Listen to us very carefully because this advice is very, very important. If you feel you must see Hausu (House), the legendary 1977 Japanese horror film, then please go see it at the River Oaks Theatre. Not because it’s a grand epic that can only be appreciated on the big screen (although that part is true, too), but because there is safety in numbers. Plotwise, Hausu is your standard haunted-house film, with a group of terrorized girls being murdered one by one. But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of its complete rage. The movie combines ambitious settings with dollar-store special effects in a way that would be schlocky if they weren’t so effective. (Watch for the scene where a piano eats a girl.)
You may think that you’re jaded and can’t be shocked anymore after having spent years watching films like Eraserhead, El Topo, Cannibal Holocaust or Martyrs, but all you have to do is search YouTube for “Hausu Lampshade Scene” to see that Hausu can’t be beat when it comes to wonderfully horrible horror. So just to be clear: You have been warned. 11:55 p.m. April 20 and 21. Landmark River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray. For information, call 713-866-8881 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.
April 20-21, 11:55 p.m., 2012
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2012.