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Cast: William Katt, George Wendt, Richard Moll, Kay Lenz, Mary Stavin, Michael Ensign, Erik & Mark Silver and Susan French.
Roger Cobb, a successful book writer and Vietnam vet is having a torrid time. His son has gone missing and as a result it's destroyed his marriage, he decides that it's time he exorcised a few personal demons and wrote a novel detailing his trauma in Vietnam. In need of solitude he moves into his aunt's house that he's inherited following her suicide, but once he enters the house though strange things begin to happen. It has a mind of its own and he soon finds that it's no accident either, his past is catching up with him and he needs to destroy the evil once and for all or have the same fate as his aunt and son...
Where and how do I begin to explain how I much this film means to me? First of all it was one of the first horror films I was ever bought on VHS. I was about 6 years old when I got it and I still own it. That tape has been played to the point of almost being knackered. A standout favourite of mine and along with the likes of THE LOST BOYS is one of my most watched and most cherished films.
Why do I like it so much and above all why does the film work? With a lot of other films that's something I often have trouble explaining because quite honestly I watch films that a lot of (more mainstream watching) film viewers wouldn't stand for very long at all. I sometimes don't know why I like some films but I get certain feelings when I'm watching them, accept them and become a fan. HOUSE however is one that is very easy to explain. To begin with, I don't get on with a lot of "Horror Comedies", they often tend to overstep the mark in that they forget what they're all about and go off on a tangent. Trying and failing to be funny to the point of reaching desperation and moving away from the original point of the film. For me at least I think Horror Comedies are very hard to pull off, it's a bizarre mix and a dangerous one that can make or so easily break a film, but not with HOUSE. With Fred Dekker's writing he knew how to merge shocks with laughs, this worked to perfection because the story is pretty hard going, the horror is at full flow and as we're basically following one guy around for the whole film it needs a few gags to break things up. The humour shown is not the kind I usually associate with American films; an example is the scene when Roger Cobb's nosey but nice neighbour is slagging off the last house owner only to find she was Cobb's aunt. He then quickly sidetracks and states that she was indeed a lovely person afterall - that was comedy genius. There are many funny scenes and their timing is perfect.
The direction and pacing is second to none. I look at Steve Miner's film credits and much like Fred Dekker I wonder why he hasn't had a more successful career because these people sure know how to make a good film. There is no tedium, no dead wood, nothing negative. It's a fun, evenly made good old fashioned horror film with a few jumps thrown in, some brilliant suspense and some fantastic looking monsters used for good measure. Did I also mention the Harry Manfredini score too? Utter brilliance.
The performances are winners too. William Katt is brilliant in the lead role and the rest of the series sorely missed his presence. He IS the character that should be associated with this series. Easily one of the most charismatic leading roles I've seen and extra points should be awarded for how he carries the film with his often solo role. George Wendt is effective and very funny as the curious neighbour, Harold Gorton. He and Katt compliment each other perfectly when together; there is certainly never a dull moment. And finally Richard Moll plays the role of Ben to perfection; a huge overpowering guy who reeks of pure evil. Christ, if you wanna talk Oscars then why were none of these 3 nominated? And that might sound like a joke but it certainly ain't.
Onto the DVD; I got it in the 4 disc House series box set from Anchor Bay. The disc comes with a beautifully restored picture, a commentary from Steve Miner, Sean Cunningham (Producer), William Katt and Ethan Wiley (Writer), a "making of" featurette, a stills gallery and trailers.
House is a very important film, it played a massive part in making me the horror addict I am now. I'm trying to find one single fault with it and I can't, I even like the (now quite dated) '80s pop music used for the soundtrack (which is quite a change from what I normally listen to but what the hell). This is the perfect horror film; it touches every emotion going and is very very underrated. It should belong in everybody's collection.
Personally I wouldn't go so far as to call House a perfect horror film or a genre classic, however it is without doubt an important entry level horror film for many of those who were just getting into horror films during the heyday of VHS.
To be perfectly honest when I watched House I had not been into horror all that long, but I had already seen several "heavier" horror films, so perhaps it didn't have the impact on me that it did you. Nevertheless, it's certainly a fun little film which I haven't watched in far too long, even though I have it on DVD.
I never did bother with any of the sequels. Am I missing much?
I have fairly fond memories of House myself, as it was one of the first horror films I ever watched. I remember being quite scared by it actually. However, it has a couple of iffy songs going on in there amongst the horror and didn't hold up so well on subsequent viewings if I remember correctly, though it has probably been over 10 years since I last it. I was thinking of getting it on DVD a while back and still might one day.
As for the sequels Jack - they are all terrible without exception.
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"I love the smell of my palms in the morning" - Apocalypse Now.
Best line in Scream 2 was revolved around how bad the sequel (House 2-the second story) was compared to the original.
I agree with Cloud on the first House.Funnily enough it was one of my very first horror films to.
Fun Fact-The underrated William Katt also played The Greatest American Hero for 3 series on American television.
Available in America on region one though Anchor bay but never over here for some reason.
I grew up on a healthy diet of slasher movies, sci-fi horror, Hammer horror and other things British, American, horror-related and cheesy. So it wasn't until later on when I started collecting Vipco tapes that I started get into the more extreme horror films, so maybe House was hugely benefitted by being seen before a lot of others. The thing is though unlike other films House always holds up perfectly, almost like watching The Shawshank Redemption for the 6th time, it still has the ability to give that strangest feeling once the end credits roll and it's rare that many films have that effect.
I think Scream 2 was a pretty bad sequel as well! But yeah the sequels to House were piss poor. House II had potential but the comedy killed it instantly, House III was a slight improvement but still very underwhelming and House IV was poor too; the decision to kill off Roger Cobb at the beginning was pure madness. According to the director William Katt only returned as a favour and because he didn't have long to film they decided to use him sparingly (hence why he's killed off and only returns in bits as a ghost). I'm all for fan favourites returning in later installments but why do it just to kill him off? As I say, it's madness. Also revisiting House IV takes me into a dark place because that's the film my ma hired out for me to take my mind off things on the day one of my two persian cats died in 1997. Thankfully his sister went on to live until the ripe old age of 16.5, she died early this year, but that's another story.
Saw this when it originally came out in cinemas and loved it... and caught it on tape a couple of times in the late '80's. Coincidentally, I picked up a copy of this and watched it last week. And, I'd have to say it's rather less than perfect in my opinion (didn't like the cutsie use of pop music in a couple of scenes, both of which pretty much run back-to-back... and the ending was a little bit naff) - but Katt and Wendt were excellent and Mac Ahlberg's cinematography is always an asset...
Strangely enough, it's actually HOUSE's trailer that I probably hold dearer to my heart, as it appeared on just about every Entertainment In Video title the year of its VHS release (same with TERRORVISION, TROLL and TEEN WOLF) and, as a result, I must have happened upon it about 50 times since then ("...but no-one is ever alone... in the HOUSE!").
when this 1st came out on video it scared the shite out of me,it still scared my little niece and her freinds i was asked for a halloween party for films that are scary but not over the top in gore for 11 to 14 year olds so i lent them House and The Gate,it worked they were petrified
I loved this as a kid but it's pretty average in retrospect; I prefer the bonkers 2nd film and the nasty 3rd. Can't remember the fourth as I haven't seen it since 1993/4.
As "strong horror" wasn't exactly easy to come by as an adolescent in my youth in 80's Germany, "House" was also one of the earlier genre titles I could sink my teeth into
One of the very best examples of a "horror comedy", nothing quite like it has followed ever since.
Katt and Wendt are a great pairing and isn't it just great how they managed to pull all those neat ideas off in a running time, which doesn't waste a minute?
I just WISH modern films would stick around the 90 mins mark more often...
"II" was a pain to sit through, "III" a belated attempt to get a slice of the "Elm Street" cake and "IV" had a few promising bits, but killing off Roger Cobb....?
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