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S3.E18: House (1985) – Trauma, Monsters & One of the Weirdest ‘80s Horror Films
42 Plays2 months ago
We’re back with another cult favorite—House (1985)! This bizarre blend of haunted house chills, creature effects, and offbeat comedy is one of the strangest horror films to come out of the ‘80s—and tonight we’re breaking it all down. Tim, Johnathan, and special guest Rook dive into the story, direction, effects, and legacy of House. From its over-the-top creature designs to its unexpected themes of grief and trauma, this is a film that deserves another look. And as always—you can shape the average score. Submit your own review and see how your take impacts the final average at the end of the episode! ✨ Be part of the conversation! Submit your own score here: 👉 https://tr.ee/iGtZ-DpOO6 📚 Want more horror? Check out our books on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/bUtniBd 🎧 Check out our friends at Zencastr and get 30% off your first 3 months of Zencastr Pro: 👉 https://zen.ai/theaveragereviews 📖 Enjoy $5.00 off your first purchase when you use Tim Umpleby’s code “TIMOTHYREADS” at checkout: 👉 https://pangobooks.com/TIMOTHYREADS ⸻ 👻 Topics Covered: – Why House is more than just a horror comedy – Practical effects & bizarre creature design – PTSD and trauma hiding under the comedy – Where it stands in ‘80s horror history – The strange legacy of the House franchise ⸻ 💬 Don’t forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe to help us keep building this horror-loving community. #House1985 #80sHorror #TheAverageReviews #CultClassic #CreatureFeature #HorrorPodcast #RetroHorror #HorrorCommunity #FilmDiscussion
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Transcript
Harold's Awkward Introduction to Roger
00:00:33
Speaker
pretty, huh? No. Hi. Howdy, neighbor. Just move in? Yeah, last night. Harold Gorton. Hi, Roger. Roger.
00:00:43
Speaker
Well, I'll tell it's great have a new neighbor. Woman lived here before you was nuts. Biggest bitch under the sun. Just a senile old hag, really. Wouldn't be surprised if someone just got fed up in Oscar, you know what mean?
00:00:57
Speaker
She was my aunt. Heart of gold, though.
Podcast Hosts and Their Surprise Guest
00:01:29
Speaker
What an intro, gotta love it. Welcome back, horror family. You're tuned into The Average Reviews. I'm Jonathan. And I'm Tim, and I surprised him with that intro
Analysis of 'House' - A Unique Horror Comedy
00:01:40
Speaker
tonight. He had no idea it was coming.
00:01:41
Speaker
And tonight we are talking about one of the strangest, more inventive horror comedies, 1980s, House.
00:01:51
Speaker
Tonight we are joined by my buddy Rook. You haven't met him yet, but we already recorded a Halloween episode with him and had a blast. Rook, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for having me back, guys. Hot dog. Yeah, excited to have you.
00:02:04
Speaker
Sweet. So this one's got everything. Haunted house chills, creature effects that belong on heavy metal album covers, and a story that sneaks in some surprisingly heavy themes about grief and trauma.
00:02:16
Speaker
What's wild is this movie came from Sean S. Cunningham. Yeah, the guy behind Friday the 13th part two and three, and three is the one that gave Jason his famous mask.
00:02:30
Speaker
It even stars William Catt, George Wendt, and Richard Moll, making it feel almost like a sitcom crashed into a nightmare. We're covering it now because in two weeks we're diving straight into House 2, the second story, one of my favorites, which is totally different in tone, more of a goofy fantasy horror.
Upcoming '13 Nights of Halloween' Series Announcement
00:02:49
Speaker
It's the perfect double feature to set us up as we gear up for October. Consider this the warm-up lap before we go full throttle into 13 Nights of Halloween. And once October hits Horror Family, you know time it is.
00:03:03
Speaker
Going into that 13 nights of Halloween, we're going to be having that daily release countdown all the way to Halloween itself. This year's theme is folk horror. We're talking wicker men, pagan rituals, cursed woods, and all the unsettling, earthy, bone deep kind of horror that sticks with you.
00:03:22
Speaker
So make sure you're along for the ride. We'll be dropping a new episode every single day starting October 19th, and you don't want to miss it.
00:03:31
Speaker
But tonight it's all about house. We want you in the chat with us, or even if you're catching this on replay, let us know your thoughts, share your own score and be part of the conversation.
Interactive Engagement Encouraged for 'House'
00:03:43
Speaker
And hey, it's always better if you've watched it recently because there's a lot to unpack in this one.
00:03:51
Speaker
So grab your popcorn, settle in and let's open the door to house. Woohoo. All right. Yeah. who Who's going Jonathan you want to kick off the chats tonight you good with that sure and I'm good with that All right So we started off with story I'm trying to pull up my notes here real quick All
00:04:19
Speaker
right, so starting with the story how unique compelling and original is the story you just watched so with this one We've got a guy who's a popular author, married to a movie star, and their son goes missing in his aunt's house.
Themes of Vietnam War and Missing Child in 'House'
00:04:36
Speaker
And she claims it's the house that took the child, ah which all of that combined results in his divorce from his famous wife and him trying to struggle with his own emotions and his past with Vietnam War, as well as the disappearance of their child.
00:04:54
Speaker
um that's that's a pretty rad story. you know that's That's not something you really get a lot of when it comes to horror and the themes of like Vietnam War um and you know missing children kind of a situation. so This one is pretty awesome.
00:05:11
Speaker
You get to see some some great characters from a lot of good stuff. um there's just There's so much more to it. so What do you guys want to say about it? and The whole time I just kept waiting for for cat to transform into his greatest American hero outfit and save the day.
William Catt's Nostalgic Role in 'House'
00:05:31
Speaker
It just didn't happen though. But seeing him in this role was great.
00:05:39
Speaker
He also famously took Carrie White to prom. Oh, that's right. Yeah, so great, great American hero. And he took Carrie to prom. So he's no stranger to the horror movies, but it is fun to see him in this role.
00:05:56
Speaker
It is in the story. i like what you said about the Vietnam thing, because it really compiled a bunch of things that a lot of people face in real life that are scary. ah First of all, going to any war is frightening.
00:06:08
Speaker
Second of all, you know, he's writing a book about losing his battle buddy, or at least in this part of the book, you know, he's struggling writing, losing his battle buddy there. And then he comes back and he loses his kid.
00:06:20
Speaker
ah Those odds are rough. he This dude might want to start playing the lotto. you that three Marriage and the marriage falls apart. And then, you know, he loses his aunt and his aunt, you know, cock off her cuckoo puffs.
00:06:34
Speaker
in this house. But it's it's it was a it was a good story. the the writing made it a little strange, but the story was good.
00:06:46
Speaker
So i'll I'll get to the writing when we when we get to script, because I agree with you.
PTSD Explored in 'House' Through Vietnam Flashbacks
00:06:52
Speaker
ah The story, I think the idea behind the story is pretty unique. That kind of journey through ah PTSD really having flashbacks while writing his story and us kind of seeing that as both in literal flashbacks and in demonic story something oppressing him it's unique I can't think of another movie off the top of my head especially from the 80s that really kind of juggles that heavy thematic elements and that
00:07:29
Speaker
Even this is one where like even missing the child, he's got a lot going against him. He's missing his son, divorce, PTSD, and people don't seem to be all that excited about his book coming out because they want a horror novel, not right recounting his story.
00:07:48
Speaker
um
00:07:51
Speaker
To me, there's almost too much going on with him. Let's just let's tone one of them back. Like maybe he didn't miss his son. Okay. And it's still a compelling story. You still have that PTSD stuff going on, but somehow this house that he inherits from his aunt is filled with like alternate dimensions and other paranormal stuff.
Unique Haunted House Depicted in 'House'
00:08:15
Speaker
It is just, it's way more than a haunted house story. I actually struggle to call it a haunted house story, even though that's what it is.
00:08:25
Speaker
it It doesn't have that familiar creaking doors and things that go bump in the night. Yeah, it's it's almost like each person that lives in the house haunts it themselves because the house just manifests your insecurities.
00:08:39
Speaker
ah You know, it it takes control of your paranoia and it in it drives you crazy with it.
00:08:47
Speaker
That's a good point. It would have been nice to like figure like to get some kind of backstory on why the house is like that, how it came to be in such a situation. especially after his aunt having lived in it so long and it only taking up until she's an old lady first shit to go batshit crazy with her.
00:09:04
Speaker
Maybe they should make that. They should make a prequel, House, the groundbreaking story. Yeah, where we actually discover where a lot of this came from. the I'd tune in. Can we bring Sean back? Is he dead?
00:09:19
Speaker
i don't think he's dead.
00:09:26
Speaker
No, he's not dead. We can bring him back. We can, he can do this. Yeah. So for me, if I'm already, if we're ready to to score it, because I have more to say in later parts of the story, um, I think the story is unique.
00:09:44
Speaker
It is at the end of the day, he inherits a haunted house from his aunt. It's just throwing in the twists of the PTSD along with it and kind of wrestling with that while wrestling with a haunted house makes it a little bit unique.
Debate on Story Score and Execution of 'House'
00:10:03
Speaker
The comedy. Yeah, ah yeah I'll get to that part later, too, so I'll save that. But overall, I think the story is good. i give it a three. I give it a three and a five.
00:10:17
Speaker
Okay. What about you, Rook? So I gave it a two. I mean, the score only goes to five. We're talking about originality and things like that. um It just, it was too much. And a lot of what they focused on kind of kind of fell flat.
00:10:34
Speaker
Like I was just like, oh my goodness. Because not only did his son disappear, but his son disappeared under very mysterious circumstances. Yeah. And so that you know you're just like, oh, my goodness.
00:10:47
Speaker
And I think that would have been a good. Opportunity to give us a little bit more of exposition about how the house came about. you Yeah, especially. Because it really ties back to the house. His son disappeared because of the house and doesn't tell us much about it.
00:11:07
Speaker
Right, and then we could have done, i think, with a little bit less of the military flashbacks um because his sense of failure, like he we get the idea that he feels that he failed not only his wife, but his son and losing his son. And then you get the sense that he has the sense of failure for losing his battle buddy.
00:11:31
Speaker
When you look at it, they're all circumstances outside of his control. he's like,
00:11:38
Speaker
it his trauma is real but we could have and too much too much the military flashback stuff for me so I give it a two okay well I liked the story um all the combined elements and everything so ah even though we don't get that that backstory about the house that led to being what it is I still think it's pretty rad and I give it a four right we're i'm gonna tell you we're gonna be all over the place on this one because i can see everybody's scores which it makes it a fun conversation because i don't think i think we all kind of feel the same way we just like internalize it differently the way we see it comes out different on the scorecard so and that speaking of character jonathan do you want to kick off character or do you yeah absolutely so
00:12:33
Speaker
Man, for Roger, man, you you got to feel bad for the guy because, I mean, yeah, at first it's like, OK, he's divorced and he's still dealing with being pissy when we hear him talk to his ex-wife over the phone and she's at an award ceremony.
Roger's Character Arc - A Deep Dive
00:12:48
Speaker
But then you get more into the story about his son going missing at the house and his crazy aunt, you know, and to be like, oh the house took him and nobody believing that shit. And just, you know the breakdown of his family over all of it.
00:13:01
Speaker
it sucks so bad and you know he's at a pretty bad low point trying to figure out what he's gonna do and even though he's a famous horror writer he wants to do a different he wants to go in a different direction he wants to write his memoirs but nobody wants to take it seriously which you know that's that sucks pretty hard you know that that'll put you down in it for a minute and when you're a veteran and you're all alone d you know in a house where your aunt killed herself you know, and you got your neighbor looking out for even though he's a fan, kind of a fan boy, and it's kind of weird, and you don't want to be bothered.
00:13:32
Speaker
But, you know, build a friendship, guy looks like worried for him, he's like, oh, this guy's trying to kill himself, maybe, because, you know, here's a gunshot go off, police show up, they investigate, like, oh my God, what's going on this guy?
00:13:44
Speaker
It's tough situation, but then getting over his fears and his insecurities and everything that goes on, they're projecting at him, that's pretty That's pretty big for for a veteran with PTSD, man, to to overcome that and to face your fears and to face his dead battle buddy yeah who is responsible ultimately, according to the House projections, for taking his kid and putting him in the situation that he's in.
00:14:12
Speaker
you know Overcoming that, getting his kid back, kicking ass all day every day, you know that's that's pretty sweet, man. I give a lot of kudos to him on that. So I think pretty highly on Roger Cobb.
00:14:24
Speaker
And despite all the other characters, he's the only person who really has an arc. Everyone's just kind of there. you can't really say much about others when it comes to growth as a character.
00:14:36
Speaker
i agree. It was very much one-person
Neighbor's Actions - Concern or Privacy Invasion?
00:14:38
Speaker
show. He is the only one that has any sort of arc because the neighbor is some sort of wackadoodle out of way out of left field. but This guy shows up at midnight, doesn't knock on the door, doesn't ring the bell, and is bringing food.
00:14:52
Speaker
Like, hey, I just thought you would like a midnight snack. So I broke into your house. Yeah. Thanks, Norm. Jeez. Oh, my goodness. That was crazy.
00:15:03
Speaker
But yeah, he's the ah yeah, the the Robert character was the only one that I had that had any sort of movement at all.
00:15:12
Speaker
I like how Norm, Norm ah inserts himself into his business. Like you said, he just shows up at midnight or he's like, Hey, I'm calling. I stole your husband's phone book basically. And I'm calling you his ex-wife to let you know something's going on.
00:15:29
Speaker
Like, is that a good friend or is that invasion of privacy? I mean, he stole property to be able to make that call. It's not like they were on close enough terms to agree to that, but.
00:15:41
Speaker
I think it's i think at this point he was justified in his concern. I just don't know that they were close enough for that to be going on.
00:15:55
Speaker
Brooke, did you have more to say about it? and know you I think you nailed it down. Just a very strange neighbor. And i think whoever did the writing for him was just like, oh, he'll just show up with some treats at midnight.
00:16:08
Speaker
I will say as far as characters go, though, the hot neighbor lady. The hot neighbor. I was kind of pissed off with her, dude. Like, she comes up. Oh, yeah, you're going to just use the pool whenever.
00:16:18
Speaker
know, though she's dead now, I don't really permission. I'm going to come over or do it anyway. And then, like, tries to be seductive and be like, oh, we should hang out sometime, blah, blah, blah. And then shows up looking great and is like, oh, here, watch my kid for me while I go on a date.
00:16:29
Speaker
it's like dude that's an asshole move that is an asshole move really i was gonna say that was a great character arc for her because they tease her as like the love interest that's gonna replace the ex-wife he's thirsting after his neighbor hard the scene in the opening when he's just standing at the end of the driveway staring at her run like i'm like oh yeah this is this is no uh can you watch my kid thanks bye like night i do butthole yeah it's a jerk move of her but i liked the subversion there i did enjoy that uh like somewhere there was a dartboard and they were like all right we'll have the neighbors show up at midnight with snacks and then the hot girl's gonna oh she's gonna swim the pool next door and then babysit babysit her kid yeah and let and not let the kid die in the house
00:17:24
Speaker
Yep. And for some reason, she doesn't know anything about any of the trouble next door. None. She didn't hear the gunshot go off. She must have been on a date. She must have been on a date.
00:17:36
Speaker
Should have been. As far as Rob's arc goes, I feel like, I mean, he finds his son.
00:17:47
Speaker
I guess he like overcomes the PTSD by facing the, uh, soldier zombie at the end. i think that is, I think that's less literal than it is kind of the metaphorical PTSD that he's wrestling with that guilt from his past.
00:18:06
Speaker
Uh, what I need to really love his arc at the end. is I want to know his book did well. I want to know he finished. I want to know he finished it.
Missed Character Development Opportunities
00:18:16
Speaker
It was published and it connected with people because they set it up at the beginning that he's a well loved horror writer and people aren't excited to hear his true story.
00:18:27
Speaker
So to see that full arc I would have liked something past and a lot of movies at this time do it. They just end like, hey, we got the kid back. The wife showed up the end. Like, no, that's not really the end based on what you told Yeah. Give us like a one year later and show us a line of like veterans wrapped around a bookstore waiting for autographs. Not only did his book do well, but it's now reached its target community, other veterans that are in pain.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. You know, join his journey and and, you know, walk beside him on the page and help, you know, help guide them through some therapy. No, exactly. I think that would be the thing that helps even seal my enjoyment of the movie a little bit more.
00:19:16
Speaker
It just ends. And I feel like I'll get into it in the script again. But I do. What? We got robbed. ah but I just feel like we are missing... like If we had not focused on the missing son,
00:19:34
Speaker
or the divorced wife and just focus on a veteran struggling with this in a haunted house. That's still a compelling and a gripping story. Or how about this? Give us it.
00:19:46
Speaker
Get rid of the the hot neighbor. Not really needed. You could have made the ex wife. They broke up, but they have the kid, but it's his turn to watch the kid or something. And she's got to go to these music awards. So she's dressed all sexy and whatnot.
00:19:59
Speaker
And you still have the trouble of a child being in this haunted house. Yeah, taken. You still have the exact story. Yeah, there Two characters and one the kid and then you get rid of the hot chick. But whatever, you know, the the wife was not bad looking either. So that's still that's still worked out. We still we still got the hot chicken.
00:20:22
Speaker
ah But yeah, I think They tried to do too much with it, and I think that ultimately takes away from his character arc. Not majorly, he still overcomes, like I said.
00:20:34
Speaker
I just wish it wasn't so cartoonish in that like his overcoming is defeating a zombie version of his friend. But I guess that's supposed to be the humor.
00:20:46
Speaker
So i I ended up giving the character... for this movie a three. I thought it was a good arc. It's not not great, not amazing.
00:20:58
Speaker
I think it's a three.
00:21:04
Speaker
i I gave it a one. i love your honesty. that's Well, I gave it a one because i know we're going to get into the writing later, but his story arc was good, but his lines and the way everything was delivered, like the director took that actor and could have had so much better out of him, but they settled for whatever we get on screen.
00:21:30
Speaker
And the the lines that are written with their delivery, you're like, is this part of the humor or this the horror? It's like because the lines are just like, you know, when when she's just dumping that child off on him, you're like, people don't talk like this. Like, this isn't believable dialogue. I've never even had an experience where someone was trying to force anything like this on me.
00:21:55
Speaker
But I often don't drop their children off with me either, though. So know not not to be watched, you know, maybe i just met you. So here, look, look after my kid for a while. Yes. Right. But I couldn't see that happening. ah Like, i know I know it's a fantasy show, but give me a little
Critique of Dialogue Realism
00:22:14
Speaker
bit.
00:22:14
Speaker
ah Bring me in. scare me after I'm secure in your little mythos. Give me some familiarity to sink into and lounge back on before you give me anything frightening to look at or psychologically scary to think about. But they didn't everything in this film had to be scary, including the dialogue.
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:36
Speaker
Including the dialogue. Yeah, I didn't even think i didn't even think about just Her dropping off the kid, like she just, I was like, yeah, it's the 80s. People just let their kids go all day long and as long as they were back by dark, whatever.
00:22:49
Speaker
But yeah, the she barely knows this guy. It was like, hell, you can watch him for the night, right? Wasn't the kid after he shot his wife or before?
00:23:01
Speaker
After. Yeah, so he just had that shotgun and all the police showing up at his doorstep. But the neighbor must have been gone all day because didn't phase her at all.
00:23:13
Speaker
Right. That's weird. she's just so rich that she's blase about things like that. Police, whatever. Gunshots, a shotgun blast. Sounds like a good place for my son. Yeah, he needs to learn.
00:23:29
Speaker
a School of hard knocks for that kid. That's right. Yep. ah For me, ah with the way that um with the way that Roger faces his fears, faces the house and the evil and overcomes that and gets past the shit, despite everything else, still kicks ass to me. So I'm I'm given character for.
00:23:51
Speaker
OK. Now, you were kidding. we We were all over the place on this. We are. i didn No, I was not kidding. I think it's more fun when we just a weird way. I think it's more fun when we disagree.
00:24:05
Speaker
sure So the that takes us to music and sound design.
Music and Sound Design - Blending Horror and Comedy
00:24:10
Speaker
So I did have a couple of things to say about this one. ah The composer real quick and then Jonathan, I know you've been going first, but can I jump in?
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah, get out of here. Go for it Harry Manfredini, who was already famous for his Friday the 13th score, did the score for this one. I personally think the original Friday the 13th score is a blatant ripoff of Psycho.
00:24:39
Speaker
So I don't necessarily love Harry Manfredini's Friday the 13th score, even though I love the Friday the 13th movies.
00:24:50
Speaker
i But he tries to balance like almost comical slapstick music with horror music as well. um It leans into the exaggerated creature noises with the sound effects.
00:25:07
Speaker
It's just a little bit on the chaotic side, and the sound design tries to lean... lean lean into comic cues.
00:25:19
Speaker
Like, oh, here's here's the punchline or site gag. Let's hit that. And outside of that, I think it's a decently composed score.
00:25:31
Speaker
i don't. I know there are people like I'll get flagged. I know people love Manfredini and love his Friday the 13th, but i don't hear a whole lot of original in his music. I hear elements of other things.
00:25:52
Speaker
That's all I had, but i did have to point out that it was Manfredini because he is a legend because of Friday the 13th and the. kick
00:26:03
Speaker
Yep. Yep.
00:26:06
Speaker
Oh, you missed the fact on that one. The the original Jason fact ah at the very end where ah where it makes that sound that the what he's actually saying is mama ma ma ma.
00:26:17
Speaker
Oh, instantly really? That's not that supposedly that's that's one of the one of the deep cut Jason Friday the 13th trivia facts.
00:26:30
Speaker
Interesting. I don't I don't. For some reason, I didn't know know that. I always knew the the supposedly kill her is what is being said.
00:26:42
Speaker
i don't know. Everybody has their... But Ma makes sense based on who the character is. Yeah. But yeah, bro. i I couldn't pick the theme song of this movie out of anything.
00:26:55
Speaker
I could listen to five songs and couldn't tell you what the theme song was and the sound effects. rough.
00:27:07
Speaker
Very rough. I think someone recorded some stuff with a bad audio recorder and just played it over a boombox. Like it's terrible. I wanted to know if this was the origin of that slappy fish on the wall that sing songs that was huge in the 90s.
00:27:25
Speaker
Was this where they got the idea? Oh, the singing bass. Yeah. Crazy. i was hoping for more with that too. was a swordfish for God's sake.
00:27:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's weird. They never questioned like, why do you have the fish covered up? You know, like why did the cops never ask anything about that? Yeah. The police walk through and don't question the mangled swordfish on the wall.
00:27:48
Speaker
with a buckshot in the in the wall. Yeah, right. They were very so good at being investigative. Yeah. How many times did you clean this gun today, sir? More than you know, buddy.
00:28:00
Speaker
ah I don't recommend cleaning it loaded. that' Right? yeah And this that that's what I meant about the dialogue is like, I don't recommend you clean it loaded. Well, on the front porch before you came inside, he just explained to you how thoroughly good he was with guns.
00:28:17
Speaker
Uh huh. And then here you are going, you shouldn't be cleaning it loaded.
00:28:25
Speaker
So for me with this category, um this i like i like the soundtrack or the score overall. you know Yeah, maybe a little punchy, little rough some parts, but I think it gave, with the comedy aspect to it being a horror film, I think it suited it pretty well.
00:28:41
Speaker
And yeah, love the two classic songs you got in there. You're No Good by Clint Ballard Jr., which is pretty well known and then dedicated to the one I love by Loman Pauling and Ralph Bass. Great songs, classics, you know, kind of hard not to like those unless you just don't like that kind of music.
00:28:56
Speaker
And it kind of helps help set part of the tone of the film. So I really dig that, you know. So I'll give you credit on they use those songs, but every time he's cleaning up the dismembered female ghost thing and that song cuts in it feels so jarring i'm like where is this song from it's also i think it's meant to play for comedy again to have that song in that moment but each time every time i watch it i forget that song's in there and i'm taking back when it comes on so for music and sound design
00:29:33
Speaker
i
00:29:36
Speaker
I gave it a three, I guess it's because I have a soft spot for those 80 synthy composed, composed sounds like I just kind of it's just comforting background noise for me. And so i like it.
00:29:50
Speaker
So I gave it a I gave it a good ah again, I'm not going to sing praises or find this on vinyl, but I think it's all right. I think it's all right. It just didn't feel appropriate to me. I was like, that's okay. more
00:30:09
Speaker
What was your score? zero 0. Oh, you 0. Damn. yeah yeah I didn't enjoy any part of listening to that show. Okay. ah For me, I liked the sound effect parts of it, especially like the effect they put on ah the creature woman's voice and everything when she's talking to him and talking shit.
00:30:28
Speaker
I thought that was cool. The creature effects of like the weird skull bat thing that's flying around when he's hanging from the rope through the the the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. yeah There was some interesting stuff in there.
00:30:39
Speaker
um I have a nice appreciation. i love that 80s cheesy shit, man. i'm I'm all for it. So I get it it with a four. All right. See, we we are all over and Rook don't don't feel bad for the zero. I like i don't feel be bad. It's not my movie. okay Good ah editing and special effects.
00:31:02
Speaker
So this.
00:31:05
Speaker
Jonathan, you want to take it off? I think this is my favorite part of of this film is the special effects.
Practical Effects Praised - 80s Horror Appeal
00:31:12
Speaker
Even though some of it seems kind of like hang by a wire with some of the stuff, like the the part where like all the web like but tools from the shed are floating around and coming after him and shit.
00:31:23
Speaker
And they were therere very polite. I know, right? It's like, no, we're not going to bust this door. We'll just stay confined to this room because you closed the door. Whatever. yeah um yeah Stuff like that, it's it's it's just's fine and all.
00:31:34
Speaker
But like the the makeup effects of this... in this creature the body suit and everything like the hands and everything the way it looks you know even when the the hand is attached to the back of the kid and he's trying to pull it off you know great shit man and like i'm surprised this kid wasn't freaking out even more that some weird shit's grabbing him by the nape of his neck and he's just like trying to pull it off you know and then watching it flush down the toilet still great stuff and then you've got the weird big old creature thing that he tell he tells Norm is a fucking giant raccoon that comes out of the closet yeah trying to claw at him. That massive weird looking pile of messed up shit I thought was great, man. I loved it.
00:32:17
Speaker
That's it's good stuff. about the The thing that came out the closet and scratched him. Yeah. yeah that He had norm he had ah his buddy shoot you know with the harpoon gun. Yeah, the harpoon gun. yeah Man, crazy shit.
00:32:30
Speaker
you know but it's it's It's fun effects. it's it's It's fun stuff. I love that. I think the the creature his wife became. That the the house made her some demonic like, i don't know, tadpole job of the hut mix. I don't know. it was weird because she was exactly demonish toad looking thing.
00:32:53
Speaker
It's gross. It is skin tone. power is, is the movie trying to like, i would would have liked to seen a more monster manifestation of what he thought of her in his psyche oo to have that reflect what she, you know, the kind of monster he thinks she is come out.
00:33:15
Speaker
Uh, and I think we could, if we could have seen that, that would have made that it would have given a little bit more presence to the house, a little bit more,
00:33:23
Speaker
malevolence to the house. This insidious thing is in my mind and it's, you know, it's interpreting how I feel about my wife and putting, you know, putting it out there. creepy.
00:33:36
Speaker
i so that scene. ah
00:33:41
Speaker
That scene is super fascinating to me because i initially I initially think that is his wife showing up and the house tricks him into killing his wife.
Psychological Angles in 'House' - Reality vs. Fantasy
00:33:56
Speaker
I thought the same thing. Yeah. And I actually think that's a better story. I think that that kind of leads into the horror story a little bit more than the happy ending. um And because you still don't know definitively until the end of the film, if that was her or not, other than I guess the demon hand, man I guess that could tell you, but it's still, to me, I was like... Parachute.
00:34:26
Speaker
Yeah, I like the... ah I like the scene when he's got the dismembered body out yard and he's talking to the neighbor and the hand's trying it like I think that scene's fairly funny. I do enjoy that one.
00:34:39
Speaker
ah But the creature effects in this are... I did not realize, and I don't believe it's every scene, but I did not realize that unless the video I watched on YouTube was lying, which is possible.
00:34:54
Speaker
um The zombie soldier at the end was mostly a puppet. There are a couple scenes that it's a man in costume, but mostly it was a giant puppet.
00:35:08
Speaker
And that is nine. Wow. Yeah, that to me is more impressive. If that is true, that is way more impressive. When he's knocking at the door, i definitely see the mouth of the person in the costume moving.
00:35:21
Speaker
I can see that. So I don't think it's every scene. but if the person on youtube was telling the truth then they said it was like an eight foot puppet that took four or five people to puppeteer which makes that puppet a little bit cooler i already thought the effects on that guy were pretty good other than being able to see his teeth inside um had i known that inside behind the row of fake i've maybe scored it i've known about the giant eight foot robot
00:35:53
Speaker
Or a puppet. Yeah, you're allowed to modify. Yeah, you're allowed to modify those scores. You can change it anytime. Well, hey, they don't put that information out there when you view it, so it's getting the honest.
00:36:04
Speaker
No, they don't. They don't. But the... i
00:36:11
Speaker
It kind of looks like a prototype of Jason at some point, honestly, like Sean S Cunningham can't get away from Jason Voorhees because it looks like Jason without a mascot in the later movies.
00:36:22
Speaker
i I actually I saw somebody say and I didn't confirm if this is true, that it was Kane Hodder in there. But Kane played Jason towards the end right of the 80s.
00:36:35
Speaker
And this was pretty early. So I don't think that time lines up. um
00:36:44
Speaker
Actually, I'm checking, but ah the yeah, the wife demon is my least favorite demon. That's my least favorite one. She's so gross looking. She's so like the purple and red and like, oh, she's garish and gaudy.
00:36:59
Speaker
And i I don't know. You were talking about it. If it could kind of be ah manifestation of how he sees her. And I wonder if that's how he sees her.
00:37:10
Speaker
Maybe purple and red are the colors of love and lust. So. yeah So love, lust, and he just sees her as this gaudy, like overly made up wart, basically. Oh, yeah.
00:37:23
Speaker
Which. Or like a weird beauty mark. Yeah. like Yeah. Which is telling. i The weird, like in the dimensional portal and you have those bat flying things. And i'm like, that just reminds me of like,
00:37:40
Speaker
weird ah fantasy movies from the time period where we had those effects that didn't really do anything for me. um But the editing in this is let me find my note. The editing in this was a little bit more.
00:37:55
Speaker
The editing was kind of disoriented, disorientating. And i I want to say that some purpose because the house is supposed to be disorienting.
00:38:08
Speaker
I but I can't say for sure because it's not like executed to the level that I was like, that's what they're going for. It is the pioneers of this effect. Maybe possibly they're just getting into this because I could kind of see it now, which is saying, but I didn't when I'm watching it, I don't see these things.
00:38:26
Speaker
But now that you mentioned it, I'm like, okay. Yeah. That's why that's one of the things we like to highlight is that talking about the movie with your friends. We miss that in today's modern day and age when everybody streams in the privacy of their home.
00:38:41
Speaker
But talking about whatever you just rented off the shelf with your buddies usually improves what you just watched. That's what we try to do. ah But yeah, I think the editing is meant to be a little disorienting because there are moments that are very kind of classically edited, almost sitcom level of editing, like we see with that early scene of Norm.
00:39:06
Speaker
I'm just calling it Norm. Norm and our main character standing in the lawn. That's very classic. But then if we go inside the house, things get a little bit weirder and choppier and you don't always follow exactly.
00:39:20
Speaker
definitely does give you few sense of environments. Yeah, that's true. the
00:39:32
Speaker
yeah ah sure I think I lagged out. The closet monster pushes up. You did. That's okay for me. I thought I did. It's all right. You did. The closet monster pushes out and it's clearly just on a rigging.
00:39:47
Speaker
The wall that that closet's on wobbles a couple times during all of that. But those are things that like, that's that's Tim pickin' as GC says, it's Tim pickin' on it.
00:39:58
Speaker
But I do, I also read that each of the creatures in the film took about three weeks to make. They took almost longer to make these creatures than to make the movie itself.
00:40:09
Speaker
which yeah, which I got to got to respect that time and effort. I do think they're memorable designs, even if I don't like them like you show me that ugly job of the hut with the makeup.
00:40:23
Speaker
I'm going to know that's from house. That is house is creature. ah The soldier. i might be confused a little bit for a moment, but I'm most likely going to get back to house.
00:40:34
Speaker
That's from house. So I do. for the most part, like the editing and special effects for this movie. I got to say, I think it's one of the high points for the film. Well, you also could appreciate how like his aunt, he sees that vision of her and she like jumps to hang herself again. He jumps, he runs after him and she just disappears.
00:40:53
Speaker
That was nice. know that That vanishing effect that was starting to become like a big thing back then. You know, we never see the aunt again, do we? No, you only see her just that at the beginning, the flash when they lose the sun and then that little vanishing act when the house is fucking with him.
00:41:07
Speaker
and What did you think, though, about the two little demon sea children that try to grab the little boy and drag him through the the chimney? To me, they're so minimal.
00:41:18
Speaker
They felt like garbage pail kids. yeah Yeah, they did. And it made me think of that movie. And that was a terrible, terrible movie, too. It is a terrible movie, but it still awesome for for back in the day.
00:41:30
Speaker
Jonathan recommended that for our list. We might need to get that on the list for next year. oh for sure. that That'll be fun. its a It's not meant to be horror, but it's it's it can be scary. that That's what I've heard. you're little watching those figures, yeah, they'll mess you up a little bit because they are fucked.
00:41:48
Speaker
But I like that the kids seem perfectly fine after being abducted by two garbage bill kids and drug up a chimney. Right. So nothing traumatized time.
00:42:00
Speaker
Nothing traumatizes 80s kids, man. They they're tough. They're toughm we're tough. We're tough. The shots. What's that for? the All right. So are we ready to score that one then?
00:42:13
Speaker
Yeah, sure. I am a four on the editing and special effects. I think they did a pretty great job.
00:42:21
Speaker
Oh my goodness. I swung it to eight. That's one of your highest. right so our um It's just some of the some of the effects missed for me. I've like, it felt rushed.
00:42:34
Speaker
Like rushed editing. That's fair. ah ah For me, just because I love my 80s cheese man that I'm a five on it. All right.
00:42:46
Speaker
All right, Jonathan. Okay, so the script, here we go. Here we go. Tim pick time to do it. Here we go. So the original script, I don't remember who the original treatment was by I can probably pull up the IMDB here and see.
Tone Shift - From Dark Script to Humor
00:43:04
Speaker
It had two writers.
00:43:07
Speaker
you original work on this So the original story was Fred Decker wrote the story, I believe. And it was much darker than the movie we got.
00:43:19
Speaker
And so the bones of what we got, the PTSD and the haunted house and all of those elements were much darker in the original screenplay. And then Ethan Wiley comes along and rewrites the screenplay, inserting all the humor.
00:43:35
Speaker
Now he got wily about it. Ah, happy I hear it now. yeah And so that is ultimately, I think, to this film's detriment, because I think what we got is disjointed.
00:43:53
Speaker
I I love a good horror or comedy. One of my favorite movies of all time is the burbs. I kind of think that movie is just about perfect. I think it's so good. ah But that is really sharp dialogue and writing and sight gags and really clever stuff that requires you to pay attention.
00:44:14
Speaker
This I don't know if it's just me. i I laughed twice. One of them is the opening scene when he's like the old hag. Somebody killed a beautiful soul like that, that it's an old joke, but I so I still laugh every time.
00:44:30
Speaker
So there is that scene in the scene talking to the neighbor as she gets out of the pool. Those are the only two times I find it funny. There are other times in this film when so like the scene when he runs out of the house in all of his gear.
00:44:47
Speaker
and is runs out onto the lawn is looking back in the house kind of horrified and norm walks up and is like, you're all right. And he's like, they shrug it off. And I don't know if that's meant to be a joke or if this dude is experiencing a flashback, you know, and it is, it's one of those that tonally doesn't work for me.
00:45:09
Speaker
So I think having the two different writers, one who wrote a interesting story with the, the haunted house and the PTSD and all of this stuff going on.
00:45:22
Speaker
And then someone who came in and tried to make it funny ends up getting this bastardized version of two different movies. and they just kind of hard tried to harmonize it and it doesn't the script doesn't really work for me I couldn't I can't remember any lines from it really i can't remember any jokes from it um I think one of the best scenes in the film is that flashback of when he has to when his buddy is asking him
00:45:57
Speaker
and he can't do it, and then he gets dragged away into the woods. I think that's one of the most, one of the best scenes in the film, because it's gut-wrenching, and it's kind of heartbreaking.
00:46:10
Speaker
And that, to me, is like, that's probably what the original story was. And then we put in a bunch of jokes. So I do think the police scene coming through the house is pretty tense.
00:46:22
Speaker
I think they did a decent, I mean, whether they behave realistically or not, the, you know, there's a body in that closet and I'm waiting for them to get suspicious of it.
00:46:33
Speaker
But I think this, the script is where I have to come down on this movie. I think that is the weakness of this film is the disjointed script.
00:46:46
Speaker
I agree.
00:46:49
Speaker
It's crazy. It felt like, i agree. It felt like they, uh, they put stuff in a blender and kind of patched it back together in some sort of Frankenstein script.
00:47:01
Speaker
Uh, there are parts of the, that probably should have wound up and stayed on the editing floor. yeah.
00:47:09
Speaker
I'm just like, why? Why is this here? What? What part of this vehicle does this serve? Like what's happening? But like the cops having coffee in the house, like, no, no to protect and serve.
00:47:22
Speaker
No, they rolled up on a house with a guy with a gun, for God's sake. And they're like, oh, all sure, I'll come in and have tea and just like, yeah. and So for me, that that goes to the writing and it's just Again, it's it's hard for me to be immersed in your world when, ah yes, I agree this is a fantasy horror, but unless you give me elements to immerse myself in, you're not going to scare me because I'm going to be aware the whole time of just how not real all of this is.
00:47:57
Speaker
And if you constantly remind me in your movie through your dialogue in writing that this is not real, it's never going to be frightening and it's not even going to be funny because it's I mean, written jokes are like really try.
00:48:13
Speaker
It's just very missed for me. Like I don't I don't I don't know. Give me some dicey, dicey dialogue in a horror movie. I don't think you're wrong.
00:48:24
Speaker
i you said something i wanted to comment on and i already forgot it so jonathan go for it so i i get where you're coming from with the whole police thing but you got to take into perspective a little bit here that one of the cops kind of recognizes him or already knows who like was you know they finally recognize oh he's this famous author one other guy knows that his son went missing in that area so there there's that sympathetic angle to it and then they show up at the that the report of a possible suicide attempt and they come upon this guy who's in his battle fatigues as veteran.
00:48:58
Speaker
So there's that sense of concern that even though they're coming in for coffee and seems a little hacky, maybe it's a bit of concern to just make sure kind of a wellness check, stick around for a little bit, just look around, make sure there's no other dangerous elements that would indicate that he may actually try to lead to self-harm.
00:49:14
Speaker
So, you know, I like to think about that a little bit. That's a good spin. I like that you put that spin on it. i You know, I'm going to adopt that. I like that idea. Police doing wellness checks. I like that idea. Yeah, which is not a thing that was really popular back then. like That was not like a wellness checks weren't really a thing with police back then, as far as I could tell.
00:49:35
Speaker
So I think if we if we rewrote a little bit of this movie today, maybe one of the cops could be a veteran himself and maybe empathize and look at his partner and go, hey, maybe we should stick around and make sure this guy is really OK. Let's let's maybe have some coffee with him or whatever.
00:49:52
Speaker
I would have liked to see that dialogue. Yeah, that that could have been a little bit better. for That's already an improvement. The the Jonathan brought it up too. And this was the part that I had to the get back on the script and Tim pick on the script.
00:50:08
Speaker
um The way he finds his son.
00:50:14
Speaker
Nobody questions it. You don't get any room to question it because there's no distance. Like yeah his son. doesn in his industry Who's feeding him? Apparently you don't age in this alternate dimension and your ex-wife is just accepting, oh, you found him.
00:50:32
Speaker
not going to ask him, like, should he be 10 now? and was Did he spoil himself? Is that emaciated? His clothes are clean. He's totally intact. Like, oh was it last year?
00:50:45
Speaker
You know, he's been so traumatized. He hasn't lost any hair. Yeah, there's there's none of the physical alterations that fear has upon you. His son doesn't have white chocks in his hair or anything like that. No, all of his teeth are there and all that. Nope. He's just in great health. No scurvy, no nothing.
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah, he's basically like went swimming, was exiled to the Phantom Zone, and then his dad goes through the was was it the bathroom mirror?
00:51:12
Speaker
Was that the yeah the the mirror in the medicine cabinet? Yeah, he climbs through the mirror in the me medicine cabinet in the bathroom and like, Oh, my son's been behind this medicine cabinet the whole time.
00:51:23
Speaker
Never thought to look here because he saw it in the painting. Yeah, right. Dinosaur in there. There's some roaring dinosaur monster. that's eluded there and like, how come the dinosaurs not eating any of these troops?
00:51:36
Speaker
Yeah, see, this is this is where I really am getting mad. yes I feel like the the sun didn't need to be in this story ultimately.
00:51:50
Speaker
And while hate to be like, toss out the kid, we don't need it. We don't the real story here and the more compelling parts of the story because we spend far more time with it is the PTSD, the Vietnam stuff.
Focus on PTSD for a Stronger Narrative
00:52:05
Speaker
It's true. It's And even the ex-wife who we could have had the ex-wife leave because there was something going on. He wasn't he couldn't handle it. Yeah. Yes.
00:52:17
Speaker
He didn't know how to fit in a normal life. Yes. He couldn't adapt when he came back and they tried and she had to go away. And just dealing with that PTSD shoehorning this, like we get that scene.
00:52:30
Speaker
We get a scene early, we get a scene swimming. And then we get the sun again at the end. And outside of that, there's not really that much to it. It doesn't do anything for me to make me care for our main character more even.
00:52:45
Speaker
And that to me is a major problem with it because I don't feel bad for him that much. You know, we're writing this movie right now. Get some paper out. Let's get some. was just thinking that dude. Right in this.
00:52:58
Speaker
I think there is a great story here. I wish I could see that original script from ah Fred Decker. I wish I could see what he had planned. But instead, we got the rewritten Wiley version. We should see if we could email around and see if anybody would gift us a copy of that if it exists.
00:53:18
Speaker
like i'll thinking know I'll take even a Xerox copy of it. Like the I'll take spy camera fish film over it. Come on. Yeah. So Fred Becker is known for he wrote the monster squad from 87. He wrote night of the creeps.
00:53:34
Speaker
He wrote RoboCop three. I don't know much about that one. No.
00:53:40
Speaker
He wrote some episodes of tales from the crypt. Okay. But oh, he wrote Godzilla 1985 apparently. So Roderick.
00:53:54
Speaker
ah No 1985. Oh, man, I don't know the Godzilla films. I'm sorry. Nope, that's okay. Godzilla Broderick was 99. Okay,
00:54:03
Speaker
because because I was 10 and was obsessed with that film. ah But the yeah, he's got I mean, Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps are pretty, pretty well known films.
00:54:17
Speaker
And this one, Monster Squad. Yeah, this one I feel like he had some good ideas. good Good ideas. But okay. Talking about the script a lot. My score for the script.
00:54:28
Speaker
I'm actually coming down because i got mad about the sun. I got mad about the sun. I'm giving it a 1.5 because the humor doesn't land and there is too much plot for something that doesn't need it.
00:54:48
Speaker
the The humor doesn't work for me. i don't need the son, barely need the ex-wife, don't need the neighbor across the street. Focus your story. that's that's That's my complaint.
00:55:01
Speaker
I also well, you gave it a 1.5. I gave it a flat out one. ah It's just it felt like two Ding Dongs duking it out over a typewriter.
00:55:13
Speaker
Joe Kearn. I don't know. Yeah, I just don't know how it's to explain it. It's the dialogue is bad. Like whoever approved this script, like don't think like how many people check a script?
00:55:24
Speaker
I don't know. But I think maybe there was a bad translation maybe between script and vision of directing. Maybe something was lost in that and people didn't know how to interpret a script.
00:55:39
Speaker
the I don't I don't know. I don't know where visions get lost. But um in I guess there's different levels to comedy whores ultimately, because I think I like a little bit more horror than comedy.
00:55:55
Speaker
And this just had way too much comedy. And I agree with you, Tim. Hardly any of it stuck. None of it's memorable at all. Like I barely even remember the part that's your favorite when he's like, Oh, the lady heart of gold lady or whatever, man.
00:56:10
Speaker
If you didn't just play it at the beginning, I'm not sure. i Like none of the dialogues memorable. None of the scenes for me are very memorable unless they were just so outlandish, like where the shears fly and cut off the, uh, the Java toad creature, his wife creatures head.
00:56:28
Speaker
Like, stop The head was way too thick. Yeah. Like, I don't know. it was it was just bad. was like, they they I felt like they gave cop out excuses to end things or to to clinch things or whatever.
00:56:48
Speaker
They just went to these lengths just to be silly. And yeah. Yep.
00:56:55
Speaker
Okay. Well, but you guys make a lot of good points. um It's kind of hard to argue those because yeah, there's a lot of deficiencies there. So I'm changing my score. I'm bringing it down to a three.
00:57:07
Speaker
All right. Was it before? Okay. Just because I like my weird cheesy campy bullshit from the 80s. Hey, that is okay. you You know, I do too. I've defended movies that are probably, I don't know, that are on par with this. I just enjoy them more.
00:57:27
Speaker
Yeah. So then Evan leading us into acting there. So how do the actors interpret the script? How do they do with what they have?
00:57:38
Speaker
So this is an interesting one. um Yeah, Jonathan, you want to kick us? yeah So, yeah, so there's a lot of ways we can go that's depending on what character you're talking about here. So um You know, the the hot neighbor lady show very alluring, um very, very deceptive, um you know, with how she you know draws him in. Things going to get a hot date and it's like, boom, watch my kid.
00:58:10
Speaker
yeah i thought that was great. She did a good job of that, um even though i hate that she did it. Very cool. But aside from that, you know, Harold or Norm, as we've been calling him,
00:58:22
Speaker
um he definitely he He definitely fills that that weird kind of goofy neighbor kind of gap that ah kind of sits in there.
00:58:34
Speaker
It is kind of goofy and it kind of sucks at the same time, but I still enjoy it um Roger overall though, our main character though, man, like he, he fucking he delivers. So I think he did a great job.
00:58:46
Speaker
um i like how, you he is trying to maintain this presence of normality while trying to deal with people and his own shit. Or his averageness, whatever you want to call it. Norm, normality.
00:58:59
Speaker
Sorry. Yep. up there There you go. Okay. You got me. Ah, punny.
00:59:06
Speaker
But, yeah, I liked what he did with the character. um i think he did a great job. And even the cops as side characters, you know, were serious.
00:59:18
Speaker
Tried to have that sense concern a little bit there.
00:59:24
Speaker
meh. That's all can really say about it. don't know. I don't feel like I can get too in-depth about it.
00:59:31
Speaker
I did not enjoy any of the acting. Not even a little bit. None of them. um I felt like they were people that tuned in for a paycheck. I don't think anybody, like even the guys that were being cops, I don't think they, they didn't move like, kind like, I don't know.
00:59:47
Speaker
That just felt like people were just kind of, all right, we're here to make a movie. And I don't think, I don't think anybody paid attention to their role. Maybe, maybe cat, the, the Robert character like that. I think he did well, but he again, he was on, he was on the whole time, like there was hardly a time that character wasn't in frame. So of course they really developed that into like, again, he's the only one that has a journey, but these other characters, every single one of them fell flat. And I think his journey could have been so much better.
01:00:23
Speaker
The redemption definitely could have been so much better. Had we seen real struggle, had these people actually acted Mm hmm. Like, I agree with you, Tim.
01:00:34
Speaker
I thought about it when you said, hey, let's remove the kid and see what that does. It made me think immediately, let's increase his PTSD from the war.
01:00:45
Speaker
And they broke up because she got pregnant and he was afraid that he wouldn't be good enough for both of them. hmm. now see I mean we could have cranked that up and then you have that acting there because we could have had flashbacks to tender moments and then the discovery of her being pregnant and all that and then and then him having the fears of losing that child like he lost his battle buddy or losing them both yeah two terms that he doesn't have control over and we could have seen that and that could have given
01:01:18
Speaker
so much more depth to the characters for acting. But I think the the actors had a hard time portraying these characters because I don't think there was much written for them. And I don't know if back then they really fleshed out characters the way they do today.
01:01:34
Speaker
Yeah, so i i have a hard time disagreeing with you. i feel like the neighbor is like, he's just there. His performance doesn't steal the show from me.
01:01:47
Speaker
I'd almost rather this just be a straight Abbott and Costello. You have your straight guy and your comic guy. Like, let's do it that way. But what, I mean, I go back to that scene.
01:02:00
Speaker
of our main character stumbling out of the house in his fatigues. And I don't know still if that is supposed to be a funny scene or a traumatic scene.
01:02:12
Speaker
And I think part of that goes on to the performance of he delivers a funny scene, but there was nothing about that to tell me that that should have been funny.
01:02:26
Speaker
you know So I don't... I'm at a loss on that. ah The police didn't bother me. The neighbor did exactly what I needed the neighbor to do.
01:02:40
Speaker
ah so I wasn't upset by her performance at all. I actually think one of the standouts is the ex-wife. I think she's pretty believable in most of her scenes. She's not given a lot, but I get this impression that...
01:02:55
Speaker
She does miss him. You know, there is this sad. There's the call. Yeah. Yeah. There is this sadness to her when she's there that like she cares.
01:03:06
Speaker
This isn't exactly what she wanted for her future. And so she's worried when things are going wrong. She shows up. She bothers to call, you know, and I did like and this goes probably more to direction.
01:03:20
Speaker
But there's that scene when she calls and he turns on music and fakes hanging out with his buddies. to show that like he's doing okay when he's clearly not. And um that's very subtle, just choice that I'll give credit to the director for. it But I think the ex-wife is the standout of this film.
01:03:42
Speaker
I wish our main character gave me more of an idea of when something was supposed to be funny versus when something was supposed to be do,
01:03:54
Speaker
so i do I was generous. I was generous on this one. I gave the acting a three. yeah I thought it was good. ah debated going to two, but I think it's two to me is okay.
01:04:08
Speaker
And I think it's mostly okay, but I think it's also not so bad. It hurts me. So I ended up with good.
01:04:20
Speaker
I gave it a one.
01:04:22
Speaker
and You're surprised. ah For me, I'm a four on it. All right. So yeah I did and just laugh. I don't know if, Rook, did you see? I don't know if you see the guide that I put on like what scores mean to me, and that's what I just put on there for people who ask.
01:04:42
Speaker
So like in my head, ah it goes five is perfect. I couldn't ask anything more from it. um Four is great.
01:04:54
Speaker
Three is good. Two is okay. One is bad. And zero is shouldn't exist. I'm rating accurately then.
01:05:05
Speaker
Yep. No, i think I think you are, but that's what I think is funny. that's's Based on what I'm seeing, that's what you're doing, but I think it's funny. My dogs keep trying to open my door. It's hilarious.
01:05:17
Speaker
ah So let's talk about the direction from
01:05:24
Speaker
sean s cunning well i i am gonna have to alter my score because when i saw direction i thought it meant like direction of the film i wasn't thinking at the time oh okay so yeah there's that interpret it as you will that that's okay that's okay we we can alter the score uh so the direction of the film jonathan you want to take it off or sorry i said cunningham it's steve minor not cunningham
01:05:52
Speaker
Eh, eh, meh. Direction, meh. Favorite category. Yeah. ah Well, where do you guys go? hate talking about direction. Okay.
01:06:04
Speaker
So Steve Miner is no stranger to horror. He came off of Friday the 13th part two and three to make this movie. Which, jarring from slasher films to this, I do think two is better than the original 13th, and I think three is terribly fun.
01:06:26
Speaker
It is so bad because it leans in the 3D effects. that i It's probably my guilty pleasure movie. It's got a disco Jason soundtrack. I love Friday the 13th Part 3. The movie 49, yep.
01:06:39
Speaker
Yep. It's also got the kill where we look up through the floorboards and Jason chops the guy in half while he walks on his hands. So it's, I do enjoy Friday the 13th part three a lot, but then he did a house.
01:06:52
Speaker
He did warlock from 1989. Yeah. yeah And then he did Halloween H two 20 years later in 1998, which is one of the better late Halloween films as well. where we Learned a lot.
01:07:07
Speaker
Yes. yeah So that that is a great film. This one, I think he struggles balancing again. it's I'm blaming it on the script.
01:07:18
Speaker
He struggles balancing the humor with the horror because instead of getting good horror moments, bad comedy or good comedy and bad horror moments, we get neither.
01:07:33
Speaker
We get neither. So I don't think the horror necessarily works for me. I don't think the comedy necessarily works for me. He has some inventive choices.
01:07:44
Speaker
I don't want to say inventive. He has some unique visionary choices for the film that I think are fun. i don't think it elevates it quite that much. i Like when I was taking my notes, I was real excited. i was like, oh, this is good. And then the longer it went, the more I stopped taking notes.
01:08:03
Speaker
Um, because I think the nice, it must be a crane shot at the beginning of the film that circles the entire house kind of establishes where we are.
Opening Shot's Impact and Film's Potential
01:08:15
Speaker
And then it goes down, watches the boy approach and then pans back. i'm like, this is a good choice. I'm setting, I'm getting set up for a good movie here. And then I liked the kid walking in on the ant dropping, you know, there's, there's some things that I like about it.
01:08:32
Speaker
But ultimately, I think it's bogged down by the clumsy mix of horror and comedy. It doesn't work for me. And wait wait till we get to my enjoyment score. That's going to be fun.
01:08:45
Speaker
But yeah, I think he has some choices that I like. Overall, I don't think this direction is like, man, sean comingmm or Steve Miner should have done way more movies like this. I don't walk away from this thinking that.
01:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, for me, the for direction, it had continuity. Like, I you could definitely follow it from beginning to end.
01:09:14
Speaker
um Even though the scenes were bad, every scene led to the next in a logical manner. Um, I felt that some of the parts that were creepy were okay, but I agree with you. There was too much, um, out of the element. Like, like I keep saying, I wasn't immersed in your film. i wasn't immersed in its mythology because I don't feel that it was rooted in horror or real life or any, it struggled to be anywhere.
01:09:45
Speaker
i think it was just good to be on the screen. And I don't know, I feel like a lot of films during this time struggled. And I think maybe a lot happened behind the scenes with this film that we're just not hearing of or something somewhere because the directing is so bad, but I do feel that it is a compelling story from beginning to end. It tells a whole story.
01:10:13
Speaker
So I mean, as far as that's concerned, it's good. okay All right, Jonathan.
01:10:21
Speaker
just don't have much to say in a way description of this direction. Sometimes I can get my head like around the details I want to try coordinate, but and not so much on this one.
01:10:33
Speaker
So I don't really have much to say on it. I feel like we're just pooping on a movie Jonathan enjoys.
01:10:43
Speaker
do what you gotta do man do what you gotta to do i was i was excited to do this one i'm excited to do two part two and um um i'm way hyped for two because two is one of my favorites and it's one of the it's right definitely a great sequel that's way better than the original so when we get to that movie i'll definitely have way more to say in that one this was just a base like for me for the franchise what i remember of two is that it leans harder into the comedy it is more of a comedy with spooky elements like and you get another cheers member yeah in two which is ah this thing's hilarious ted dancing right no no no um guy what was the the mailman guy uh god what was his name
01:11:29
Speaker
I think that was it. Yeah. I don't know the actor's name. I think it's Cliff in Cheers. Okay. All right. Well, so then our scores for direction.
01:11:40
Speaker
um i gave it i gave it a two. I think it was just okay. I think he did an okay job on his direction. I gave it a three, but I'm going to come down on a two to two.
01:11:54
Speaker
Now that I or have a better understanding of, I was like, because it says direction. And I was like, oh, direction, like direction of the film. That makes sense. good quick Look at me go.
01:12:06
Speaker
i think I was scoring this one in a rush. So I hit it at a four, but i was I meant to do a three on this one. Okay. He's trying to admit now that he, yeah I don't, I don't really like this film.
01:12:17
Speaker
I'm kidding. to like it time You can love it. No, no, no. This is a base like. Number two, I really love. i could tell you pretty much that entire movie from beginning to end if I had to.
01:12:30
Speaker
Because love number two that much.
01:12:34
Speaker
So, just saying. Wow. Okay. yeah So then let's go into our it factor. The cultural significance of this movie. Ooh.
01:12:44
Speaker
We have an answer.
01:12:47
Speaker
Oh, did my sister pull out an answer? ah Yeah, yes she did. Yeah. Yes, that's my little sister, by the way. well that's your sister. Hey, welcome.
01:12:57
Speaker
All right. So the cultural significance in the it factor of the film. Oh, okay. so yeah um i mean it's it spawned three sequels two three and four correct you know so there's definitely some impact there ah don't know how many people really remember this first one ah yeah i mentioned house two and you know People seem to be pretty familiar with that one.
01:13:25
Speaker
Nobody really says has much to say about this first one. But like i said, with How It Spawned 3 sequels, there is something there to that. um I don't really know if anyone ever does anything with this film when it comes to like Comic-Con or horror festivals, though.
01:13:41
Speaker
um It's kind of like low-key circle talk kind of thing. so there's not It's got some impact there, certainly, but I can't say a lot. Yeah.
01:13:55
Speaker
I don't feel it had much of an it factor for me. um I don't think any any of the films in any of this series really stick out in my mind as anything horror, even in any genre. Like, I don't know if I would ever go, oh, comedy, house, or oh, horror, house.
01:14:13
Speaker
Even if I was in the mood for B-horror, I'm not sure I would ever, ever think of any of these movies. I would come thinking more to house MD over house, the the horror comedy that that's poetry it rhymed but yeah i don't think maybe at a convention if you wanted to have a room that screened shows like this i think people would show up just for the cheese factor you would have people that would just show up just for that just to have a good time maybe turn it into a drinking game or something
01:14:51
Speaker
Yeah. Because it's, you know, it's it definitely has drinking game vibes. That's a that's a great idea. You just elevated the experience for sure. For sure. i I now want to don't know. and There's got to be one on the Internet. So we should do a comedy spoof and call it party house and we want to throw this epic party in this haunted house.
01:15:14
Speaker
We could do it, guys. Yeah, we got it. i like this. i The if factor for me is this is one that I didn't really know about.
Cultural Impact - 'House' and Its Sequels
01:15:24
Speaker
um But to what Jonathan said, it did spawn numerous sequels.
01:15:31
Speaker
Only one of them is connected to this original story. And I think that's the third. I think three it opens. It's either three or four. It might be four.
01:15:42
Speaker
But they actually bring our main character back, but kill him off really early in the beginning of four. Oh, so I didn't see four. i just didn't have any interest because I heard it was really, really bad.
01:15:54
Speaker
Well, yeah, italy it's the first direct to VHS one of the series. Three was given a different title in the US, but was marketed overseas as House three.
01:16:08
Speaker
So there's a lot of a lot of faith in that. But House two is generally the one that I hear talked about the most. People seem to like House two the most. The second story. It's wild as hell, dude.
01:16:23
Speaker
So ah that to me is rough. Like, do I give the it factor to this movie for giving us the sequel that most people say is a better film or what? Because this film isn't isn't all that remarkable at the end of the day.
01:16:43
Speaker
So ultimately,
01:16:46
Speaker
I'm a two on effector. It did spawn a bunch of sequels. It was profitable at the box office, but it is not like you don't see this on anybody's top 10 list. You know, what else was there to watch at the theaters paint dry?
01:17:02
Speaker
I can find out. It was a competing against what chud has probably a bigger cult following than. Yeah. Yeah.
01:17:15
Speaker
yeah Chud is a lot of fun though. I have to say, oh, how um the top four movies, just a quick, it looks like pretty in pink was number one color. Purple was two.
01:17:31
Speaker
Oh, okay. So yeah, yeah. What weekend guys house debuted at seventh behind. ah So we had pretty in pink, the color purple gung ho down and out in Beverly Hills, police Academy three, Hannah and her sisters and then house.
01:17:53
Speaker
Wow. ah and does guyss huh And this time, back to the future was still in theaters and was. i
01:18:04
Speaker
Was down to 11th. Wow. I think it was. I think back to the future was still in theaters from a year before.
01:18:17
Speaker
Oh, that's a long run of the theaters. Because this came out in March of 86 and back to the future.
01:18:26
Speaker
i was released in July. So I think it's ah yeah like a year in theaters if I'm, yeah, July 3rd, 1985. So Back to the Future was only like three points behind House.
01:18:43
Speaker
Well, I think that says enough for it, Factor. yeah What was your score, Rook? Now I gave it a one. Okay. I'm sitting at a three.
01:18:55
Speaker
I feel like that's right. Good, good. Okay, so your final your entertainment enjoyment level, and then the your final thoughts on it, and then I'll get us our average.
01:19:09
Speaker
Okay. Well, like I said, you know as I've said many times already, I love my my my cheesy, campy 80s bullshit. I will never get tired of that, ever. ah So i despite this only being a base-like and the sequel being way more enjoyable for me, I still like this one a lot.
01:19:25
Speaker
yeah So I'm sitting at an eight on this one. Wow. Yeah.
01:19:32
Speaker
Come at me, bro. Come at you. Oh, so... I didn't, I didn't hit this category so hard overall. Uh, when I sat and thought about the film that I watch, I wasn't necessarily disappointed with my time.
01:19:46
Speaker
I was entertained compared to some films today. This film was marvelous. I like that overall at the end of the day, I came down in the middle. I actually gave it a five.
01:19:57
Speaker
Um, I you know, you you got what you saw in the advertisements. It didn't over promise. And i think I think you got and I don't I don't think you would be wasting your time watching this film. I just don't I just think you could watch better.
01:20:16
Speaker
But overall, I wasn't I wasn't going i want my money back or I want my time back. I was just hey, this was this was somebody had a good time with this project. It it went well, I guess.
01:20:26
Speaker
I think that's super fair. ah I'm not all that different. I am at a six. I know I crapped on some of the points of the movie, but overall, I think this is a fun, like throw it on in the background around Halloween time film.
01:20:44
Speaker
It's got some good, some good, ah decent creature effects. I'll say it's got the haunted house vibes. It's got the eighties atmosphere and the synthy score.
01:20:55
Speaker
The things that I look for in background films, this movie has plenty of. it does when i sat down and watched it uh because i try to watch them twice every time the second act i zone out i do zone out pretty hard in the second act of this film it's somewhere like after the wife ghost thing dies to the zombie showing up basically i think it's when the kid is there
01:21:28
Speaker
Like it just feels like it shifts gears way too hard. i get lost a little bit zone out and then I'm brought back in by that flashback of him not killing his friend. So, and that brings me back in for the end of the movie.
01:21:43
Speaker
you You put us on in the background. That's all we aspire for, Evan. Thank you. And for those watching, in case you didn't notice, Tim does have the movie playing on his background. Yeah, we go. We're we're background ception in this. We've got so much going on.
01:21:59
Speaker
ah We aspire to be the background noise to your work day. That is that is all I want from this. ah Genuinely. ah So, yeah, I this is a movie. I own it. I own the you know i yeah so i i don't i don't hate this movie by any stretch.
01:22:20
Speaker
I find it kind of fun in a It's not good, but I enjoy he enjoy it. So I'd almost put this on one of our it's so bad it's good lists up there with Troll 2 and Howard the Duck.
01:22:38
Speaker
Yep. Yep. This falls in the same category with me. It's kind of disjointed, kind of messy, but ultimately there are some endearing charm there.
01:22:50
Speaker
that i come back for and i come i i apparently come back for every year so i watch it at least once a year so i'm at a six on it I can dig it.
01:23:01
Speaker
Oh, right. That's funny because I ah I wrote i was like, Hey, I wouldn't put this on a watch list, but I'd watch this movie every five years or so. Maybe if you're every year, but that's all right.
01:23:16
Speaker
All right. So I've got Jonathan, you have your total score. Yeah, I am with my changes. I'm a 38. Okay. And Rook, I've got yours unless you have it.
01:23:29
Speaker
I started with a 16, but with my adjustments, I think it wound up at a 14. Yep. yeah So and then I'm at a 27.5, which would that is perfectly in the middle of not rounding down or up.
01:23:45
Speaker
If my math is correct. No, I think it rounds down no to 25. um So with our math, let me, you guys changed yours. So you are 38, 14, and then 27.5.
01:24:02
Speaker
We average a 26.5 or a two and a half out of five stars for the movie. Appropriate, I think. Appropriate. That's right. I think that's- Jonathan was here to bring it up a little bit.
01:24:14
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's pretty accurate.
Enjoyability Despite Flaws
01:24:17
Speaker
ah I think it's pretty accurate. You know what you're getting into in this case. You're not watching a five star, one of the highest recommended movies ever, but it's also not entirely terrible. There's some things to enjoy here.
01:24:30
Speaker
So any final words?
01:24:40
Speaker
hear any of that.
Rook's Drinking Game Suggestion
01:24:42
Speaker
Let's have Rook go first. Oh, I said, make sure you turn it into a drinking game.
01:24:49
Speaker
yeah yeah I'm going to see if I can find one later. I'm going to if I can find one, I'll post it um with the with the audio episode. It's going to be awesome. I'm certain there's one. Oh, there's got to There's got to be.
Jonathan's Tubi Recommendations
01:25:04
Speaker
All right, Jonathan. It's worth checking out. I still say watch it. It's it's for free on Tubi, so it's going cost you anything. go for it. Also, speaking of tubing, this is the time of year to be is the go to spot for great horror movies.
01:25:20
Speaker
And by great ones, I mean, not the high budget ones. I mean, lots of seventies, eighties older. Yes, it's it's fantastic. But I have to bring it up because I was going through last night looking for something to watch and a lot of them are leaving in 10 days.
01:25:37
Speaker
Oh, no. They'll be gone in October. So get some watches in now if you're to be fan sure. You know what I watched today?
'Fright Night' Remake Discussion
01:25:44
Speaker
In fact, I watched the 2011 Fright Night today on TV.
01:25:48
Speaker
I don't think I've ever seen that one. Me neither. It's it's not bad. It's a pretty decent remake. OK, it was that Anton Yelkin? Yelkin? No, it's. I mean, I don't know.
01:26:01
Speaker
It's Colin Firth.
01:26:04
Speaker
ah Yeah. Anyways, i so i want to watch the original now. Okay. Jonathan, let's read us out of here. Okay. Let's see here.
'House' Fan Base and 80s Charm
01:26:14
Speaker
So maybe house isn't the best movie ever made, but honestly we can see why it's got such a dedicated fan base. Yeah, there's definitely something here worth coming back to, whether it's creature designs, weird mix of tones, or just the 80s charm, and to be honest, that's what it is for me, that keeps this movie alive in horror conversations.
01:26:39
Speaker
And that's the beauty ah the beauty of revisiting films like this. Even if they're a little messy, they've got a spark that keeps us talking.
Conclusion and Tease for 'House 2' Discussion
01:26:46
Speaker
I couldn't agree anymore. So, Rook, thank you for hanging out with us. Thanks for having me again.
01:26:52
Speaker
Yep. Chat. Thank you for hanging out. Joining us today. It's always more fun having you in there. ah And don't forget, if you watch this movie recently, drop your score and we'll modify that average. We can change that average.
01:27:07
Speaker
Yep. We'll see you next time. And trust me, you don't want to miss the next one. Yeah. The next one is house to the second story. So this is the average where the real review happens with your friends.