House (Hausu, Japan, 1977)

This week on Myopia Movies, we accept an invitation to Auntie’s house, which is a mistake, because Auntie’s house is hungry. Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 Japanese horror-comedy follows Gorgeous and her six schoolmates (Kung Fu, Prof, Fantasy, Melody, Mac, and Sweetie, because subtlety was not on the call sheet) as they head to the countryside for a summer getaway. What awaits them is a sentient house, a murderous piano, a possessed cat, a watermelon with a secret, and special effects that look like a kaleidoscope fell down a flight of stairs. The film was conceived in part with Obayashi’s young daughter, which explains a lot about the logic, and nothing about the ceiling lamp. Is it a horror film? A comedy? A fever dream assembled from the contents of a 1970s Toho prop closet? Yes. Join us as we riff through one of the most gloriously unhinged movies ever made, where the editing has no rules and the plot has no brakes. Bring snacks, but keep a close eye on them. They may be sentient too. Want to pick a movie we do an episode on and record a special commentary just for you? Purchase something from our wish list! We are riffers on Cineprov! Check us out!! How does House hold up? Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi Main cast: Kimiko Ikegami as Gorgeous (Oshare) Kumiko Ohba as Kung Fu Yōko Minamida as Auntie Miki Jinbo as Prof (Ōtsuka) Ai Matsubara as Fantasy Eriko Tanaka as Mac (Kuinshiru) Masayo Miyako as Melody Mieko Sato as Sweetie Kiyohiko Ozaki as Mr. Togo Saho Sasazawa as Gorgeous’s father (Mr. Gorgeous) Haruko Wanibuchi as Gorgeous’s stepmother