HOUSE (1977)

The Yale Film Society is proud to present House (1977), directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi.
House follows a group of high-school girls, each named for their unique traits (Gorgeous, Professor, Fantasy, Mac, Sweet, Melody and Kung-Fu) as they visit Gorgeous’s aunt in the countryside. But upon their arrival, the group discovers that not all is as it seems in the house. As the group is dispatched one by one in creative, psychedelic ways, the survivors must try to escape, or be forever trapped in the house. 
The horrors depicted in the film were envisioned not by Obayashi, but his daughter, Chigumi. While creating the story, Obayashi asked Chigumi about what terrified her, as he believed that children inherently had irrational fears that felt terrifying to them, but wouldn’t occur to an adult. The script was later penned by Chiho Katsura, and the film was released on July 30th, 1977 as a part of a Toho double feature. Although negatively reviewed, the film was actually a success for Toho, with the majority of the box office being driven by teenagers and young adults. Despite the film’s popularity, it did not receive a world-wide release until 2009.