BLURAY REVIEW: HOUSE: TWO STORIES

Shane | 5 June 2017 | Reply

BLURAY REVIEW: HOUSE: TWO STORIES
MVD Visual
April 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7/10 and 5/10

Made cheaply and with a tongue firmly in cheek, the first two HOUSE films are paragons of the 1980’s schlock horror genre.

William Katt stars in the original 1985 film as Vietnam Vet horror author Roger Cobb, who moves into his Aunt’s creaky old mansion after she hangs herself. He’s hoping to write his war memoirs, but it’s the same house where his son went missing years before, destroying his marriage to soap star Sandy Sinclair (played by Kay Lentz) – and now inhabited by headfuck zombies. Neighbour Harry Gorton – Cheers star George Wentz – and a succession of cut price horror special effects reminiscent of 1970’s Doctor Who monsters – provide comic relief.

House is amusing rather than funny, and hilarious rather than scary, with Katt doing his level best to provide dramatic weight to the low budget shenanigans.

Extras include a great new documentary which details every aspect of the production, emphasising how the movie’s ambitions far exceeded its budget, leading to it becoming something of a cult classic.

House II is another story – literally. The new owners of the house contend with reanimated corpses and demons in search of an Aztec skull… or something like that. Where I was inventive and funny and did wonders for its budget, II is cheap and tacky and only funny by mistake.