4. Hausu (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
Of all the films on today's list, this is without question the best. Hausu (or House, in English) is one of the few standout masterpieces of the horror genre. It's both a cross between a sort of twisted lesbian fantasy and bad hallucinatory trip, and a Japanese art-film rendition of the haunted house and slumber party massacre films, combined. It's big with both horror fanatics and the film student crowd, as the whole thing is totally insane with Obayashi having showcased pretty much every cinematic special effects technique in the book. Really, what makes it so great, is that it's just so damned creative- a real sensory mindfuck. From the start, the film is very upbeat (in a Japanese sort of way), opening in a similar way as you'd expect to find in crappy American slumber party related horror films. But it doesn't end up as a slasher film, instead opting to exploit an almost psychedelic blend of poltergeist torment and psychological horror. The whole cartoony Japanese style makes it feel that much more creepy- despite the usually contradictory implications of the background music. The group of girls is diverse, eclectic and entertaining. Oh, and sexy too...especially if you are into the whole Japanese school girl kink. There's the kind one, the chubby one, the nerdy one, the musical one, the princess, the one who's really good at kung fu, and fantasy- who's always lost in her own world. They all have a crush on their Teacher, Mr. Togo...who is apparently a dreamy example of a 1970's Japanese stud muffin. Mr Togo is supposed to take the group of girls camping, but something comes up and he is forced to delay the trip. So they decide to head off to a mansion owned by one of the girl's Aunties- to which they were also invited- instead. The girls make their way to Auntie's mansion alone, with Mr. Togo having promised to follow them up shortly after. Everything seems fine when they first arrive at the house- where they are met by Auntie, the cripple. But once she gets up and out of her wheelchair, having "regained her strength from energy"...things start to go really wild, and the girls start getting knocked off one-by-one, in rather bizarre fashion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lFbLVWEpbY I won't go into how or why, but it turns out that Auntie is actually a pi**ed off ghost that really hates Japanese school girls, and the whole house is a ghost house akin to something like that in The Shining or Fulci's Sodoma's Ghost. The kills in this film are bizarre, bloody and downright hilarious, not to mention interestingly creative. My personal favourite is when Melody (the musical one) is being psychologically manipulated to play the piano, which then starts to bite, dismember and consume her, seemingly at the telepathic behest of Fantasy's demonically possessed cat, Snowy. But there are other great one's too...like when Sweetie (the princess) is "disappeared" after being attacked by pillows and futons, also being telekinetically controlled by Snowy, for example. If you like psychedelically inspired films or just insanely creative horror...then Hausu is the film for you. It has been recently re-released on DVD and Bluray by the Criterion Collection with a nice set of extra features. Definitely head down to your local independent video store and check it out, if you haven't already.