House (1977 film)

House
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji	ハウス
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Hausu
Directed by	Nobuhiko Obayashi
Screenplay by	Chiho Katsura
Story by	Chigumi Obayashi
Produced by	Nobuhiko Obayashi Yorihiko Yamada[1]
Starring	Kimiko Ikegami Miki Jinbo Ai Matubara Kumiko Oba Mieko Sato Eriko Tanaka Masayo Miyako Yōko Minamida
Cinematography	Yoshitaka Sakamoto[1]
Edited by	Nobuo Ogawa[1]
Music by	Asei Kobayashi Mickie Yoshino[1]
Production company	Toho Eizō
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	30 July 1977 (1977-07-30) (Japan)
Running time	88 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

House (Japanese: ハウス, Hepburn: Hausu) is a 1977 Japanese psychedelic comedy horror film directed and produced by Nobuhiko Obayashi. It is about a schoolgirl traveling with her six friends to her ailing aunt's country home, where they come face to face with supernatural events as the girls are, one by one, devoured by the home. It stars mostly amateur actors, with only Kimiko Ikegami and Yōko Minamida having any notable previous acting experience. The musical score was performed by the rock band Godiego.

Toho Studios approached Obayashi with the suggestion to make a film like Jaws. Influenced by ideas from his daughter Chigumi, he developed ideas for a script by Chiho Katsura. After the project was green-lit, it was put on hold for two years as no one at Toho wanted to direct it. However, Obayashi kept promoting the film until the studio allowed him to direct it himself. House was filmed on one of Toho’s largest sets, where Obayashi shot the film without a storyboard over a period of about two months.

The film, which received generally negative reviews, was a box office hit in Japan. After being widely released in North America in 2009 and 2010, it was met with more favorable response and has since gained a cult following.