‘Damn! Come back from the grave and ran out of ammunition…‘
I spend a lot of time deeply enshrined in the world of horror. I was interrupted from writing this article because the postman had popped round with my VHS copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors – recently purchased from eBay. Reader, I don’t own a VHS player. This horror obsession also means that I spend hours at a time listening to numerous horror podcasts. While the ’80s were fertile ground for the horror franchise with Freddy, Jason, Chucky and Pinhead all thriving, House is one of the more forgotten franchises of the era. Let’s jump in…
Roger Cobb (William Katt) is a successful writer who moves into his recently departed Aunt’s home to finish his Vietnam novel. The titular house was also the site of the disappearance of Roger’s son Jimmy years before. The house is also full of weird creatures and ghosts. And Norm (George Wendt) from Cheers lives next door. There is a lot going on in this house is the takeaway from all of this madness.
House reunites producer Sean S. Cunningham, director Steve Miner and composer Harry Manfredini – all of whom had worked on Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, and it is clear that this nightmarish oddity was attempting to emulate the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street a year previous. While House never quite nails the horror-comedy hybrid that it is aiming for, it is still visually innovative, fitfully funny (particularly with the interplay between Katt and Wendt) and gleefully crazy. Indeed, Katt is great generally as the hapless protagonist having already cut his horror teeth with a starring role in Carrie and his performance combined with the often spectacular practical effects make up for the cheesier moments – of which there are admittedly many. But that’s part of the fun.
House is not a classic. It’s not even a classic within the horror genre. But it is a lot of fun. It also has three sequels and a remake coming out in 2024. Happy days.