I have no idea how to rate this film.

House (not rated)
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This is one of the weirdest, most surreal movies I've ever seen. It's a Japanese film (aka "Hausu") that came out in 1977 (when I was just one year old). I first saw it in 2021. I guess you could call it an "experimental" film. It uses all manner of camera tricks and visual effects, and somewhat disjointed storytelling. It's become a cult classic, and I can definitely see why. It's totally bizarre and impossible to adequately explain. You just have to see it for yourself.

It begins with two teenage schoolgirls called Gorgeous and Fantasy talking about various things, including their plans for summer vacation, which is coming up in a week. Gorgeous is planning on going on a trip with her father, while Fantasy and five of their friends (Mac, Sweet, Melody, Kung Fu, and Prof) are planning on going on a trip with a teacher named Mr. Togo. But when Gorgeous's father comes home from working in Italy, he brings with him a woman named Ryoko, who is either his fiancée or already his wife, I wasn't clear on that point. (The father just said she was going to be Gorgeous's mother.) Her real mother had died eight years ago, and Gorgeous's father is ready to move on, obviously, but Gorgeous is not. She refuses to go on a trip with Ryoko, and instead writes to her aunt (just called "Auntie") who lives in the country, asking if she and her friends can come to stay with her for the summer. (Gorgeous had only met Auntie once, when she was six years old.) Oh, and the trip the other six girls were planning on fell through, too. Mr. Togo plans to join them, but a ridiculous mishap causes him to miss the train, so he'll have to drive there; he doesn't arrive until near the end of the movie. Ryoko is also planning to go to Auntie's house to try to bond with Gorgeous. She doesn't arrive until the very end of the movie.

Anyway, at first the girls are all happy to meet Auntie, but after awhile, horrifying things begin happening. One by one, the girls are all killed in bizarre ways. Oh yeah, and there's a fluffy white cat named Blanche. And... I'm not sure what else I can possibly say about the plot. The movie is part comedy and part horror, and all redonkulous. There's also a bit of inappropriate nudity. But I can only think the only real reason to see the movie is for its visual and narrative weirdness, which is fully intentional. (You can't quite enjoy it ironically, as you would if a movie were unintentionally bad. But I'd say any enjoyment of it is at least ironic-adjacent.) It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like weird movies, this one achieves that description brilliantly.


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