Long before celebrated British thesp Hugh Laurie turned up to play a cranky but brilliant Sherlock Holmes-esque physician in the US medical drama House (favoured by undemanding channel-surfers throughout the land), a film with the same name was the subject of constant repeat viewing for my 13 year-old self and like-minded friends.
It was also my third favourite film growing up with the word ‘House’ in the title (after Animal House and House Party).
A variation on the age-old haunted house theme, the film stars William Katt (from TV show The Last American Hero) as a successful horror novelist and Vietnam vet who moves into his aunt’s residence when she passes away. Primarily there to write a non-fiction account of his time at war, he soon discovers the place he’s inherited is full of things that go bump in the night and may reveal the key to his own son’s disappearance which occurred at the property years before, as well as forcing him to confront his inner demons linked to his experiences in the jungle.
There was something decidedly appealing and playful about House, which was constantly favoured over similar horror films available for viewing in my friend’s collection. Unlike the early Friday the 13th films the creative team behind House first made their names with (director Steve Miner and producer Sean S. Cunningham), this film eschews the gore and griminess of those outing to Camp Crystal Lake to produce something with more of a comedic tone, which successfully veers between the laughs and the traditional jumps and scares commonly associated with the genre. Some of this must be accredited to the author of the original story, Fred Dekker, who created two of the most revered and playful B-movie homages of the 80’s, The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps (films thoroughly deserving of a place within Video Vault).
This lightness of touch is particularly apparent following a scene in the film where Roger manages to decapitate a grotesque female spirit, using a pair of haunted garden shears. Her head lands with a thud, Roger lets outs a triumphant yell and we’re then treated to a sequence of him cutting up the body parts and burying them in the back garden, all accompanied by an old R&B soul tune on the soundtrack. I remember watching this sequence for the first time and thinking that there was something wrong with the VHS, and that music was leaking through from a previous recording on the cassette (a real possibility back then given the quality of video).
House also includes the obligatory ‘Nam flashbacks (an added bonus at the time for fans of Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill), revealing that Roger is still haunted by his inability in the war to save a fellow friend and grunt from being captured by the enemy. These scenes also link nicely and cleverly into the film’s denouement.
Add to this mix the presence of tubby barfly Norm Peterson from Cheers (George Wendt) playing Roger’s well-meaning but interfering neighbour (familiar to anyone back then who knew a place ‘where everybody knows your name’) and you have the makings of a fun piece of undemanding B-movie escapism – a cut above the other shlocky titles on the same video label at the time (hello Ghoulies 2 and Killer Klowns From Outerspace).
Incidentally, the follow-up, House II: The Second Story (a film which helpfully informs you twice in the title that it’s a sequel), featured Wendt’s booze buddy from Cheers, John Ratzenberger. I wonder if the cast were pulling favours for each other, and this led to a vicious falling-out between Kristy Alley and Ted Danson as they fought over a part in the third film, House III: The Horror Show.
I’m not sure if House would hold up under much scrutiny today as it’s been a long time since I last watched it (bear in mind this was in the same era where I considered St Elmo’s Fire to be a cinematic masterpiece and initially chose MC Hammer’s album over The Stone Roses’ debut).
Back then however, it was entertaining enough to have the power to entice us away from the chunky pixelated delights of Double Dragon, Dizzy and R-Type for at least an hour or so.
House is available on Region 2 as part of the The House Collection – a DVD Box Set of all four films in the series.
Here’s the trailer,
