Comments on: Possibly The Best Film Ever…

By: Bob Turnbull

Bob Turnbull — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:37:35 +0000

A great review from Dennis Cozzalio...

By: Bob Turnbull

Bob Turnbull — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:29:26 +0000

Thanks Eric, I was about to post that same link…And skip the craptastic version – you’ll just end up buying the proper version anyway.

Andrew, if this is playing in Minneapolis this weekend, get your butt in one of the seats for it. Report back here.

Matt, glad to see another fan. And you’re right – this movie isn’t just ahead of its time…it’s from a totally different time, place and planet. I can only imagine being a young filmmaker seeing this for the first time back in the 70s. I’ve got to see if I can dig up any interviews talking about the influence it had.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:49:27 +0000

Courtesy of Janus Films’ website, here’s where you can see “House”:
http://www.janusfilms.com/house/dates.html

By: Matt Gamble

Matt Gamble — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:36:54 +0000

There is a print of this playing in Minneapolis this weekend.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:16:21 +0000

Good call. Ishii MUST have seen Hausu 5 times.

At Fantastic Fest Hausu was described as “not scripted by humans”, to which was added, “it’s so awesome that you probably won’t survive a single viewing–sorry!” And after THAT buildup we all still sat in rapt attention, alternately slack-jawed and howling with laughter at what we saw. It’s as if the director came from an alternate universe where movies don’t exist, so someone explained the general idea to him and he made this. Most of our beverages went unsipped, because the movie is built to inspire spit-takes. It’s beyond belief.

You can get a craptastic home-burned DVD here: http://www.lostsilver.com/movies/H/House.html
But honestly it’s worth the wait for a better quality disc, I think. It’s on the fest/arthouse circuit now, and I can’t recommend seeing it with a crowd enough. Complete strangers were high-fiving and talking for hours afterward.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:48:02 +0000

Bob, I fully agree it is possibly one of the best films ever. For something that was at the time so visually groundbreaking and so inspirational to numerous other filmmakers, its a surprise its been hidden away for so long. I’ve tried my best to describe it to people, but as you said, words can’t do it justice. I just mutter incoherently. I still can’t wrap my head around the insanity.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:13:45 +0000

I find it interesting when Criterion goes for straight up genre wackiness (Equinox or even Haxan for instance). Should get a lot of folks who would otherwise pass on this type of film to pay attention…

By: Bob Turnbull

Bob Turnbull — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:48:37 +0000

Thanks Kurt…Yeah, if I had been more on the ball, I would have mentioned your exact point about the obvious influence on Funky Forest, Taste Of Tea, Survive Style 5+, etc. I’ll dig around and see if I can find any interviews from Ishii, Sekiguchi, etc.

Mike, I don’t believe there is currently a Region 1 version of this available…But hopefully a Criterion release happens sooner rather than later.

By: Mike Cavaliere

Mike Cavaliere — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:15:16 +0000

Man, those stills look amazing – in the craziest, most Are You Afraid of the Dark?-meets-David Lynch way possible.

Netflix has to get its act together and pick this up!

By: Kurt Halfyard

Kurt Halfyard — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:22:58 +0000

First off, Welcome aboard Bob!

Secondly, those screen caps are awesome, and I wonder if they are part of the inspiration for the tone of both of Katsuhito Ishii’s films (A Taste of Tea, Funky Forest), because I’m getting a big vibe, even if this film is a totally different ‘genre.’ than Ishii’s work.