Customer Reviews

The House Where Evil Dwells

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

 

 

The first thing I noticed after receiving the DVD for the film House Where Evil Dwells (1982) is that the DVD cover art looks almost exactly the same as the cover art for the original DVD release of The Grudge (2004). Obviously Sony/MGM is trying to align the two (thereby leaching off the popularity of the newer film), and, while there are some superficial similarities (both take place in Japan and feature tales about the supernatural), I enjoyed The Grudge a bit more than I enjoyed this film. After watching this film last night, I think a more appropriate title might have been `House Where Mischievous Samurai Spirits Dwell'. Directed by Kevin Connor (The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, Motel Hell), the film stars Edward Albert (The Greek Tycoon, "Falcon Crest", "Port Charles"), son of Eddie Albert (the "Green Acres" dude), Susan George (Straw Dogs, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Tintorera), and Doug McClure, whom you may remember from such films as The Land That Time Forgot (1975), The People That Time Forgot (1977), and Humanoids from the Deep (1980). Also appearing is Amy Barrett (Humanoids from the Deep), and Mako Hattori, Tsuiyuki Sasaki, and Toshiya Maruyama, all in their only silver screen appearance.

As the film begins it is the year 1840, and we're in Japan. A samurai comes home to find another pitching woo to his wife, becomes enraged, and a whole lot of nastiness ensues, as all three end up shuffling off this mortal coil...fast forward to the present and we see Ted Fletcher (Albert), his wife Laura (George), and their daughter Amy (Barrett) arriving in Japan, being met by a friend named Alex Curtis (McClure). Seems Ted is a writer, and a bit of a Japanese history buff, and has moved his family here to immerse himself in work, along with him and his family in Japanese culture, so much so they asked Alex to find them an affordable, traditional Japanese home, which he does, and it just happens to be the same house where all the nastiness at the beginning of the film took place. Alex then tells them the catch...supposedly the house is haunted, which is why it's so cheap. Seriously, would you turn people who are supposed to be your best friends on to a house where some grisly murders took place, and is now haunted? Thanks Doug, you a-hole...anyway, the family moves in (Ted and Laura `christen' the house proper in a tasteful love scene) and odd things begin happening like lights and fixtures turning on and off by themselves, objects getting knocked over, along with the occasion samurai apparition appearing here and there. Soon after settling in, a local monk comes around, issuing a warning and an offer for help, but isn't taken seriously. As the trio of ghosts prowl about, possessing the bodies of Ted, Laura, and Alex, a love triangle develops, much like that at the beginning of the film, and the spirits start to become more and more active, causing tension between Ted and Laura, which strains their relationship. After a few injuries and Amy getting a serious case of the crabs, the Fletchers decide to move out, but the threesome of spirits are reluctant to let go...

This was certainly an odd, little feature, displaying a good deal of visceral violence in the first and last ten minutes of the film, with little to none in-between. The story was kind of interesting, but the character less so...I never really got a strong sense of familial connection between the characters played by Albert, George, and Barrett, as most of the time they came across as what they actually where, three actors thrown together in a movie. Albert seemed a little too laid back throughout (when asked why he didn't leave the obviously haunted house earlier, he said something to the effect that he wanted to understand what was happening), while George, whom I've never really been a big fan of, turns on the emotional hysterics early, and rarely lets up, that is, when she wasn't busy getting her groove on with Ted or Alex (George does have a nice set of cans). Seemed like the only time she wasn't pitching hissy fits was when she was possessed by the spirit of dead woman, who was intent on resuming her adulterous ways. McClure provided the best performance in the film, which is kinda sad...I do love the McClure (who one half the inspiration for The Simpson's character Doug McClure, the other half being Troy Donahue), but only because the guy was such a ham. The one aspect I thought really strange was the lack of reasoning behind why these three spirits were about, and their intent towards mucking up the lives of whoever moved into the house. Oh, there was some business about a witchy woman, but it didn't really go anywhere. Now I don't need everything spelled out, or divided up into easily digestible chunks, but I do appreciate when a film meets me halfway, which didn't quite happen here. It just seemed flaky to me that the deceased trio should have to spend their spiritual existence together, for apparently no other reason than to pester the living by turning on their water faucets full blast...the funniest sequences for me (they weren't intended as such) both featured the little girl as in one scene, a mini, ghostly head appears in her soup (like a ghostly Alpha Bit), making faces at her, to which she asks her mother "What kind of soup is this?"...in another scene, while her parents are away, a whole bunch of lumbering crabs (both of the large and small variety), possessed by them mean ole spirits, torment the girl mercilessly, and chase her up a tree. I will say this, while some of the performances and aspects about the story didn't gel, the costumes, special effects, locations shots (the film was shot in Japan), the music, attention to detail and such all came together well to create a good backdrop. All in all the first ten minutes were stimulating, the next hour and ten minutes so-so (no real scares or creepiness), and the last ten minutes a real knock down, fists a flying, chop socky, sword slinging hoot.

This MGM DVD release offers a good-looking, full screen and widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic picture, along with a decent Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. I did think the dialog a bit soft at times, while the music tended to come through fine. The only thing available in terms of extras is a theatrical trailer. You know, while the film may have not been all that great, I'm still glad MGM seems dedicated towards a consistent releasing of their catalog. Not every one may be a winner, but at least they're not forgotten.

Cookieman108

If I learned anything from this film is that when a monk chases out the spirits from your haunted house and afterwards instructs you not to let anyone in, you should heed his advice...also, keep your katanas locked up...

Disagree w/ those who did not understand the subtleties of Japanese horror film, albeit B flick or otherwise. They miss on the appreciation of location, authentic costuming, and the role of evil vs. human kindness and compassion in traditional Japanese life. One big plus: this film does not have a sugary happy ending; this gives it a cut high above most in the universal message that evil always co-exists w/ good and we have powers within ourselves to direct our lives toward either. Simple, but fundamentally true even for a B flick.

The House Where Evil Dwells (Kevin Connor, 1982)

Bad movies are something of a hobby of mine. I adore them. But I should mention that I'm not just talking any sort of bad movie. You can go to the local cineplex and see a random bad movie any day of the week; just choose a romantic comedy or an indie drama, and four times out of five you'll get a bad movie. (This sometimes even from my favorite directors. Did you ever see George Romero's There's Always Vanilla? No, and there's a reason for that. I have. I know.) No, the stripe of bad that I go for is the aggressively, monstrously awful, the kind of movie that makes you wonder what the entire cast and crew were smoking, drinking, or injecting, because no one who was sober for a single minute during the shooting and editing of such a movie would have done anything but flee screaming in terror at the utter absurdity of what they were doing. The House Where Evil Dwells, a justly infamous 1982 cheapie ghost story, looks like it's going to be one kind of bad. Then... there are crabs.

We start off with a long, wordless prologue set a while back in Japan. Cute Japanese woman with overbearing husband has boyfriend, husband catches them, there's a bunch of heads flying off and ritual suicide. Fast-forward to the present day, and Ted Fletcher (Edward Albert, son of Eddie of Green Acres fame), his wife Laura (Susan George of Straw Dogs fame), and their kid Amy (Humanoids from the Deep's Amy Barrett) are coming to Japan so Ted can work on a big article (or maybe a book? Can't remember, not that it is in any way germane to the plot). Their friend Alex (the late Doug McClure, who also popped up in Humanoids from the Deep) finds them a cheap house, and you know what's coming. You know this because you've seen this story at least a dozen times before, most recently (contemporary to this movie, natch) in The Shining.

It's slow, it's deathly boring, the ghosts are unintentionally hilarious, and an hour of this and you're feeling around in your teeth wondering where the cyanide capsule was implanted. Then comes the attack of the fuzzy crabs on wires. Oh, man. (Search youtube for "House where evil dwells killer crabs" to see the scene without having to watch the whole movie.) It almost, almost, made the rest of this mess worth it. (Susan George's two semi-nude scenes may also tip the balance in the movie's favor, depending.) Whereas the rest of the movie is just bad, the killer crab scene is stunningly, bone-headedly, mind-shatteringly horrendous, and it will have you laughing your fool head off. If that's worth it to you, then give this one a go, but otherwise, avoid like the plague. ½

This is a good example way when you buy a home, check it's history first. Leaky roof, no problem. Bad plumbing, no problem. House haunted by evil spirits out to even the score? Ok, BIG problem. When an american family buys a house in Japan, they learn that it is haunted by no-so-friendly ghosts. It is a sorted, ugly tale filled with

sex, betrayal.....well, you get the general idea. At it's close, there is no happy ending and someone loses their head (not to mention a pool of blood where the body falls).

It was a very suspenseful thriller, not knowing when or what the ghosts were going to do. I would have like to see more sex scenes, or more complete scenes. They left those scenes to the imagination. They were incomplete. Also, the history about the house and the occupants before Edward Albert/Susan George moved in was not explained very well. Despite those flaws, it was a good movie. The suspense of not knowing what would happened next kept you on the edge of your seat.

Not much to add to other reviews, other than I found this to be quite entertaining; the "soup scene" level of ridiculousness (for those who appreciate such unintentional humour) is worth paying money to see! The film is a compact 88 minutes, and rarely became dull for me. It fills all the requirements of an 80s NON-slasher Horror film (and how many of THOSE were there, actually!?!): pretty good bloody violence (including dismemberment!), the uniquely attractive Susan George (who has very atypical looks) displaying herself amply (as well as other scenes of nudity), corny dialogue, clothes, and hairdos; all the actors are well-versed in playing it ALMOST seriously, especially during the SOUP SCENE! I was really entertained by this film; while I wouldn't want to watch it all the time, once very couple of years will be required! And special thanks to Edward Albert's moustache, which adds to the good dumb fun.

This movie is lame plain and simple, typical Horror movie, why would anyone stay in a 200 year old place? Why you go back to a place you were told not to? Is it because the Couple is American? Or is the viewer expects nothing less. The movie did not scare me but bored me.

Well as B grade 1970s horror/supernatural flicks go it is pretty cool...and campy. The main reason I bought this flick is for Susan George. I have always liked her even though she was never going to win an Oscar. Check her out in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry with Peter Fonda and with Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs. Both much better films. The story is kind of interesting but the movie has not aged well. You can tell for sure it was made in the early 1970s. Anyway, a good flick to have several friends over for to get ripped and then rip the movie I guess. But hey don't any of you rip Susan George!! RIP Edward Albert (2006) and Doug McClure (1995), both making movies elsewhere.

Maybe time has just passed it by and it's not as scarry as it may have been when first released.

I'm so glad to get a copy of this movie, which I love. The DVD is in great condition, good price, and timely shipment. Thanks!