A dazzlingly unique cult film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, House follows seven teenage girls as they unwittingly enter a realm haunted by the bitter (and voracious) ghost of a woman waiting in vain for her long dead fiancé. That's a fairly basic premise for a haunted house feature, but Obayashi's avant garde instincts collide in kaleidoscopic ways with the movie's homemade special effects, amateur performances, odd musical score, and the studio's insistence that there be nudity. The result is an expressionistic and madcap film that stands alone in the cinematic landscape; it's certainly very different from Jaws (1975), which producers asked Obayashi to imitate when House was in its developmental phase.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and (in his debut episode) Jesse. Ryan's been wanting to record a podcast about House for ages, but he really wanted to do it with someone who'd never seen it before and had no idea what they were in for. Jesse is a big theater geek, so they were very much into the film and they contribute a great deal to the ensuing dialogue.
Talking points for this one include House's abrupt tonal shifts, its subtextual cues to World War II, the storytelling's byzantine approach to feminine exploitation, and how Obayashi's background in filming commercials influenced his creative choices for the film.
