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The House Where Evil Dwells
USA / Japan 1982
produced by Martin B. Cohen for Commercial Credit Holdings/United Artists, Toei
directed by Kevin Connor
starring Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure, Mako Hattori, Amy Barrett, Tsuiyuki Sasaki, Tishiya Maruyama, Tsuyoka Okajima, Henry Mitowa, Mayumi Umeda, Hiroko Takano, Shuren Sakurai, Shoji Ohara, Jiro Shirai, Kazuo Yoshida, Kunihiko Shinjo, Gentaro Mori, Misao Arai, Chiyoko Hardiman, Hideo Shimedo
screenplay by Robert Suhosky, based on the novel by James Hardiman, music by Ken Thorne
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Because Ted (Edward Albert) has to write a series of articles on Japan,
he and his wife Laura (Susan George) and daughter Amy (Amy Barrett) move
there for research, and their best friend Alex (Doug McClure) gets them an
old house on the cheap too - it's so cheap because 200 years ago, a
samurai (Toshiya Maruyama) killed his wife Otami (Mako Hattori) and her
lover (Tsuiyuki Sasaki) there before committing seppuku. Now the place is
supposed to be haunted ... but nobody believes this of course - until
Laura finds some weird charm, which apparently calls the ghosts of the
samurai, his wife and her lover. Soon, weird things start to happen, and
after a while, Ted seems to be seeing Otami everywhere, but being a ghost
she remains elusive of course. She also possesses Laura and drives her to
have an affair with Alex. And one night, while her parents are out, Amy is
attacked and hospitalized by lobsters of all sizes. Ted is soon sure
something sinister is happening, so he hires a local exorcist - who really
manages to drive out the ghosts. Then Laura confesses she has an affair
with Alex, and pretty much on cue, Alex stops by. When Ted lets him in,
the ghosts slip in as well. Ted and Alex immediately start to brawl, but
then the ghosts possess them both, and since the ghosts are Japanese,
instead of carelessly throwing punches as Westerners would do in a fight,
the two men suddenly switch to karate and finally battle it out with
samurai swords. Ultimately, possessed Ted beheads Alex, then he slaughters
his wife before committing seppuku. And then the ghosts leave ... Not
a good film, but at times so silly it's funny at least. The fight scene at
the end when the two men switch to karate once possessed is a hoot, as is
the lobster attack and several other such scenes. Also the movie's
approach to Japanese folklore couldn't be more naive and clichéed - in an
amusing way though. As a straight horror film though (as this was meant
to be), the movie's pretty much a failure: For the most part, the
characters and especially the ghosts lack motivation, the movie hasn't
much to offer in either the shock or the suspense department, the story as
such lacks buildup, and the ending is a tad stupid. But as mentioned
above, you might still get a kick out of this one - for all the wrong
reasons mind you ...
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