I had the displeasure of going to see a screening of this 1977 Japanese film, also known as
Hausu, at a university in the area.
The film itself was not the negative aspect of the whole experience; the other people were. As such, riding on irritation and overall less than stellar emotions, I feel that I will never again go see a foreign film in a public setting. Why? Well, I'll tell you that.
House, a psychedelic / comedic / horror romp, is set up when the main character, Gorgeous, is excited to go on vacation with her father - until she finds out that his girlfriend would be going along. Rather than agreeing to this, she enlists a group of her friends (named for their descriptions, essentially: Prof, the smart one; Kung Fu, the one who's, well, good at Kung Fu; Fantasy, the daydreamer; Sweet, who is sweet and enjoys cleaning; Melody, a musician; and Mac, who eats like a man) to instead go visit her aunt in the country.
Gorgeous, on the train to her aunt's, tells the other girls the sad story of how her aunt lives all alone in the country, waiting for her love (who was lost in the war) to return to her. All the girls remark on how sad this is.
It also bears mentioning at this point that Gorgeous' aunt has sent her cat to Gorgeous, which Gorgeous is returning to her aunt on the train. The cat is very important. One of her friends remark that a smart cat can open a door, but only a witch cat can close a door. They giggle, and soon arrive in the countryside village.
Gorgeous and her friends come across a watermelon stand, and Mac reaches for a watermelon only to uncover the comically creepy purveyor of said melons. The girls get a start, and he shows them where her aunt lives, saying that she hasn't had visitors in many years. The girls are gifted a watermelon, and take it with them on their trek up to the aunt's house.
They arrive at the house and are greeted by the aunt, who is grey-haired but still lovely, and in a wheelchair.
Little do they know, the aunt has a secret, and the house is actually quite haunted. Soon after arriving at the house, the girls begin disappearing one by one, often in bizarrely psychedelic and hilarious ways (a highlight involves a piano; another, a severed head) until the equally bizarre and hilarious conclusion.
Now,
House was originally created as an answer to the American
Jaws, and was meant to be a cheesy, gory, horror film. The actors in the movie were, for the most part, complete amateurs, and director Obayashi admitted that they were difficult to direct. He also admits that many of the visual effects in the film (which were cheesy even for the time) were not what he had envisioned. Long story short, it's not a good movie. It's cheesy, bizarre, and often completely stupid (an actual quote from the film: "She wanted to be married so badly, that when she died, her body stayed alive.") but charming in its way.
It is not even coherent enough to be termed an "art film", which is really saying something, and it's weak on plot, character development, and, in spite of being visually
interesting isn't especially visually proficient.
My issue with the film was the reactions of particularly pretentious douche-holes immediately following the screening.
I was thoroughly entertained, but soon had a strong desire to punch people in the face.
House is allegedly (according to some audience members) a "brilliant, Lynchian masterpiece," and, most infuriatingly, a person in my group said, "The anti-feminist overtones were too much for me. Objectifying women in such a manner is deplorable."
ONE: It is only a "Lynchian" film if you view David Lynch's films with the most superficial viewpoint possible. While surreal, this film failed to make any important commentary, aside from a slightly incoherent WWII political statement that fell flat on its ass. Additionally, the simplification of the characters and the complete disconnect of the storyline to anything else and its strong reliance on comedy and gore as the major sells of the film are not "Lynchian" in the slightest. There are uncomfortable shots in the film, but they're often not artistically warranted, and poorly executed at best.
TWO: You cannot apply your stupid 21st century American political ideology to a 1977 horror COMEDY from a completely different culture. The person's major complaint was actual the character named "Fantasy"...who WAS NOT SO NAMED BECAUSE SHE WAS MEANT TO BE A ****ING FANTASY. Her name was Fantasy in the film because she was prone to flights of fantasy and daydreaming. The film's reliance on cliche in terms of character was charming, and not meant as a complete dismissal of women or wholly objectifying them.
/RANT.