A Review in Pictures: House aka Hausu (1977)

I'll get into why you're not reading about Abbot White here in a separate post.  For now, enjoy this special review of the psychedelic classic Hausu (aka House) from Japan.  It is weird, wild and pretty much nothing can really prepare you for it, not even this lead-in sentence...

Basically, a group of girls go out to the woodland home of one of the girls' aunts when their vacation plans go awry.  The trip there is not that simple though...

When they get there, they discover that the titular house has some weird powers and causes some freaky things to happen.  Stuff like, well,  this...

When they try to escape and/or fight back, the house does not take it lightly.  Our heroines- who have nicknames like Mac, Gorgeous and Kung-Fu- run afoul of some freaky effects and feelings.

This is weird, but not pretty...

This movie is weird as hell!  Nothing is taken seriously and no amount of reality seems to exist.  Even simple things like retelling the past of the aunt is played as a bizarre joke.  While the girl explains the events, the movie turns into an old-time slideshow...which the girls all see.  How do...why does...aw, screw it!  The movie is fun and campy, playing it all for laughs.  The effects are decent at times and really good at others.  Obviously, digital effects from 1972 are not going to be on par with stuff from today.  If you can accept that, the movie is so damn creative with them that obvious effects can be forgiven.  You have to be in a weird state of mind for this film and it's certainly not for everyone.  While I was weirded out (consider that for a moment, won't you?) the whole time, I had fun with it.  I can't say that it makes sense, but it is quite fun.  Add in a good transfer and you've got a worthy DVD rental/purchase for all of you weirdos.

Up next, a film that narrowly was cut from the field for Dracula Week shows up here.  Was it worth the wait or will I simply hate the Count even more?  Stay tuned...