poolandrews Review of House

House (1985)

A really enjoyable mix of light horror & comedy that works quite well.

[7/10 · 3 April 2005]

House starts with an elaborate shot of a large Californian mansion, the camera starts around back and in one continuous free flowing shot circles the house eventually resting on a delivery boy (James Calvert as Jimmy Calvert) pulling up outside on his moped. He walks up to the front door and as he knocks it opens. He calls out to the owner Mrs. Elizabeth Hooper (Susan French), he says he will leave the groceries on the table but still does not get an answer. He feels uneasy & starts to look around the house. After going upstairs he finds Elizabeth dead, seemingly having committed suicide by hanging herself. Elizabeth's nephew Roger Cobb (William Katt) is a Vietnam Vet, successful novelist who is currently struggling to write his new book about his experiences in Vietnam & is recently divorced from television actress Sandy Sinclaire (Kay Lenz) after their young son Jimmy (Erik & Mark Silver, identical twins maybe?) had disappeared without a trace while at the house. Roger decides to stay in his Aunt's old house to get away from things & concentrate on his novel. Almost immediately strange & bizarre occurrences start to happen, Roger sees the ghost of his Aunt who warns him to leave & when he opens a closet is attacked by a slimy monster. Things become worse as Roger is attacked by flying garden tools & fat ugly monsters, Roger starts to investigate the house & becomes convinced that the answer to finding his lost son lies within if he manages to survive! Directed by Steve Miner I thought House was an entertaining & modest little comedy horror. The script by Ethan Wiley based on a story by Fred Dekker mixes the horror & dark humour quite well, it keeps the film moving along at a nice pace although one or two sections dragged a little. Things aren't tied up that well though, the haunted house goings-on are not explained at all, was it just Ben using the house as revenge or is the house really haunted? And what connection does Ben have to the house in the first place? House isn't a sadistic film in terms of violence & gore but there is some here & a few fun looking monsters, I especially liked the fat female creature in her pink dress & Big Ben's (Richard Moll) rotting zombie make-up is reasonably impressive & he makes for a cool bad guy. William Katt makes for a likable hero & George Wendt's nosey neighbour Harold Gorton is very funny even though he isn't in the film that much. None of the other characters are developed that much. Technically the film is OK, nothing outstanding but nothing too bad either except the Vietnam flashback sequences that were obviously shot in a cheap looking studio set. The special effects, while their a little cheesy & aren't exactly going to impress anyone too much these days are watchable enough. Overall I liked House's fun mix of horror & comedy, it's a decent enough way to pass an hour and a half & you could do a lot worse. Definitely worth a watch.