House

In the Eighties, horror flicks were all the rage. Sequels were obligatory and every year saw another Freddy, Jason, Pinhead or Michael Myers shocker. Among these were the House movies, which are a lot better than the genre reputation suggests.

First and foremost, this is not strictly a horror film. There are some sprinklings of light comedy here and there and the monsters are so ridiculous that they don't really scare. It sure makes for a welcome change in a decade full of blood, knifings and slayings.

Roger Cobb (William Katt) is a horror novelist, suffering from writers block. He can't seem to continue with his latest book, a recollection of his tour in 'Nam. The fans are eager but they want horror, not some war story. On top of all this, he is also dealing with a divorce and coping with the mysterious disappearance of his son. Depressed, he moves to his aunt's house, from where his son vanished and in which the old lady hung herself. A creepy log cabin in the mountains might be more appropriate, as Roger finds just as many distractions here.

The first distraction is his neighbour Harold (George Wendt), who shows up at the worst moments to hassle Roger in the Ned Flanders style. The second distraction is a little more sinister. Monsters burst out of the closet at midnight, doors in the house lead into different dimensions and he is haunted by the memories of his best friend (Richard Moll), whom he betrayed back in 'Nam. Third, there is a sexy blonde, who bathes in his pool.

One of the most appealing things about House is that Roger doesn't respond with any clichéd horror movie tactic - running away, falling flat on his face, hiding under the sink, etc. Instead, he buys a camcorder and tries to capture the monsters on film to convince Harold, and himself, that he is not crazy.

He even manages to persuade Harold to help him catch a big raccoon, which hides out in a certain closet and only shows itself at midnight. Even at this, Harold gets scared, but not us. The film is only slightly dark and keeps a jovial mood for an hour and a half.

Steve Miner (Halloween H20, Lake Placid) intrigues us as much as Roger as to what the hell is going on. Ethan Wiley's script is the tiniest bit loose, but is smarter than you would think and even contains a few little touches that you might miss on the first couple of viewings.

It could have been beefier and longer, but if it was, it wouldn't be as irresistibly charming.

I always enjoyed this horror/comedy when I was a kid and upon viewing it again, I still enjoy it. The film just clicks for me and there is a lot going on in this one. I watched two other horror films recently, and more happened in this film than happened in those two films combined. Not saying they were bad as one was a horror film from the 70's and there are a lot them that are slow burn and rely on a last disturbing scene to make the film. The other one was kind of bad as it was a monster film that did not feature the monsters much as all. This one shows us monsters, has flying tools that want to chop you up and has a Vietnam vet returning from the grave! It also stars a lot of actors that were more known for their roles in television rather than film as it has William Katt known for, The Greatest American Hero, George Wendt from Cheers and Richard Moll from Night Court. The comedy is pretty good, but they still keep quite a bit of horror in this one too. The second film in the series would rely a bit more on comedy and action rather than horror.

The story has a man named Roger Cobb who is a writer. He has been having trouble writing since his son turned up missing one day. His aunt kills herself in the home where the boy seemingly disappeared in the pool and Roger soon moves into the old house. He meets his neighbor who is a fan of Roger's and everything proceeds normally enough...for a couple of minutes anyway! Soon Roger is being assailed by hellish creatures in the closet of his aunt's room, being attacked by the tools in his shed, sees his ex-wife turn into a grotesque monster and has to deal with many other things in the house full of craziness. All through the movie he also tries to write his latest novel which is a true story about his time in Vietnam. He also has to babysit a kid he doesn't even know and he and Harold (the neighbor) try to fight off the 'racoon' in the closet.

This film would spawn a sequel that would feature John Ratzenberger in a small role, so this one featured Norm and then the next Cliff. There is no true part three to the series as they named a completely unrelated film named, "The Horror Show" the title House III for its non U.S.A release, but here instead of naming the next actual House film, part III they went straight to IV. That film would not be a success, but if you have seen it you can easily see why as it has none of the charm of this film or second film and was just horrifically bad! This was the best of the House films I have seen. Never saw the not really a House film, Horror Show, but considering it was not really meant to be a House film I guess it really does not count. Though I am interested in seeing it if they ever release the full version of it. Apparently, its initial cut was so gruesome it garnered an X rating! This one could almost be PG-13 as there really is not too much gore in it, no nudity and minimal cussing. Still, it was a very fun horror film to watch. I loved the whole strangeness of the House, as there are monsters in it and strange portals to strange dark realms!

I don't know when I first saw this movie. I know I was young, ten or eleven maybe. I remember being scared, and probably had some trouble turning off the light that night, but it never traumatized me. I've picked it up every so often ever since and always enjoyed it. It was one of the first R rated horror movies I saw, and now I'm hooked on the genre.

This is a great film when introducing children to "harder" horror. For those ready to move on from Scooby-Doo but not ready for Night of the Living Dead or The Exorcist. It's scary and suspenseful but never terrifying. Tension builds and there are plenty of jump scares, but the frights never last for long. Take the closet monster for instance. Tension builds as Roger goes to the door and there's a big scare when it comes out. But afterwards it becomes almost silly. Same with the fish and witch. It's a lot like Evil Dead 2 in that it's never too scary to not be funny and never too funny to not be scary.

There's also a good story to go along with it. It follows Roger Cobb who grew up with his aunt in a haunted house. He went to war and saw horrible things. His son disappeared at the haunted house and he's separated from his wife. Obviously, all this ties together in some way when the aunt dies and he moves back into the house. None of it ever becomes hokey or clichéd. The film allows time to get to know Roger before the haunting begins so we like him and understand his plight. There's also an interesting aspect regarding whether all the hauntings are real or just caused by the stress of his life.

George Wendt from Cheers plays the lovable neighbor that Roger befriends and helps. He isn't that much different than Norm but provides lots of humorous moments. The only thing I wish they did better is to make the supermodel neighbor more interesting. She's fine for some T&A and the house does something with her (which I still can never get whether that was really her or if it was just the witch), but she never really serves the story well. It's little more than a cameo just to have a model in the movie.

Each of the actors do well in their parts. All are great, though Richard Moll hams it up just a little too much in his Vietnam scenes. It features William Katt, who genre fans would know as the prom date from Carrie. This film certainly shows some range for him. The film is made by the crew who did Friday the 13th, Parts 2 and 3 and has the same visual style.

The special effects work very well for the story. The "ghosts" are practical effects using puppets, like Star Wars, which looks a lot better than stop motion. As I said before, they look scary at first but grow silly the more they're seen. The walking hand is equally disturbing and funny.

The movie may not be a classic of the genre, but it's well worth checking out. It's a descent ghost story with plenty of suspense. As I said before, this is a good movie to test children before showing them something like The Shining or Nightmare on Elm Street. Those used to more terrifying horror should know that this isn't the scariest thing on store shelves. It's a good, solid B-movie that won't really disappoint.

Regarding the sequel, I say skip it. As light as this movie is, House II is much lighter and far campier. In fact, it's more like Weekend at Bernie's than Evil Dead. It's more of a fantasy-western than horror and never scary. If you're watching this movie and want more, go with the Bruce Campbell trilogy.

Powerful opening scene has a grocery delivery boy discover an old woman hanging from her bedroom ceiling in her large Victorian house. Author and Vietnam veteran Roger Cobb (William Katt), nephew of the dead lady, inherits the house and he decides to work on his latest book there but finds out that not only is it haunted but it is also a portal to his past fighting in the Vietnam jungle (or at least a film set with a bunch of jungle looking plants). Producer Sean S Cunningham, who directed the classic "Friday the 13th" (1980), said that by 1985 the slasher movie was in rapid decline and that the way forward for horror was to add some humour, House delivers as many laughs as it does scares. One of the main creatures, a witch type being, is as much Muppet Show as it is scary. In fact the scariest thing on show is a creepy looking little boy called Robert, sporting a shocking mullet. His mum Tanya (Mary Stavin) is very hot mind! George Wendt of TV's "Cheers" plays Roger's neighbour and delivers some very funny lines. In terms of horror one of the best scenes has Roger under attack from a bunch of flying garden tools. I wouldn't go as far as to call House a classic but it is a good movie that delivers both horror and comedy, plus some good special effects and a Henry Manfredini musical score, the 1980's were the most fun decade for horror without a doubt.

That's right the Greatest American Hero star, William Katt, plays Roger Cobb a troubled writer. Roger's son went missing, his wife divorced him, and his aunt just passed away. All Roger wants to do is write a story drawing on his experiences in Vietnam, even though that is not what his fans or his agent wants. He moves into his aunt's Victorian home that she leaves him after her suicide to do his writing. When he moves in he meets his sweet neighbor, Harold Gorton, played by the always lovable George Wendt...who offers up some of my favorite lines in the film including this beauty: "Solitude's always better with somebody else around, ya know?"

It isn't long before Roger starts to believe that his aunt might be right about her house being haunted...and it begins this whole cycle if Roger writing about Vietnam in between battling the house in full military garb. This starts to blur reality and house.

Surprisingly fun haunted house story that has several plots that all come together neatly in the end. I loved seeing George Wendt in this congenial neighbor role and it was fun to see a couple of other stars that I really enjoyed in the 80's, William Katt (although I did also love seeing him in Bones) and Richard Moll who played Bull in the old Night Court. Not sure I would recommend this except to horror fans or fans of William Katt.