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House (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
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Additional Blu-ray options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
Blu-ray
February 12, 2018 "Please retry" | — | 1 | $14.86 | $18.93 |
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Genre | Horror |
Format | Blu-ray, Color, Subtitled, NTSC |
Contributor | Kumiko Ohba, Yoko Minamida, Nobuhiko Obayashi, Kimiko Ikegami |
Language | Japanese |
Runtime | 1 hour and 28 minutes |
From the manufacturer

House (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)
How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie House (Hausu)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equally absurd and nightmarish, House might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet.

Product Description
How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie HOUSE (Hausu)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream of consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face to face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via a series of mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equal parts absurd and nightmarish, HOUSE might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet. Never before available on home video in the United States, it’s one of the most exciting cult discoveries in years.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.21 Ounces
- Item model number : Relay time: 89min
- Director : Nobuhiko Obayashi
- Media Format : Blu-ray, Color, Subtitled, NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 28 minutes
- Release date : October 26, 2010
- Actors : Kimiko Ikegami, Kumiko Ohba, Yoko Minamida
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Criterion Collection
- ASIN : B003WKL6X0
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,885 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #14 in Foreign Films (Movies & TV)
- #264 in Horror (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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The only major criticism I have is that the characters are honestly pretty ridiculous, but it's possible that this is more an issue of the translation from Japanese. For instance there is a character called "Prof" (short for "professor"), there's just no way that would be a real nickname. The attempt to give each of the characters a unique personality feels forced and there is really almost no character development. That said, it really doesn't matter anyway as the film is still a joy to watch. I've seen it 5 times and even went to a screening at a local theater.
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!
Top reviews from other countries

この映画の出会いは半ズボンが似合う、昭和の子供のころ、リアルタイムから遅れること10年。当時は土曜の昼間、半ドンの学校から帰ってきたくらいに、映画の再放送をしていた。
本作はそんな一つだった。
数々のレビューで書かれているので、詳細ははぶくが、昭和の精一杯のパニホラ映画、おばちゃまの目玉食い、生首、サブリミナルな言霊、ゴダイゴの不気味で元気な音楽、成田賢の歌も濃い味わいで。
昭和の昼下がり、家に一つしかないテレビで一人で見るのは、昼間でも十分怖かった。
ヌードすらもありがたみが怖さに負けてるくらい、怖かった。
あれから30数年。
今見ると、パロディやギャグも理解できたり、インフェルノな手作り特撮に肝心したり、、ある程度冷静に俯瞰で見れるようになった、が。。
もう内容も充分理解しているにも関わらず、今、自分の家には、DVDとサントラ、それに北米版のブルーレイもある。
なぜにそんなにはまっているのかw
この作品は、いわゆるオタク向けの元祖だと思う。
7人のアイドル、特撮、ちょっとやそっとじゃわからない難しい謎解きのようなパロディや仕掛け、オタク歓喜のメイド服、etc、ついついマニアが思わず調べたくなるようなアイテムが、本作にはぎっしり詰まっている。
HOUSE=おたく、からもお分かりいただけるだろう。
今となっては子供の頃に怖かったのは、その内容よりも、きっと、ぎっしり詰まった情報量の多さ、これからもハマり続けるだろう将来(今の自分だ)、それらに圧倒されたのだと思う。
実際にこの映画のことを考えたり調べたり何度も見直したり、、
今までどれだけ時間を費やしてしまったか。。
調べないと気が済まない何か。
だけども、後半のガリのように、家の正体が分かったところで、結局は食われてしまう。
自分もハウスに食われてしまったわけだ!
一度ハマると人生をダメにさせるほどの映画
あなたも、今日からこの映画に、嫁いでみませんか?

Let me start by saying this: I’m not quite sure I have laughed so much at a film both for the right reasons and the wrong ones, simultaneously.
House is best described as Scooby Doo meets Suspiria—in Japan. It’s part grim fairytale, part children’s TV, part horror spectacle. Everything is designed to appear ludicrous, from the flower-power hippy soundtrack to the 70’s era, acid-trip advertisement style editing. Colour abounds, and the sickly sweet journey of the protagonist to her lonely, beautiful aunt constantly surprises the viewer with vistas both real and painted. The film doesn’t seek to conceal this however— more often than not it’s very clear that what you see is absurd, but frequently lovely, illusion.
From the moment Beauty and her plucky stock character school-friends arrive at the titular ‘House’, we quickly nosedive into potent surrealism: Cupboards are karate kicked; rats fly through the air; a cat magically winks and spears a lizard. In one of the best scenes, the aunt waltzes into the fridge, closing herself inside. It’s almost too much to process. There’s a balletic quality to the preposterousness that never fails to enthral.
Fundamentally however, underneath all of the absurdity lies a surprisingly magical experience. There’s more under the surface than it might appear, and House manages to capture something of a Miyazaki-esque nostalgia, a relentlessly cheerful, untroubled depiction of childhood friendship and adventures abroad.
I won’t divulge much more about the film, because it really must be witnessed, and felt, to be believed.
Highly recommended, especially for fans of anime and Japanese cinema.





Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 5, 2020
