House (aka Hausu) 1977

I know that I’m by no means the first to discover it, but I watched the Criterion copy of Obayashi’s 1977 cult classic horror movie House several weeks ago, and took some screengrabs which I forgot about. This movie is hard to describe- it is funny, suggestive, cheesy, campy, surreal, a little creepy, and beautiful in many ways. It combines optical printing with animation, live action, stop motion, and so many editing gems I can’t even describe here. It seems self-aware but is so over-the-top crazy. House is not really horror (if you, like me, are leery of horror flicks) and is worth a watch for it’s sheer artistic value and absurdity. With characters named Gorgeous, Fantasy, Prof, Mac, Melody, and Kung Fu, how can you go wrong?

If you’re not convinced by the screengrabs, then I have two words for you: WITCH CAT.

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

house, hausu, the look see, japanese, movie

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