Movie Details
| Title: | Hausu | |
| Director: | Nobuhiko Obayashi | |
| Year: | 1977 | |
| Genre: | Japanese Weird | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 10.01.09 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 10.01.09 | Alamo South Lamar | This Screening is part of event: FantasticFest 2009 Last day of the fest. Pretty tired after the missing sleep last night but hopefully I can power through one more day; maybe call in sick tomorrow to enjoy a long weekend. I initially wasn't interested in this one (looked like it definitely qualified as Japanese weird) but after hearing that Micah liked it (whose tastes for the genre pretty closely mirror mine), I figured I'd give it a chance. My hunch was confirmed when I noticed Lars, Zack, and Tim all sit down to watch. I think this is the first film of the fest that I've seen Tim take the time to watch anything. So going in, I was pretty psyched to see something, even if it didn't fit my taste very well. What an amazingly mind-melting movie. To say that I walked out of this completely and utterly confused is an understatement. This movie messed me up. Ryan can attest that I more or less just sat in the lobby for about a half hour trying to understand what I just saw. It kind of gave me a headache and was also the moment where my throat got scratchy and gave me the festival cold that is right now keeping me home from work (i know. irony that i would actually get sick when planning to take a sick day, shut it). It was like in the Lovecraft stories when people come into contact with something so alien that their mind can't even comprehend it so they go bonkers or immediately forget who they are. To explain this movie... is folly. I could say it's about a group of girls who go to stay at an aunt's house and find that she's a ghost. I could also say that it's a potent experimental mindtrip for children that pre-dates ritalin and crack cocaine yet manages the same effect. Those would both be technically true but nothing I merely type here would summon even a shred of the emotional sensory explosion that is this movie. My immediate reaction was a memory of the book Flicker by Theodore Roszak. The account that the narrator gives upon his first viewing of a Max Castle film. I feel like if there are any movies out there with hidden subversive techniques like those explored in that book, it'd be this film. It's not just that it's weird. It's super weird. Every scene is weird. Every shot is weird. Every frame is weird. I mean, why is the sky that way? There's no reason for that. It doesn't have anything to do with anything, yet it moves around on its own. It starts off kind of like a teletubbies episode. Everything is so very happy. For a little while. I feel very affected by this film. I really can't verbalize it in any way except to say that I've never seen anything like it. I mean sure if you break it down and take it scene by scene or shot by shot then yes, I'm familiar with some of the techniques they're using. But there are so many of them so fast and so overwhelming... it's crazy crazy crazy. I can't say I like this movie. Or dislike it. or hate it or love it or despise it or worship it. Right now it's kind of like a tumor in my head: when I try to think about it my head starts to hurt. I need more time. Why is she called Mac? Why am I even asking? auntie cat nightmare |
