Poke her with the soft cushions!
- House review by Count Otto Black
There are plenty of unique films out there, but this one is up there with "Eraserhead" in terms of being a cult classic that could never be remade, because to do a remake, you'd have to figure out what was going through the director's head in the first place, which is completely impossible. As for the cheesy seventies not-so-special effects, they actually help, since this is essentially a fever dream in which nothing whatsoever makes sense because it isn't meant to. Yes, it's that rarest of beasts, a film that's bonkers even by Japanese standards! And I mean that in a good way, as opposed to "even more sick, gory, perverted, and obsessed with schoolgirls than usual."
Okay, there are schoolgirls in it. Almost the entire cast are schoolgirls. Therefore, since this is a horror movie, quite a few schoolgirls get killed. And yet... How shall I put this? Does anybody remember the Goodies? Well, this is what would happen if those guys were real, and they tried to direct a perfectly serious horror movie. Absolutely nothing that occurs is remotely disturbing, because these (deliberately) one-dimensional characters are menaced by the most Surreal cartoon violence and peril you've ever seen. I'm pretty sure it's the only film ever made in which two different kinds of fruit manage to commit murder. Every single object in this house is lethal, so long as it isn't the sort of thing you'd normally have to watch out for in a horror movie. Forget about anything sharp - just keep an eye on those cushions...
Oh, and a special mention has to go to the cat. There are an infinite number of horror movies in which a real and visibly uncooperative cat represents the forces of evil, despite the fact that it's a fundamental law of nature that nobody will ever persuade a cat to see why it theoretically might want to attempt to act, let alone actually do so. Therefore some exceptionally wondrous state-of-the-art 1977 special effects were necessary to persuade us that this grumpy-looking brute could play the piano. Yes, really! And that's only the second most outrageous scene in this movie involving a piano. I'm not making this up. Rent the film and see. You know you want to.
5 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
A One Off
- House review by CP Customer
Hausa is a deranged experience that could only be cultivated in Japan. Shot like a crazed 70’s Mexican soap with lashing of Dario Argento, its visually spectacular and innovative; you just don’t know where it’s going to turn next. This results in a real oddity as the director throws almost every technique and graphic into the mix. Ultimately it shouldn’t work, but rather than becoming a visual mess the combination of characters, directing and its colourful charm wins you over. Japan is mainly known from J-horror or the samurai or social classics of the 1950’s and 60’s, Hausa is unique.
3 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Mad HOUSE.
- House review by porky
Very Strange and Funny Cult Horror Comedy from Japan. Bonkers is the best description I can give it. Girl Eating Piano, Evil Magical Cat, Flying Severed Head, Death by Banana , Talking Water Melons , what more can I add to make you Watch it ?
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Utterly Bonkers Japanese 'Horror' part-animated haunted house film
- House review by PV
This is a curiosity - made in the 1970s and it looks it. I haven't seen speeded up footage like this since the DOUBLE DECKERS were on TV! No OBs here - all filmed on obvious studio sets with surreal decoration, plus song and dance sequences,
Very odd and bonkers, and not frightening at all, more interesting.
I watched a more recent movie from Japan which also used animation as here - cannot remember the title, the Life of the Kamagochis or similar. Probably influenced by this.
But a good idea this mad collage of a movie which doesn't really make all that much sense didn't have more influence on film makers. Best keep these post-hippy curiosities back in the 1970s where they belong!
But different anyway, and more interesting that most yawnsome Hollywood haunted house movies. AND I LIKED THE CAT!
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Spellbinding Lunacy....
- House review by sw
Thank you Cinema Paradiso for enabling me to stumble upon this absolute delight of a movie.
I'd never heard of 'Hausu' before but having been enticed by the films synopsis and being a fan of the more left-field and surreal end of the cinematic spectrum, I was interested to check it out... So glad I did because this film is freaking awesome.
For me it was a sort of a Japanese mash-up of 'Evil Dead 2' meets 'Sesame Street' with some of the most inventive and head spinning visual techniques on display.
'Hausu' is an barn-storming riot of pure cinematic joy and utter lunacy... It's a wild ride and I loved it. Cheers.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
I gave up after about half an hour
- House review by NK
I enjoy oddities. I actively seek them out. But I found this movie tedious. What is it with Japanese dialogue? I don't speak Japanese, so I'm totally reliant on the subtitles, but are they really that bad at creating dialogue, i.e. most of the characters most of the time stating the bleedin' obvious? Or is Japanese a language so alien to our own that what they're saying cannot readily be rendered into English? Or is it that the people writing the subtitles don't understand Japanese either and they're just making up stuff that looks like it'll fit? I suspect the latter. The special effects are ropey in the extreme, even for 1977, but some would say that add to the film's charm. However for a horror film it lacks any sense of menace (or horror). And finally, because the protagonists are Japanese schoolgirls there is a lot of giggling. I mean really lots. And lots. And lots. Pretty much everything anyone says is met with giggling on the part of everyone else - but most of the time they were already giggling anyway. All. The. Time.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Jaws Indeed
- House review by griggs
“We want a Japanese remake of Jaws.”
“No problem. But how about we replace the shark with a grand piano?”
“A killer piano? That’s brilliant!”
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.