Hausu
Oshare (Gorgeous) is excited about spending summer vacation with her father, until she finds out that his beautiful, freakishly serene girlfriend Ryouko would be going as well. Oshare decides she will be going to her aunt's house in the country instead. She brings with her her friends from school - Fanta (who likes to take pictures, and daydreams a lot), KunFuu (who has very good reflexes), Gari/Prof (who is a major nerd), Sweet (who likes to clean), Mac (who eats a lot), and Melody (a musician). However, the girls are unaware that Oshare's aunt is actually dead and the house is actually haunted. When they arrive at the house, crazy events take place and the girls disappear one by one while slowly discovering the secret behind all the madness.
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How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi's indescribable 1977 movie House? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt's creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via a series of mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equal parts absurd and nightmarish, House might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet. Never before available on home video in the United States, it's one of the most exciting cult discoveries in years.
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Overview
This satirical murder mystery pits a woman who is the epitome of glamour played by Haruko Wanibuchi against a clever murderer during a holiday stay at a strange ghostly mansion. Seven young women, who have chosen as nicknames the brand names of much-advertised consumer products, begin to disappear in a decidedly suspicious manner. Are they fashion victims? How else can one explain the eerie coordination between their pastel outfits and the pastels of the rooms in which they appear? It is up to the heroine -- whose every screen appearance is heralded by special lighting, gentle breezes, and a soft camera focus -- to find out what is going on.
|
Kimiko Ikegami | Oshare (Miyuki Koga) |
|
Miki Jinbo | Kung Fu |
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Kumiko Ohba | Fantasy |
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Ai Matsubara | Gari |
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Mieko Satô | Mac |
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Eriko Tanaka | Melody |
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Masayo Miyako | Sweet |
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Kiyohiko Ozaki | Keisuke Tôgô |
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Saho Sasazawa | Daddy Kogarashi |
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Asei Kobayashi | Watermelon Farmer |
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Mitsutoshi Ishigami | Photographer |
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Ippei Hara | Tora-san Lookalike |
|
Tetsuo Kanai | |
|
Shoichi Hirose | Ramen Trucker |
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Yasumasa Ônishi | Old Villager |
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Midori Naitô | |
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Kiyoko Tsuji | Grandmother |
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Tomokazu Miura | Auntie's Fiancé |
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Fumi Dan | Teacher |
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Haruko Wanibuchi | Ryôko Ema |
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Yôko Minamida | Auntie Karei Hausu |
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Mickie Yoshino | Godiego |
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Yukihide Takekawa | Godiego |
|
Takami Asano | Godiego |
|
Steve Fox | Godiego |
| Director | Sotaro Manabu |
|
| Writer | Chiho Katsura, Chigumi Obayashi | |
| Producer | Tomoyuki Tanaka, Yorihiko Yamada, Sotaro Manabu | |
| Musician | Asei Kobayashi, Mickie Yoshino | |
| Photography | Yoshitaka Sakamoto | |
| Edition | Criterion |
|---|---|
| Packaging | HD Case |
| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Screen Ratios | Fullscreen (4:3, Letterboxed) |
| Audio Tracks | Mono [Japanese] SUB [English] |
| Subtitles | English |
| Distributor | Criterion |
| Layers | Single side, Dual layer |
| Edition Release Date | Oct 26, 2010 |
| Regions | Region A |