House

1977

1h 27m

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

List

91%

Tomatometer

43 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In an effort to avoid spending time with her father and his creepy new lover, young Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) resolves to visit her aunt's remote mansion. With six of her closest friends in tow, including the musically inclined Melody (Eriko Tanaka) and the geeky Prof (Ai Matsubara), Gorgeous arrives at the estate, where supernatural events occur almost immediately. A severed head takes flight, household appliances come to life and a portrait of a cat seems to contain an evil spirit.

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Critics Consensus

House is a gleefully demented collage of grand guginol guffaws and bizarre sequences.

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Scott Tobias

AV Club

House seems born out of restlessness and contempt for the status quo; it’s one of those movies that doubles as a piece of film criticism, intent on exposing and exploding all the tiresome clichés that commercial cinema constantly recycles.

Sep 27, 2022

Full Review

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Too absurd to be genuinely terrifying, yet too nightmarish to be merely comic, "House" seems like it was beamed to Earth from another planet.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 27, 2022

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John Monaghan

Detroit Free Press

A silly, surreal cross of Japanese horror, anime and just plain weirdness, this 1977 fever dream of styles makes you wonder: How did this ever get made?

Rated: 3/4

Sep 27, 2022

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Visually and viscerally stunning from start to finish, “House” is much more than a mere masterpiece.

Rated: FIVE STARS

Oct 31, 2023

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Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Watch Nobuhiko Obayashi's psychedelic, funky, energetic gem which – to make sure I wasn't hallucinating – I watched three consecutive times to pick up on Japan's coming-of-age radical storytelling for a new generation in the post-war world...

Mar 8, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... a candy-colored style bomb of horror movie more jaw-droppingly unreal than scary, an experimental piece of pop-art genre filmmaking that is cartoonish in its graphic expressionism.

Oct 29, 2022

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matthias s

Here's an informal 1.5-star review of *Hausu* (1977) in 150 words: --- Watching *Hausu* is like entering a fever dream where nothing makes sense, and everything is just plain bizarre. The film attempts to be a horror-comedy, but the humor often feels forced and the scares are more laughable than terrifying. The plot follows a group of schoolgirls who visit a haunted house, but the story quickly devolves into a chaotic mishmash of bizarre visuals and absurd scenes. The special effects are incredibly dated and cheesy, making it hard to take any of the horror elements seriously. Characters lack depth, and their exaggerated reactions only add to the film's surreal nature. While some might appreciate the campy charm and psychedelic style, the disjointed narrative and over-the-top antics left me confused and underwhelmed. Overall, *Hausu* might be a cult classic for some, but its strange execution didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/30/24

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Blobbo X

Sort of a Hansel and Gretal retelling but with cute Japanese girls. The girls are pretty, the movie is goofy. Stars for the girls.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/07/24

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Korra N

Bizarre, offbeat and zany, HOUSE is a wild horror movie with dark comedy that any horror fan should go into blind. It's a weird and wonderful experience, and a remarkable look at classic Japanese horror.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/19/24

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harwee h

This is kinda trippy lol

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/20/24

Full Review

Alec B

A truly unforgettable viewing experience. The constantly shifting style and tone captures the dream logic of childhood beautifully. People will sometimes say "You've never seen anything like this" in regards to certain movies but this is one of those even rarer times where it happens to be true.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/24

Full Review

Jonny M

5/5 This movie is fucking demented. And i love it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/27/23

Full Review

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Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Director

Kimiko Ikegami

Oshare

Ai Matsubara

Gari

Miki Jinbo

Kunfû

Eriko Tanaka

Merodii

Kiyohiko Ozaki

Keisuke Togo

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Synopsis

In an effort to avoid spending time with her father and his creepy new lover, young Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) resolves to visit her aunt's remote mansion. With six of her closest friends in tow, including the musically inclined Melody (Eriko Tanaka) and the geeky Prof (Ai Matsubara), Gorgeous arrives at the estate, where supernatural events occur almost immediately. A severed head takes flight, household appliances come to life and a portrait of a cat seems to contain an evil spirit.

Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
Producer: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, Yorihiko Yamada
Screenwriter: Chiho Katsura
Production Co: Toho Company Ltd.
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 29, 2011
Runtime: 1h 27m

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