Film makers at times fear that they would forever be associated with specific kind of films, so they try doing something different. Producer Sean S. Cunningham and director Steve Miner – best known for their work on popular Friday the 13th series of horror films – did that in 1985 with their horror comedy House, a film successful enough to start film franchise of its own.
Protagonist, played by William Katt, is Roger Cobb, author of popular horror novels. His beloved but eccentric aunt Elizabeth Hooper (played by Susan French) has recently committed suicide, leaving Roger her huge house. That was also location of mysterious disappearance of Roger’s son Jimmy, an event that led Roger to divorce his wife, television actress Sandy Sinclair (played by Kay Lenz). Although everyone expects him to sell the house, Roger Cobb decides to move in hoping to find the inspiration for his new book, which would be based on his own traumatic experiences during Vietnam War. Soon afterwards, Roger begins to experience all kinds of strange events in the house, ranging from bizarre visions, household appliances attacking him or various monsters that appear out of nowhere. He tries not only to survive but to actually make some sort of sense why it is happening and whether it has something to do with his wartime traumas.
Made with relatively low budget, House represented departure from the slasher films like Friday the 13th, the most popular horror subgenre of the decade. Script by Ethan Wiley used more vintage plot of the haunted house, but also combined it with the still unhealed psychological wounds of Vietnam War, a theme very popular at the time thanks to films like Rambo 2. The most interesting straying from 1980s genre conventions is use of humour, which is the most effective in the first part of the film, when the protagonist often has to use all of his ingenuity and cover the effects of supernatural mayhem in order to convince police and neighbours of his sanity. William Katt plays his role very well, but he is overshadowed by supporting cast, most notably George Wendt in the role of his neighbour who tries to make some sort of sense of what is going on. Mary Stävin, former Swedish model, Miss World and former Bond Girl, has very interesting and effective role of protagonist’s sexy neighbour in the minor episode that brings interesting twist to the scenario. Unlike her, Kay Lenz is almost forgettable in the role of protagonist’s wife. House works until the second half, when the mystery is finally resolved and cause of protagonist’s troubles finally revealed. From that point on the film relies more on rather cheesy special effects than plot or humour. House ends just in time, before the that other flaws could have wrecked the film beyond repair. This way, it remains quite watchable and mostly entertaining horror comedy that could be recommended even to the audience that doesn’t care much for both genres.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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