Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Better Late Then Never

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

WOW!!! what a fun ride HOUSE is, a perfect blend of Horror & Comedy. I grew up watching the Evil dead trilogy & hundreds of other creature features such as Critters & Ghoulies & Many Many more but never got to see any of the HOUSE movies until recently as i FINALLY found a cheap dvd on eBay on the first House (1985) & I've fallen in love with this gem of a fun Horror!!! Wish i got around to watching this when i was a kid it would have been one of my favourite movies!!! But hey it is now!!! Don't need to talk about all the plot & stuff as many already have so I'm just talling you all ENJOY this CLASSIC or at least i hope you do & this is coming from an old school Horror fan!!! Honestly 10/10 for amazing monster designs & real fun humour that works perfectly & a BRILLIANT performance from the main star WILLIAM KATT!!!! loved this film & gonna watch it many more times & again & again lol great fun

After just listening to the podcast Shockwaves for weeks rave about the new House Bluray set of its franchise AND interviewing the producer/owner Sean S. Cunningham, I decided to visit the House(s.)It helps listening to all they had to say plus the interview because it was nice to pick up on the little details planted in the movie, like a Diet Coke® that Cunningham loves drinking and the "Craven" realty company due to Cunningham's (pretty much) start and admiration/friendship with Wes.The movie has some major tonal shifts that were more unsettling than some of the scenes in the movie. Most of the movie is straight horror, albeit just a haunted house story, while a good chunk is absolute slapstick humor which I did laugh out loud a couple of times. But often it went from deadly serious where I thought a character really couldn't come back from what he did to The Three Stooges-level jokes. Plus, some of the most outrageous things happen with the least amount of shock a normal person would have, namely from kids and our lead.But, the story of a divorced writer moving back into his Aunt's house where he grew up and immediately experiences the paranormal activity his Aunt warned about, was a tad fun to watch. He's also haunted about his vanished son and his numerous (shot-in-someone's-backyard) Vietnam flashbacks. If you don't take a lick seriously, enjoy the hilarious neighbor, NORM!, er, George Wendt and try to separate William Katt from The Greatest American Hero – which I found VERY hard to do, you'll probably have some fun here. ***Final thoughts: Along with the Diet Coke® and Craven realty, I also loved Don't Look in the Basement showing on the tele in one scene. When I was a kid and surely not allowed to watch horror movies, I would cherish my late night TV in my room and watch horror movies alone, unbeknownst to my parents. One I never got out of my head was: Don't Look in the Basement. That movie haunted me for years.Finally rewatched it as an adult years ago and yeah, it's a sh|t movie with a $5 budget, but for a 8-9 year old back in the early 80s, it was stuff nightmares were made of. I am proof of that.

I am glad to see this got a good ratting. 6.2 is good. But still this such great movie the 6.2 is underrating it. This a 10. It has great acting. It also has great special effects. It also has a great story line. It is very scary. It is scarier then The Exorcist. And that is not easy to do. Carrie is a great movie but it is not William Katt's best movie. This is. This is Steve Miner's best film to. Share some of the more popular films like Halloween H2O or Friday the 13th II or Friday the 13th III or Lake Placid were good movies. But this is better. This is one of the scariest movies of all time. If you like good horror movies see this movie.

Richard Cobb (William Katt) is a famous horror novelist and Vietnam vet. He has just inherited his aunt's large house after a suicide. He moves into the home in order to work on his new book about his experiences in Vietnam. At first things go well and he meets his sexy neighbor, Tanya, and the good-natured Harold Gorton. Things quickly go badly as he's confronted with a monster in the closet and hallucinates his ex-wife who then turns into a monster. Richard is continually confronted with flashbacks from Vietnam and the memories of his disappeared son. He's eventually able to find a secret portal into another dimension where his son was being held. He's able to defeat "Big Ben" his army-buddy-turned-monster and rescue his son. I really like the Motown soundtrack. It keeps things relaxed and fun - what a good horror movie is. I also like the haunted house atmosphere and that it isn't a slasher. It feels like it could be based on "Tales from the Crypt" and is a good example of what imagination can do for horror films. The monsters and comedic elements (babysitting, soap-opera, and neighbor Harold) make a good combination.It's obviously a vapid tale, and nowhere near as good as many of the horror masterpieces. I still liked it and it's a recommend to any horror fan.