Why the insane Japanese horror movie ‘Hausu’ is the perfect pick to watch this Halloween
Japanese cinema has a reputation for being a little insane, with the work of filmmakers such as Takashi Miike, Shunichiro Miki and Hitoshi Matsumoto certainly feeding into this notoriety. Whilst some may consider it too easy to sneer at such classics as Ichi the Killer, Funky Forest and R100, these audacious titles represent a willingness in Japanese cinema to boldly go where no filmmaker has gone before.
Using cinema like a toy in a sandbox, Japanese cinema is experimental and endlessly creative, often subverting ideas of genre and convention entirely, such as in the celebrated 1977 movie Hausu by director Nobuhiko Obayashi. A psychedelic trip like no other, featuring a flurry of animation, surreal violence and enigmatic Japanese energy, Obayashi’s film has become a classic of cult cinema.
Possessing a bizarre energy that is equal parts unnerving and hilarious, as if the stoned version of Ringu’s omnipotent haunted videotape, Obayashi suffuses his world with a mix of vivid hand-drawn animation and surreal cinematic choices to take the viewer on a dance of phantasmagorical absurdity.
You’ll quickly realise that the story for this curious 1977 masterpiece is peripheral as you make your way down the path of this bewitching gem. Still, for what it’s worth, it all follows the story of a group of seven schoolgirls who travel to one of their aunt’s country homes for a weekend of fun. What starts like an innocent, slightly offbeat take on a sweet chick flick with friends Gorgeous, Kung Fu, Prof, Fantasy, Mac, Sweet and Melody quickly turns into a surreal horror pastiche as they get picked off one by one by a carnivorous house in the country.
Creating a funhouse of horror, Obayashi’s film is endlessly playful, manipulating the physical and virtual worlds of cinema to treat its audience to a carnival of cinematic splendour. Switching and jostling as if it were indeed alive, the house moves with the same bonkers energy as Sam Raimi’s shack in Evil Dead II or Dick and Dom’s Bungalow (if you want a really niche reference), sharing the same sense of innate childish exuberance.
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s sugar-hyped curiosity is made a little clearer when considering that it came into existence following a conversation he had with his pre-teen daughter Chigumi Obayashi. Seeking out her ideas with the belief that adults “only think about things they understand…everything stays on that boring human level…children can come up with things that can’t be explained,” as stated in the booklet for the Criterion copy of the film, Obayashi made sure to include many of her unique ruminations.
The violent mirror, watermelon-turned-human head, and very concept of the cannibalistic house each made it into the final film as original ideas from the director’s daughter. Wishing for a totally unabashed creative vision that took inspiration from various sources, Obayashi makes a unique scrapbook of surrealism that remains unmatched in its vision to this day.
Getting to sleep will not be a problem after taking a visit to Obayashi’s Hausu, but unlike other frivolous horror frights, this hypnotic tale will float around in your subconscious, ready to rear its beautiful head at the most curious of times.
