House (1985)

Some houses are haunted. This one seems personally offended that anyone moved in.

House follows Roger Cobb, a successful horror novelist whose life has fallen apart. His young son has disappeared, his marriage has collapsed, and memories of Vietnam continue to haunt him. When Roger inherits his late aunt’s Victorian home, he moves inside hoping the isolation will help him finish a book about his wartime experiences.

Instead, the house begins opening doors to things Roger has tried desperately to bury. Closets lead somewhere they should not, mounted fish refuse to stay dead, and a grotesque creature appears to have taken up residence upstairs. Roger soon realizes that his son’s disappearance and the house’s supernatural activity may be connected.

Directed by Steve Miner and produced by Friday the 13th filmmaker Sean S. Cunningham, House mixes haunted-house horror, rubber-monster mayhem, wartime trauma and broad comedy into something that could only have escaped from the 1980s.

It is strange, colorful and occasionally ridiculous, but underneath the monsters is a surprisingly sincere story about a father trying to recover the family and peace of mind he lost.

Watch this one for William Katt’s committed performance, Richard Moll’s undead menace and a haunted house where even the wall decorations are trying to kill you.

“This house does not simply contain Roger’s nightmares. It waits until he is alone and brings them to life.”

Why House Belongs On Your Shelf

A Haunted House with an Eighties Personality

House does not aim for the slow, elegant dread of a traditional haunted-house movie. Once the supernatural activity begins, the film becomes louder, stranger and far more colorful.

Doors appear where they should not. Closets become gateways. Monsters leap from behind walls, and ordinary household objects suddenly develop murderous intentions. The movie has the unpredictable energy of opening a mysterious VHS case without knowing exactly what kind of horror waits inside.

That willingness to throw comedy, fantasy, creature effects and emotional drama into the same building gives House an identity all its own.

The Creatures Belong on the VHS Cover

The practical effects are exactly the kind of handmade weirdness that defined the horror aisle. The monsters are exaggerated, physical and impossible to ignore.

Some are genuinely unsettling. Others are so outrageous that they become funny. The film embraces both reactions rather than forcing every creature to fit the same tone.

The grotesque closet monster, the flying skeletal creature and the zombified Big Ben all feel like nightmares created by someone flipping through Roger’s memories without caring how they fit together.

House Official Trailer