THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS (1982 - HORROR ) ** out of *****
(So much for a relaxing few months in the Japanese countryside..)
CAST: Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure, Amy Barrett, Mako Hattori, Tsuiruyuki Sasaki, Toshiya Maruyama, Henry Mitowa, Mayumi Omeda.
DIRECTOR: Kevin Connor
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and even more compelling reasons to keep your ass in the city as far away from the Japanese countryside as possible - straight ahead...
IT'S LIKE THIS: In our last Halloween review, THE LEGACY, we traveled to rural England to observe two Los Angelenos as they found themselves ensnared in a supernatural mystery involving a really fucked-up inheritance and a huge spooky house. In our next Halloween review, we will hop further East to Japan, where we will explore another spooky house, although much, much, MUCH smaller than the one in THE LEGACY.
Our next flick is THE HOUSE WHERE THE EVIL DWELLS, and it is set in the Land of the Rising Sun. Our heroes are the Fletcher Family from San Francisco, California, who have relocated to Kyoto, Japan because of Daddy's new job. We have: (1) Papa Ted (Edward Albert), writer who has been commissioned to write a book on Japanese culture; (2) Mama Laura (Susan George), housewife whom we will find out later on is a bit of a nympho; and (3) Baby Amy (Amy Barrett), daughter who probably should have stayed in Frisco, if for no other reason than so she won't have to annoy the living shit out of us.
The Fletchers are given a home to stay in by old pal Alex Curtis (Doug McClure), a publishing exec who helped Ted nabbed this much-needed job. The house is your basic traditional Japanese style with sliding doors and tatami (read: on the floor) mattresses. As homes go in Japan, it's actually pretty spacious. Believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about. I lived there for over two years and encountered family apartments that my cats would think too small for them by themselves - let alone our fat asses thrown in, too. So, the Fletchers are lucky, indeed, to have a domicile big enough for all three of them.
Wait, a second… But what the fuck are those three goofy, transparent dipshits wearing kimonos who are running around the place, unnoticed by the Fletchers? Well, folks, in case you hadn't figured it out, those three clowns are ghosts - and although we the audience can see them, the clueless Fletchers can't. Apparently, the place was the site of a murder-suicide about two hundred years ago: a cuckolded Samurai warrior (Tsuiruyuki Sasaki) caught his slutty wife (Mako Hattori) playing "stuff-the-sashimi" with a hunky neighbor (Toshiyo Maruyama) - and he basically pulled a "Kill Bill" on them. Then, realizing there's no one left to cook and clean for him now that his ol' lady is gone, he promptly commits Hara-Kiri - which is Japanese for "Self-inflicted 'Kill Bill'". And just like that, the place's vibe is fucked for eternity. And Alex either didn't know about the house's messed-up history - or didn't bother to tell his pals. Nice. Cretin.
It doesn't take long for the Fletchers to cotton on to the fact that something is wrong in their house. First, Laura (under the possession of the slutty Japanese wife's ghost) comes on to Alex like a sorority girl in heat. Second, Amy starts seeing scary Kabuki faces in her soup, and this understandably kills her appetite. Third, Ted starts getting possessive and jealous of Laura and resents Alex's presence whenever he comes to visit. Fourth, big-ass cackling crabs (you read that right) start chasing Amy and her babysitter Noriko (Mayumi Omeda) around the house - and eventually causes Amy to fall out of a tree and hurt herself severely (do not even ask). And finally.... well, that's about it. Essentially the "haunting" consists of the silly transparent ghosts "possessing" their American counterparts and basically making them act like mean drunks. Yawn.
So... how will this all end? Are the loopy ghosts influencing Ted, Laura, and Alex to recreate the doomed love triangle from two centuries ago? And will Amy be eviscerated by those demonic crabs? What happens when a Zen monk (Henry Mitowa) tells the Fletchers they must get out of that house before it is too late? Or will the Fletchers be your typical Stupid Horror Movie characters and stay put? What the fuck is up with those cackling crabs anyway?
Who knows. This is Japan, after all, so all bets are off...
BUT, SERIOUSLY: In previous reviews, we've talked about the concept of "Idea vs. Execution." Basically, a bad idea can actually produce a good movie with the right execution. Conversely, a great idea can also devolve into a mediocre flick or worse, given the wrong execution. Our latest Halloween review, THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, is a prime example of the latter.
Here, we have an idea that, had it been presented correctly and effectively, could have yielded a classic, atypical Haunted House movie. Instead, it constantly makes the wrong choices and ruins every single chance to create dread and fear. Which is a shame, because the rural Japanese setting is actually quite fresh and atmospheric. But with such a flawed execution, this eerie environment's potential is completely wasted. Given the right handling, THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS could have been an Asian-set version of THE SHINING, a film that it has more than a few parallels with.
Like THE SHINING, this film revolves around a family unit of three who move to an isolated location because of the father's job. Like THE SHINING, the family has past issues that begin to resurface the longer they remain in the haunted location. Like THE SHINING, it becomes clear that the grim history of the haunted location is going to repeat itself - with the family as its new victims. Unlike THE SHINING, however, THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS is thoroughly lacking in the psychological depth and ambiguity necessary to make it a terrifying experience. In fact, this movie is probably the most obvious, ridiculous ghost story I've ever seen.
The sad thing is it didn't have to be that way. THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS could've been a classic like THE SHINING, especially since it has three protagonists who are being influenced by three separate evil forces to recreate a specific part of the past, instead of just one like in THE SHINING. I have shown this film to many friends and the unanimous complaint is always: "Who the hell thought up the idea of showing us the ghosts in transparent form, making mischief, while the characters onscreen go about their business, completely clueless?" Whatever atmosphere and interest is created by the setting and the conflicts between the leads is thoroughly dissipated the minute we see those see-through phantoms prancing about like silly teenagers. Wow. Just... wow.
It doesn't help that the setpieces (if you can call them that) are patently absurd. The sequence where Amy sees the ghosts making faces at her in her soup bowl is more funny than anything else. So is the extended setpiece of Amy and Noriko being terrorized by giant crabs who growl at them like randy construction workers. If this were meant to be a comedy, then these scenes might be acceptable, but the press for the film confirmed it was supposed to be a full-blooded horror film. So, what gives? What a waste.
The cast is okay, and they are the only reason this film manages to rate a ** (mediocre) and not any lower. Edward Albert, Susan Fletcher, Doug McClure, and Amy Barrett are competent as the Americans caught up in the strangeness of Japan. The best scenes are the quarrels between Ted and Laura, which have the ring of real-life spousal arguments. Had director Kevin Connor and his writers taken a more subtle approach to the haunting, and highlighted the growing domestic fracture of the Fletcher family, as well as Alex's growing role in the matter, this movie would've been immeasurably better.
I sincerely believe this film should be remade and given the same cerebral approach given to THE SHINING. For entire passages of that movie, we could not be sure if Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) was simply going crazy from isolation - or if he really was being influenced by the "ghosts" of the Overlook Hotel. This is the same way that the Fletcher family's unraveling should have been handled here: is Ted and Laura's union simply going down the tubes because of Alex's presence - or are they all being influenced by the tragedy from two centuries ago? Like THE SHINING, the answer should not have been obvious until close to the end of the movie. In that film, the ghosts were kept out of sight, for the most part, until the last 20 minutes of the film - and that made it scarier. Here, everything is spelled out for us within the first 15 minutes in utterly ridiculous fashion. Again: what a waste.
Two words: remake time!
