House is a film that I have been interested in ever since I heard the guys on the Criterion Collection podcast talk about it. This film is INSANE! I don't really know how to describe it. The plot centers around a group of 7 Japanese school girls that go to visit one of their aunts house during summer break. The house turns out to be possessed and it starts eating them. But the story here isn't the plot. It is the methods in which this story is told. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi used every trick in the book while filming this movie. There are slow motion shots, jump cuts, repeat shots, crazy camera angles and erratic zooms. The more I try to systematically break down this film the more I realize that it is futile.
While I was watching this I started texting a friend who wanted to know what House was like. I think my texts will give you the vibe of the film better than any critical analysis.
"This is INSANE! It's like Dennis Hopper's drug riddled stream-of-conscious filtered through David Lynch's nightmares told through Miyazaki's camera".
If Hunter S. Thompson and Chuck Palahniuk made a 70's Japanese horror / after school special it would be like House. Only not as messed up".
If Monty Python and Rob Zombie tried to turn a Van Gogh painting into a Japanese movie..."
If Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali conceived a baby, then aborted it in the 3rd trimester it might look something like House".
If Michael Gondry made Charles Manson's acid trips into 70's Asian horror flicks..."
I have never said this before, but House deserves to be watched if for not other reason than that it exists. Rating this films is nearly as ridiculous as the film its self. But I will give it ★★★1/2. This can be seen on Blu Ray through the Criterion Collection. Check out the Trailer Park to have your mind blown.
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