Film Review: “Hausu”
a 1977 film by Nobuhiko Obayashi

I watched “Hausu” for the first time last night. The movie is described as a “hallucinatory headtrip” by the Criterion, it is also in Japanese, a language I do not know very well. So I dived into this fully expecting to be lost on the first try but the movie was pretty easy to follow.

The story is about Gorgeous and her group of girl friends who go to visit her estranged aunt for a summer vacation. On the way there Gorgeous tells the girls of her aunt’s love story and the promise she made to her lover to wait forever for his return from the war, her lover never returned and she remained in the house waiting. The girls arrive at the home and upon arrival things start occurring. I won’t spoil the rest of the film but I would recommend watching, it’s a good watch.

To be honest, part of the reason I fully enjoyed this movie is because it’s dark in content but the way the story is told is not traditionally “scary” (I get scared so easily but I like scary stories, it’s a paradox I’ve lived with all my life). So if you are looking for a movie to keep you up at night, this will not be it.

The movie itself plays with elements of film you don’t traditionally see in the horror genre. There’s scenes that feel like they are more aligned to a kids tv show than a horror movie but that’s the beauty of the movie. It’s charmingly playful with its effects. Even the music is lighthearted at times. I very much enjoyed watching this and it's a movie I would watch again, which is very telling.

Overall movie rating: 8.5/10