House

Friday, February 17 - Saturday, February 25, 2023

DCP Projection

Ad-man extraordinaire Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 head-trip is part psychedelic ghost yarn, part stream-of-consciousness bedtime story, part Scooby Doo by way of Dario Argento. The hallucinatory tale centers on a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home, where she comes face to face with evil spirits, bloodthirsty pianos, and a demonic housecat.

At once absurd and nightmarish, HOUSE is “steeped in the imperturbable illogic of a child’s dreams” (Ryan Turek, ComingSoon.net). And no wonder—the director fashioned the script after the eccentric musings of his eleven-year-old daughter, then employed all the tricks in his analog arsenal (mattes, animation, collage and more) to make them a visually astonishing, raucous reality.

“My language cannot do justice to [HOUSE]. You’d have to imagine Pee-wee’s Playhouse with a witch that eats schoolgirls, only amped up by a factor of 100.” – David Edelstein, New York Magazine

“Shot with so much visual panache and mid-70s excess that it comes off like Ringu on a Pixy Stix-fueled hug-a-thon … a brain-rattling delight.” – Austin Chronicle

“Insanely entertaining … For connoisseurs of the bizarre, HOUSE’s revival is long overdue.” – Seattle Times

“[An] effects-saturated dreamscape… Obayashi crams every scene of House with giddy, gaudy visual excess; it’s like Douglas Sirk on acid.” – Seattle Weekly

Previously as part of our Winter 2022 series, “Waverly Midnights: Late-Night Favorites.” 

  • Country Japan
  • Language In Japanese with English subtitles.
  • Year 1977
  • Running Time 88 minutes
  • Distributor Janus
  • Director Nobuhiko Obayashi

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.