The 1977 Japanese horror movie House, also called Hausu, is a visually stunning yet incredibly surreal film that has become a cult classic. The plot revolves around seven teenage girls who go on a summer trip to visit their aunt’s isolated mansion in the Japanese countryside. As soon as they arrive, strange and supernatural occurrences start transpiring, leading them to discover the dark secrets of the house and its inhabitants.
Though it’s often compared to classics like Dario Argento’s Suspiria or René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s House is an entirely unique and creative experience. It touches on folklore and supernatural horror, dark comedy, psychedelia, and surreal metaphors. The odd characters, exaggerated effects, and psychedelic imagery help to craft this strange story that takes its audience on an unexpected journey into the unknown.
House, along with the film The Visitor in the Eye, helped Ôbayashi take home an award for Best New Director at the 1977 Blue Ribbon Awards in Tokyo, Japan. It is a work of art that continues to captivate audiences all over the world, even with its highly unusual style and themes. Let’s look at the metaphorical themes of House and why it remains an unforgettable watch.
Naivety and Innocence in the Girls of House
Toho
House follows a group of girls who visit an aunt’s house during summer vacation, and eventually endure some extremely weird haunted house horror. The seven teenage girls in House are portrayed as naive and inexperienced in the world. Even their names, Gorgeous, Fantasy, Sweet, Melody, Prof, Mac, and Kung Fu, reflect not only their personalities but how each one is still in the process of finding her own identity. Their deaths each end up being somehow related to their defining traits, making their fates a metaphor for how innocence affects the decisions we make in life.
The childlike qualities of each girl are also a metaphor for how we can be easily enticed by things that seem too good to be true. Each one hangs on the illusion of men being the source of happiness, security, and safety, ignoring that their culture has been built on an oppressive patriarchal system controlling generations of women.
The house itself works as an allegory for the transition from innocence into adulthood. The girls are so eager to explore the aunt’s mansion that they ignore all signs of danger it presents. Even in the most violent situations, they remain giddy and excited, unaware of the consequences (or perhaps accepting them). In the end, each girl is consumed by the evil set to keep them on the property forever.
Manifestations of Loneliness and Death
Toho
There are metaphors for loneliness and death tucked throughout the film, highlighted by Gorgeous’ struggle to accept her father’s new fiancé and Auntie’s decision to remain isolated after her fiancé’s untimely death at war. This family has faced more than their share of tragedy, and much of that energy is built up in the house, manifesting in a variety of supernatural ways.
Blanche, a white cat with mysterious glowing eyes, is a key element in how the film portrays death. It watches and follows the girls, conveying their mortality as it leads them closer to their demise. There is an evil in the cat that is never clearly explained, yet the audience is made aware of its presence. Several plot points suggest Auntie having vampiric tendencies as well, gaining strength from eating any unmarried young girl that visits the house.
Effects of World War II on Society
House is a product of its time, reflecting on Japan’s post-World War II society. Auntie hid away from the world until her death, unable to cope with the reality that her fiancé was killed during the war. Years later, her spirit thrives off consuming young, unmarried souls, presenting the idea that older generations of Japanese women sought to return to their youth and a time before the war.
The turbulence of the war is further communicated through the imagery and sound design. A good majority of the movie is beautifully shot and somewhat slow with the pacing. Once the chaos ensues, the editing and sound design switch to psychedelic colors and childlike imagery, only to spiral into something darker and more distorted. The juxtaposition of light and dark creates an atmosphere that is both tense and imaginative, and the flashes of explosions seen in girls’ eyes hearkens back to the nuclear bomb which devastated Japan. “I wanted to write a fantasy with the atomic bomb as the theme,” Ôbayashi said of House. In an incredible video essay for The Criterion Collection edition of the film, the filmmaker Kogonada explores this theme masterfully:
House Nods to Japanese Folklore
While House seems like a straightforward haunted house movie, it is rooted in traditional Japanese folkloric elements. During the Edo period, from the 1600s to 1800s, Japanese culture had a strong fascination with the supernatural. The term “Kaidan” (or “kwaidan”) means strange and mysterious stories, which were spread by word of mouth through generations of people.
Haunted houses, unsettled spirits, and supernatural cats are all elements of this genre, and House incorporates these into its narrative. The over-the-top and absurd sequences honor the classic Kaidan films while adding a unique twist. It’s difficult to pinpoint the true origins of the aunt’s house, but it is clear that it is haunted by things far beyond the physical world.
House is a movie that continues to be remembered and celebrated for its creative approach to horror. Its childlike visuals, metaphorical themes, and unique characters are what make it stand out as an experimental classic. If you’ve never seen House, go into it with an open mind and zero expectations. It’s a fun watch that is a one-of-a-kind experience.
