringing this outstanding film to my attention. If you are reading this page then your curiosity is already sparked. If you find yourself interested in watching an extremely absurd and funny horror/art film with great visuals, then you cannot go wrong buying this DVD.

House moves seamlessly from John Hughes-style teen comedy, to Sam Raimi-style horror come Theater of the Absurd. The film, originally released in 1977, but never in the US, is hard to define. The horror is too graphic for the film to be a comedy, yet too knowingly asinine to truly be horror. Because of it's uneven mixture of Easy Rider acid trip sequences and over-the-top humor House becomes more and more incomprehensible as it moves forward (which may be the precise recipe for a cult classic). Gorgeous and friends (all named with an odd seven dwarfs bent) retreat to her aunt's home for the summer. They make their arrival at the house with The John Hughes Cheese Factor off the charts. But it doesn't take long after their arrival for things to turn for the worse, as one disappears during dinner. Moments later her head is found inside of a well, just before it flies high in the air and swoops down, laughing, to bite her friend in the butt. Obayashi utilizes every effect and tool he can think of to make this as psychedelic as possible, further distancing this film from easy classification. If the trick was available in '77, he's trying it here. From there the film unravels into a non-sensical plot. The film is hilarious in ways that most films would never try to be. It's morbid, yes, but it's also slapstick. It is whatever kind of humor uses a jaunty tune to soundtrack a piano eating a girl and flinging her limbs in the air when it slams the lid shut. House unravels, yes, but it's satisfying. And maybe making sense, here, is unwarranted. Ultimately, the film just doesn't need to resolve, because it accomplishes its goals without tying up the loose ends.

This movie is way ahead of it's time. Dagnabbit. So good.
I don't know why people keep mentioning drugs here. You should not be high when watching it, or you'll miss a lot of awesome scenes.
But an awareness of media, art, and entertainment is good, I guess? And a sense of humor. If you're just expecting a classic horror film, you'll be disappointed.

Normally, I would NEVER even consider watching the bonus supplements or featurettes prior to watching the film itself, for the most obvious reasons - spoilers, hindsight recollections and justifications, and often the BS that those involved in production conjure up several decades after the film was made to make themselves appear more clever and grandiose than was probably the case. By the same token, if I don't enjoy a film, I usually can't be convinced by these features that I'm missing the boat - you either like something or don't, with few exceptions, IMHO. That said, sometimes, as infrequent as it is, when I'm still scratching my head when a flick is over, the bonuses will illuminate and enlighten to the point where I now have received the clarification necessary for me to fully comprehend and enjoy aspects of a film obscured to me for one reason or another. Such is the case with 'House', almost more so than any foreign flick I've ever seen.

When a film is hyped up to be 'all that', my expectations lead me to be only one thing - let down. When you read the Amazon product details as well as the dvd cover description, the promise sounds far too brilliant to be realized, so I decided to do a little research. After reading several website reviews, I felt I was getting farther from the truth instead of closer, so I decided to watch the bonus features before I sat through the actual movie. This is one of the few times when doing so proved to be absolutely essential to my overall viewing experience and ultimate enjoyment of this minor yet remarkable movie. There aren't many spoilers, at least none that would detract from your gratification, and to hear the way the film evolved directly from the mouth of director Nobuhiko Obayashi added the necessary seasonings to appreciate the film for what it is, what it isn't and what the hype tells us it should be. "An episode of 'Scooby-Doo' as directed by Mario Bava"? Puh-leese... I've seen every Bava flick there is and there's no such similarity - maybe Seijun Suzuki is who they meant. (By way of Tim Burton, but now I'm adding to the hype...).

By the time I actually sat through the film itself, I had a better understanding of what this film actually was, and could judge it on its own merits, budgetary and special effect restraints, constraints and sheer brilliance in execution and concept alone. As a result, I was able to thoroughly enjoy this anomaly in film from the 70's without reserve and would strongly suggest to anyone remotely interested in this film to do likewise - you won't be sorry you did.

(PS- The bonus 1966 experimental film is another added treat of sorts, and viewing it in advance will also increase your appreciation of the main feature).

A solid four star film I'm adding one star to for its sheer originality, and to make up for some of its unwarranted detractors here on Amazon. You want different? You got it!