House

The Summer holidays have arrived, and a young schoolgirl known as Gorgeous can't wait to spend time with her film composer father in their palatial villa. It's always been just the two of them, as her mother died when she was young. However, upon returning from a trip to Italy, her father states his intentions to remarry; and Gorgeous immediately changes her vacation plans. Leaving her father and taking six friends along, Gorgeous travels to her reclusive aunt's decrepit mansion in the countryside. At first, everything seems fine, until signs start showing that the house is haunted and that Gorgeous's aunt may not be the kindly old lady she initially seemed to be.

Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, 'House' is a comedy-horror of the surrealist variety shot with a distinct, original visual style. The images in the film are bizarre and comedic, not to mention rather dark- particularly in the latter half. Making effective use of odd angles and irregular composition, Yoshitaka Sakamoto's cinematography- as well as the overall look of the film- is occasionally reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's early work with 'Monty Python,' or perhaps a comic-book.

The use of color is also very effective, as well as the juxtaposition of the banal with the grotesque. Sakamoto's work under Obayashi's assured direction results in some unforgettable, incredibly strange sequences and shots. The soundtrack- composed by Asei Kobayashi and the band Godiego- is eerily light and breezy, which is made all the more off-putting when put together with the dark images the film contains.

Unpredictable and macabre, Chiho Katsura's screenplay is a trip into the absurd. From the characters' names to the narrative structure, nothing about this film is ordinary or very serious. You're never really sure what'll happen next, nor where the next joke will come from; watching 'House' can be a deeply rewarding, funny experience (if you appreciate the dark and the strange, that is). Abstract, oddly humorous and thoroughly original; the story is anything but what you'd find in your routine haunted house film.

The set design is fantastically rich, with the main location of the aunt's mansion being especially complex and highly detailed. Combined with the striking cinematography and Nobuo Ogawa's frenetic editing, the film quickly establishes an uneasy atmosphere that makes the oddness and intricacy of the sets even more evident. Add to this the oftentimes kaleidoscopic color design and efficacious use of special effects and you've got a particularly off-beat, distinctive and memorable movie.

It's surprising to learn that many of the cast weren't professional actors at the time, as every performance in the film is strong. Miki Jinbo and Kumiko Oba are particularly good, as two of Gorgeous's pals who accompany her on the holiday, named Kung Fu and Fantasy respectively (as one knows martial arts and the other has an active imagination). They are unselfconscious performers who give their roles their all, both impressing with their tenacity and acting depth. Jinbo also gets to show off her fighting skills throughout the film, leaving an indelible impression on the viewer.

The late Yoko Minamida also stands out as the sinister aunt, obviously reveling in the chance to play such a weird, creepy character. Kimiko Ikegami's star turn as Gorgeous must also be mentioned, as she brings an unsettling, subtle intensity to the role that is very interesting to watch. She's sympathetic, as well as being- especially later in the film- rather frightening: a very fine piece of acting overall.

Well-acted, strange as can be and arcanely dark, 'House' is a unique experience at the cinema that is both unforgettable and unfathomable. Full of abstractions, this horror is made with an artistic sensibility as well as a pitch-black sense of humor (that occasionally borders on parody). If you want to watch something different- something outside of the ordinary realm of filmmaking- you can't go wrong with 'House.' It's bloody, unpredictable and a whole lot of fun.

House (Hausu) is a film directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi and stars a variety of young girls as they go on a chaperoned trip to one of the groups Aunt's. This aunt, however, seems to be more than she appears, as the group is slowly torn asunder (sometimes literally) by the house in a variety of ways.

This film is an embodiment of avant-garde when that was still a new thing. This film reminds me a lot of Jean Luc-Godards "The Weekend" in its experimental and non-linear cinematography. This film is wacky, with each shot almost bending ones mind. Film gradients, props, music, effects and so on are bombarding the viewer constantly, and make even the mundane seem incredible. The story here is mundane. A group of students go to a house and are accosted by the possessed abode, as the aunt turns out to be a witch. The creative part here is what happens visually. The characters were fun. Each one is a literal representation of a specific idea or thing. Nicknames like Gorgeous, Fantasy, Kung-Fu and so on abound, with each nickname being a representation of the person in question. These traits come back to bite them (sometimes literally). Piano's chow down on fingers, mattresses attack, mirrors possess, and much more. At one point, a man is turned into a pile of banana's!

This film is wacky in many ways. It possesses a wonderful style, contagious charm, and many fun and interesting elements. It is not pure horror, certainly coming through as a comedy. I had a brilliant time with this film, and look forward to watching this film again soon. What a ride! Highly recommended for those looking for something interesting and weird.

There is a serious erotic component to this that no one seems to want to touch in the user reviews, and most of the actresses were 16 at the time. It's bizarre and entertaining, using lots of war metaphors with themes of innocence and teenage trauma.

Wow! Noribuki Obayashi's "Hausu" aka. "House" of 1977 is easily one of the weirdest films I ever saw and I generally generally am a fan of the bizarre. A Horror-fan and avid lover of Japanese cinema, especially from the 70s, I had high expectations for this film, and I was not disappointed, even though the film was totally different than what I had expected. Having read no reviews of the film before seeing it, I expected a pure Horror film, but it turned out to be an incomparably bizarre and experimental Horror-parody, with a delightfully macabre and grotesque humor rather than scares. The film already starts out extremely strange (in an awesome manner), and it gradually gets weirder and weirder as it goes on.

The film starts off with a bunch of teenage high-school girls, all of whom have certain distinctive characteristics that are mentioned in their nicknames, who travel to the countryside to visit the aunt of one of the girls. I don't want to spoil even a tiny bit of the plot of this unique Horror-parody, and therefore won't carry with a plot description, but I can assure that fans of surrealism and weird cinema will be delighted. While "Hausu" is not a film I would recommend to everyone, this is an absolute must-see to all my fellow fans of Japanese film, the Horror-genre and bizarre art-house cinema. Director Obayashi uses a bizarre of editing imaginable, with grotesque cutting, totally insane effects. Sometimes the editing equals that of a (bizarre) video-clip, only to jump to an entirely different style. Yet all this strangeness never draws the viewer away from the story, which is itself just as surreal as the film's style. Overall "Hausu" can be described as a unique and bizarre fairy tale with a grotesque and ingenious, often macabre and always unique sense of humor. There are moments in this film at which the viewer will just stare at the screen not knowing what to think, and scenes at which one is barely able to breathe in laughter, and every second of the film is very strange. Very delightfully strange that is, as "Hausu" is a bizarre gem that must not be missed by lovers of the surreal. Mainstream audiences might not know what to think of this, but every fan of a more unique form of cinema should give this a try. Surreal, exceptional, and one of a kind!

This movie is the directing debut for (the great) Nobuhiko Obayashi. He has directed commercials for television before he got into directing movies. This experience helped Obayashi learn many special effects used in TV commercials. It shows in this movie as almost every scene contains some sort of special visual effects.

In the mid '70s Toho studio was looking for fresh ideas for movies that would be a box office success. They've decided to use the then relative unknown Nobuhiko Obayashi to direct a movie with fresh new approach. Many of Toho's experienced staff expressed concerns over this because Obayashi never had experience of being an assistant director. Project manager for this movie then said "Us experienced directors aren't coming up with hit movies, so experience is not the criteria for making a successful movie. Lets allow this young director to make a movie to see if he knows more about what the audience really wants."

The original plot of this movie was written by the then 13 year old daughter of Obayashi himself.

The movie has a strange career as it was rediscovered by an Asian movie affectionado who had connections with Janus films (which is the parent company of the Criterion Collection) after being released in Japan over 30 years ago. It then made limited showings in theaters around the U.S.. Very unusual as not too many film gets a roadshow in another country 30 years after it was made.

Seven girls makes a plan to go on a vacation at one of the girl's aunts house in the country side. They don't suspect that the aunt died long time ago, and what inhabits the house is the apparition of the aunt that can remain young only by devouring the bodies of others.

The movie is a horror comedy with bit of erotic exploitation starring many actors who were teen idols at the time. When it was first released, Miki Jinbo who played the role of Kung Fu gathered the most votes by the young male audiences, as she kicked her way around the house wearing skimpy tank top and shorts.

This movie is very original in almost every way. Visuals are unusual as expressed earlier that Obayashi used many of the special effects he's learned while making TV commercials. Color is also very surreal as is the acting, but the movie has strange charm all its own, and not boring to watch. You can almost say that this is an artistic film that's also geared to entertain the audience.

In the end Toho studio got just what it was hoping to achieve - a box office smash hit. This movie also established the career of Obayashi as a bankable director. Obayashi went on to direct many other successful movies including the original "Girl who leaped through time".