This movie is witnessing a nightmare on screen. And it is a visceral, visual experience like nothing I have ever seen (seriously).
To try and explain the genre of this movie would be a challenge, as it seems to change from scene to scene and even from character to character. But ultimately, I’d argue it is a campy horror film, with some Japanese influence (with some tropes you might seen in some anime today). As a campy horror, it has some hilarious moments.
The first thing that stood out to me is that House does things that I have never seen a film do. The cinematography choices, and the editing choices, all made watching this movie the most jarring experience possible.
Jump cuts, time dilations, frame removal, adding in different angles are just a small taste of the chaos you will witness. House breaks all the rules.
The biggest question mark surrounding any film that makes choices like this is were these choices intentional? Do they add anything to the film?
In the case of House, I would say it’s impossible to argue that these choices were not intentional. And they definitely help the film tell the story it is trying to tell.
Let me be clear: this movie does not have a “message” in the traditional sense. Rather, it is trying to illustrate a nightmare on screen: the jarring and illogical bits of the movie mirror the jarring-ness and illogical-ness of a nightmare. At the end of the day, this movie is an experience, and it should be viewed as such.
Cincinnati, OH
Co-host of 'Why is This a Thing?' and 'Fantasy Book of the Month' Podcast. Coffee lover, cat-dad, fantasy nerd and workaholic.
