Hausu (House)

[ChrisIII]

Just saw this really weird late 70's Japanese horror film. Part of me wonders if, along with Twilight Zone and other haunted house movies, if it's part of the inspiration for Poltergeist-the whole thing about the ghosts posessing everyday objects, for one; but there's one particular moment where Georgeous's giant head pops out of a doorway to give some exposition that kind of reminds me of the scene in Poltergeist where the Beast pops out of the closet in the form of a giant skull in order to scare off Steve and Tangina's rescue attempt.


Granted, while Poltergeist is relatively grounded Hausu is pretty much completely crazy with not only the story but the way it was filmed.

[Donald]

I would be surprised if it wasn't an influence on the Evil Dead films.

[Angilasman]

I've seen House (1978) probably half a dozen times by now, and it's one of those movies that I liked the first time I watched it but my appreciation has only grown subsequently. First of all; it's a great movie to show other, unsuspecting people, so there's the fun of that. Secondly; at some point when rewatching it you stop noticing all the surface level weird and bizarre things and you start digging into deeper, subtler weirdness. At first, I thought it wasn't very scary, but I find it more frightening as time goes on. Weird, huh?

This movie has long been well-known among Japanese cult and horror fans in Japan, but was almost entirely unknown among American audiences outside of a few genre experts. When Janus Films/Criterion acquired it several years ago they gave it a limited theatrical release in art house theaters and it became a legitimate cult sensation by the time it was released on disc. The iconic poster they created for their American release of the film has become a thing unto itself, and I feel like I'm bound to see it on a t-shirt whenever I go to a nerdy event.

And speaking of the Criterion release; there's an excellent making of documentary made for it that gives the incredible background story of how this film came to be. It's just a delightful story, and I don't want to spoil it.

[ChrisIII]

Anybody else notice the main tune sounds a lot like the later song Black Parade?


I'm guessing that despite being 'eaten' the girls were also turned into ghosts with some memories of their prior life like Auntie/Blanche; Mac and Melody's disembodied heads seems to be this, although it could've just been Auntie animating her. Ditto with the watermelon guy and the screaming voices on the phone-possible prior victims (Perhaps she consumed the whole village that used to be there?)

Maybe I'm thinking too much of it.

[Angilasman]

^ I think it's a movie that lends itself to overthinking and multiple interpretations!

[ChrisIII]

The overly cheery theme tune also kind of reminded me a bit of Poltergeist, although in that film it's mainly intended I think to represent Carol Anne; whereas Hausu's seems, like the film's first half hour, to throw the viewer off a bit (apart from the guitar riff and the discordant piano at the end which seem to hint at something more sinister).

[Angilasman]

Just re-watched this, and it made me remember a few reviews I've read that said that the film takes awhile to get going and that you might become bored with the early sections of the film. That's a bunch of bull! There's just as much crazy stuff going on in the beginning, but it's like a different wavelength of crazy. And if you've seen the film before you'll pick up on an enormous amount of foreshadowing in there.

What about the flashback to World War II that apes the visuals of a newsreel but all the girls are commenting over it as if they're watching it like a proto-Mystery Science Theater 3000?! Wild. This movie was made in 1977!