Octoblur 2014 - #35: Hausu (1977)

If Sam Raimi & David Lynch had co-directed Spice World in 1970s Japan, they might have come up with Hausu.

Director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's 1977 movie Hausu is completely unique: a goofy, nightmarish explosion of style and art that is both confounding and relentlessly engaging.

Six schoolgirls join their friend Gorgeous as she visits her estranged aunt for summer vacation. Auntie, however, is not exactly offering the comforts of family, and her house (and her fluffy evil cat), prey on the girls during one incredibly strange night.

Hausu is a must-see for anyone who enjoys bizarre movies. Unlike many experimental or intentionally "weird" movies, it never gets boring or detaches the viewer, and its symbolism, while never explicit, seems to make emotional sense without requiring headaches. Hausu's broad comic tone segues effortlessly into deeply affecting sequences of horror that use crude but beautiful special effects.

A perfectly unique and wonderful movie.