Monday, August 28, 2017

HOUSE – TWO STORIES: GREAT COMBINATION OF HORROR AND LAUGHS



When the first HOUSE film came out I was working as a manager for Loews Theaters. At that time a lot of horror films were coming out seemingly churned out following a set pattern. But HOUSE was different. It was original and did a fantastic job of combining scares with laughs, something that’s not easily achieved. So when I heard Arrow Video was bringing the movie out on blu along with the first sequel I was pleased to hear it.

The first film tells the story of Roger Cobb (William Katt), a horror author dealing with a combination of problems. He’s in the midst of a writer’s block, has recently separated from his wife and still dealing with the disappearance of his young son. To add to this his aunt has hung herself in her home and Roger moves into her old house.

While in the house strange things begin to happen. Roger sees things from his recently deceased aunt to an old buddy he served with in Vietnam. A creature appears in a closet. He eventually must face his fears, the real reason all of these events are happening. Helping him out in a minor role is his neighbor Harold (George Wendt). Will the house cause Roger to dive off the deep end following in his aunts footsteps or will he be able to face those fears?

The movie takes on some serious issues with most of Roger’s problems stemming from a case of PTSD taken to an entirely new level. The Vietnam scenes are the weakest due in large part to the restrictive budget for the film (it was made by New World Pictures, Roger Corman’s company) and look more soundstage than anything. But that low budget also led to some incredibly creative moments as well. The acting is incredibly good, especially Katt in the lead role. Wendt adds some comic relief here and also ties into something about the second film.

HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY takes us down a completely different path. This time around a young man named Jesse (Arye Gross) moves into an old house left to him by his grandfather (Royal Dano). But odd things begin happening here just like the first film except this time they’re tied to an ancient Aztec crystal skull and the fact that grandpa may be dead but he’s stuck in limbo. So the Wendt tie in? This time around helping Jesse, along with his friend Charlie (Jonathan Stark), is a repairman/part time adventurer played by John Ratzenberger. Ratzenberger and Wendt were the two best friends and barflies in the hit TV series CHEERS.

More HOUSE films followed but none had the success of the first two. Arrow has released a box set of all of them available in the UK but the rights to the various others are tied up here in the states. Thus we get this great box set with just the first two films in the series.

As always is the case, Arrow Video has gone to great lengths to make sure fans get the best possible versions of these films available. Both offer 2k restorations as well as a wealth of extras. For the first film they include the House Companion limited edition 60 page book, audio commentary with director Steve Miner, producer Sean S. Cunningham, Katt and screenwriter Ethan Wiley, DING DONG YOU’RE DEAD a brand new making of documentary, a stills gallery and theatrical trailers.

For the second you’ll find audio commentary from writer-director Ethan Wiley and producer Sean Cunningham, IT’S GETTING WEIRDER a brand new making of documentary, a stills gallery and the theatrical trailer.

As a fan of the series this combination of a solid looking edition of the films combined with the extras made it one I definitely wanted to add to my collection. It becomes yet another of those movies tossed aside by studios intent on paying loving attention only to what is current while ignoring their backlog of titles they’re too busy to consider releasing. But that’s fine as long as companies like Arrow exists who will offer films like these to us in the most loving fashion possible. There are 3-4 companies doing this now and Arrow for me is the best among them. A box in the mail from them is a moment of pure joy. And owning this copy of these films should bring joy to fans of both.

Click here to order. 

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