House/Review
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
< House
When it comes to the Japanese media, people tend to stereotype it as the wackiest place for TV shows, commercials and movies. It's true, but not that much. I visited Japan two times and whenever I turned on the television, the commercials weren't as insane as what we see regularly on YouTube. I think Japanese commercials are gorgeous with stunning cinematography. Their TV shows mostly consist of panel discussions, variety shows or baseball, which is popular here. Regardless, the insane stuff from Japan is always there for you to seek out and enjoy....and that's what I'm gonna tell you about now. House (a.k.a. Hausu) is a Horror/Drama/Comedy film from 1977 that has become a cult classic due to its inherent weirdness.
The plot is simple. A group of 7 girls (named Gorgeous/Kung Fu/Prof/Fantasy/Mac/Melody/Sweet) decide to take a trip to a beautiful house in the countryside. What they don't know is the fact that its owner, Gorgeous' Aunt, likes to eat unmarried women. That's the basic plot of the film, but as the story goes by we learn about the background of Gorgeous. She asks her father whether she can have a summer trip with her friends or not, but after finding out that he married a new woman (her mom passed away years before) she decides to leave him and tell her friends to go to her aunt's house instead. Her aunt's backstory is tragic and pretty sad. She was about to get married, but then her boyfriend had to join the Air Force during World War 2 and later died. So our poor Auntie has been waiting for him ever since and also became a piano teacher. This is a pretty good method in the script which brings both the tension to the situation and an added dimension to a character...in a film that doesn't belong in the reality at all.
Many viewers have a hard time getting through House since it has many weird elements. First, the plot. As I said, this is a Horror/Comedy film. In fact, there are scenes that remind me of Evil Dead 2 in terms of the over-the-top death scenes and practical effects. As time passes, there are characters that get killed in the most unrealistic ways you can imagine. The most famous example is when one of the characters is eaten by a piano. To make things even weirder, that particular scene isn't shot in the typical way (like the piano just eats a girl and the blood splatters around), there are wacky things like the leg arm thrown away from the piano to a fish bowl or flashy lights everywhere around the room. It's as chaotic as you can imagine. If you constantly remind yourself that this is a fantasy-based kind of Horror and don't take it too seriously you'll enjoy it.
Next, the atmosphere. There are many scenes that were filmed in a really unique way and somehow provide us with an interesting narrative and could be a symbolism as well. For example, the very first scenes of the film is Gorgeous and Kung Fu walking around and playing with each other. It has quick-cut editing, cheerful music, and some lighting. That scene is so cheerful, I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be a parody of teen flicks around that time or not. Also, there are several scenes that used matte paintings for specific reasons. Like when Gorgeous talks to her rich father. They deliberately made it look like a set of a house with a beautiful sunset which would belong in some TV commercial instead (we'll get into that soon). Or the scene with the girls standing in front of a train station. The matte painting looks somehow more cartoonish like it tries to tell us that we are going to a universe that doesn't belong in the same reality. It's distinctive and memorable. Then, we have the special effects. They range from live practical effects to blue-screen, which I'm pretty sure was edited on videotape and then converted to film. Although the blue-screen looks pretty dated and fake, it still fits the wacky tone of the film pretty well.
And speaking of wackiness, there's a reason behind this, the director himself, Nobuhiko Obayashi. Besides the fact that his daughter came up with the whole concept of this film, he had been working as a TV commercial director. His commercials look gorgeous and memorable. For instance, a Calpico commercial (which, according to sources, was the first time Nobuhiko met the actress who played Auntie in this movie). It's just an ordinary beverage commercial, but it sets the tone that this is the drink for your luxury dinner from POV shots of drinks in the cart to a scene when a couple mixes ingredients and then drinks. But his most famous advertisement is probably a two minute commercial for the aftershave/perfume product called Mandom starring Charles Bronson. It features everything that you're about to see in House: quick cut edits, scenes that don't make sense in reality but fit the mood of the moment, nice matte paintings, and gorgeous set design. If you can watch this ad without feeling that it's too chaotic, maybe you're ready for House.
To sum up, House is a really unique experience. I'm just sorry that I can't get into details about what exactly is going on in it. It's better for you to simply enjoy one of the craziest and most memorable cult films from Japan. Highly recommended.
Nuttawut Permpithak hails from Thailand. He spends his free time watching exploitation films (or any films from the past) writing articles, taking photos and reviewing films for GCDb.
