"House feels like it took elements from recent hit Poltergeist - a missing boy, a house connected to another dimension, an investigation aided by modern technology - put those elements in a blender, then stuck a cartoon stick of dynamite in the resulting concoction."
"Roger Cobb (William Katt) is a popular author juggling several classic movie hero problems: he's divorced, his young son has mysteriously vanished, and his attempt to branch out from pulpy horror novels to a serious book about his Vietnam War service has led to writer's block and bad flashbacks."
"That's a straightforward premise for a movie that has 'goofy' and 'bonkers' show up a lot in its Letterboxd reviews. Is House a haunted house movie? Yes. A Vietnam War movie? Yes. A sitcom? Again, yes."
House, released 40 years ago, follows Roger Cobb, a divorced author and Vietnam veteran struggling with writer's block and the mysterious disappearance of his young son. After his aunt's suicide in her old house, Roger moves in seeking solitude to work on his memoir. The film defies genre classification, combining haunted house tropes with Vietnam flashbacks and sitcom-style neighbor interactions. Grotesque creatures emerge from closets, inanimate objects animate, and Roger encounters increasingly absurd situations including aggressive neighbors and unexpected babysitting duties. The film deliberately blends horror, comedy, and domestic drama into a deliberately chaotic experience that spawned multiple sequels despite its unconventional approach.
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