One of the most enjoyable theatrical experiences I've had this year was seeing Obayashi's Hausu (House) at Fantastic Fest this year. It's unbridled surrealist insanity. Zack Carlson introduced the film as a transformative experience so powerful that it will literally change your gender before you leave the theater. The movie is brilliantly whacked out and hilarious throughout. The english-subtitled trailer is below. Janus Films is screening it limited in advance of an assumed Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release that I consider a must-own (once it materializes).
Upon screening the release version, the movie was such an embarrassment to Toho that they buried the release and it's been virtually un-viewable for three decades. A schoolgirl is upset that her father is remarrying, so she plans a trip to her reclusive old auntie's house in the country with six of her friends. The protagonists are all named like Japanese My Little Ponies. I'm not kidding. The main two are Gorgeous and Fantasy, with friends Prof (bookish), Mac (as in "Big Mac"...she likes to eat), Kung-Fu (athletic and the defender of the group), Sweet (scared of everything, cries all the time), and Melody (the musical prodigy). They set this up for you to expect people will start disappearing.
The best supporting performance, for me, was from the definitive evil cat in cinema history. The cat helps Grandma (Minamada Yoko) capture and devour the girls one by one to restore her youth. Minamada's performance (and that of the cat) is inspired and just perfect for the material. Based on her IMDb profile, she had a long career in the Japanese film industry. Unfortunately, Minamada passed away just a few weeks ago on the 21st of October. It'd be nice to see something about her career on the inevitable DVD.
The optical effects are a riot, and the blood and "gore" are so cartoonish and cheap that they won't force away the squeamish. Seattle, Rochester, and Denver, you've been warned. Get thee to a theater. The poster below features my beloved evil cat, and is also available from Criterion as a t-shirt.
