Considering the fact that House was based on a script which no one at the studio wanted to make, the end result is a far cry from the disaster the scenario implies. In fact, it may well be one of the most underrated Japanese horror movies of all time. Schoolgirl Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) and her friends travel to stay with her aunt in her country house and soon find themselves battling with the supernatural as the building literally comes to life and starts devouring them. While this brief synopsis may sound like the premise for countless low budget horror movies, in the hands of director Nobuhiko Obayashi this potentially pedestrian material becomes a trippy experience rarely matched in cinema. The use of various shooting styles, montage effects and deliberately unconvincing visual effects is a perfect match for the incomprehensible story, making House a film which induces sensory overload while leaving common sense behind in the dirt.
