The House Where Evil Dwells

This movie seems to still get no respect, so let me chip in and say give it a look. The movie has some real atmosphere which really matters in a ghost story. A big part of this is the sound which features constant bug noises whenever at the house and the other aspect of the effective sound is a very good score by Ken Thorne. It's a scary score, I'd say Thorne's best and the sound design of the film uses it well and also uses Japanese language screams and grunts effectively. The scares are here and if a few times the scare is followed by something that gets a bit silly, you have to say it gets you. The film is also part travelogue of Japan and it does this well too. The ghosts are fairly authentic to Japanese culture--including the face in the soup ghost that others have thought silly. What's interesting about the ghosts in this film, that is pretty unique, is that we the audience see the ghosts but for the most part the characters in the film don't. I can't think of another ghost story that has done this. The movie moves pretty quickly though in the middle it loses a bit of steam and it's also in the middle that the ghosts get a bit silly, but most of this can be forgiven with the uncompromising and memorable ending toping it all off. Also there is nudity and sexual elements and the female Japanese ghost is genuinely creepy as is the dialog free opening of the film. Must be said that the existing DVD of the film has a soft looking 16 by 9 image, if you watch the full frame version the image is sharper and you see more image top and bottom, so the widescreen is just a slightly sloppy blow up of the same video master. The trailer to the film also 16 by 9 looks much better than the movie! But it's still worth watching. Director Connor does one of his best jobs here, it's too bad that in the middle part of the film he has the ghosts run around in scooby Doo fashion, but it's a relatively short lapse in his effective film. George bugs her eyes out one too many times but otherwise gives a good performance as do the 2 male leads. The daughter character is fairly poorly written and acted but that's a smallish part of the film. It's a unique ghost story it's got exploitation elements to keep you going as well. Hey at least it makes sense, which is more than you can say for THE GRUDGE. Those 2 films pretty much stand alone, well along with THE MANSTER for genre films made by Westerners in Japan.

While the premise behind The House Where Evil Dwells may be intriguing, the execution is downright pathetic. I'm not even sure where to begin as I've got so many problems with this movie. I suppose I'll just number a few of them: 1. The Acting – When you see that Edward Albert, Doug McClure, and Susan George (and her teeth) are the stars of your movie, you know you're in trouble? Not that it matters much to me, but these are hardly A-List names. Susan George may have been in a couple of movies I enjoy, but I've never considered her the greatest actress I've ever seen. And in this movie, her acting is embarrassing. As for the other two, the less said the better. 2. The Ghosts – The ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them reminded me quite a bit of the ghosts in the haunted mansion ride.at Disney World. And, they are about as frightening. And why did they have to be so obvious? Subtlety is not a characteristic of The House Where Evil Dwells. 3. The Plot – How predictable can one movie be? The outcome of this movie is painfully obvious once you meet the three main characters. If you couldn't see where this movie was headed after about 15 minutes, you need to see more movies. 4. The Convenient Priest – What are the chances that the haunted house you buy just happens to be across the street from a group of Japanese monks? Not to mention that one of them knows the history of your house and comes over, knocks on the door, and asks if you need help removing evil spirits. Absurd is a word that comes to mind. 5. Everything Else – It's very difficult for me to think of any positives to write about. I suppose I'll give it a point for the opening scene and a point for the house's architecture. That's a sure sign of a winner – noting the architecture as a highlight of any film doesn't say much about the actual movie. I'll stop. You should be able to get the idea from what I've already mentioned. And, I haven't even mentioned the annoying little girl or the Invasion of the Crabs or a multitude of other problems. Be warned, this thing is horrible.

This Movie is a must for both Susan George fans and those who just love Ghost Stories. Don't be fooled by this Movie's lack of recognition by the critics, or its small budget. The Movie is introduced by a very romantic and tranquil beginning with the history of a Japanese house and a love story set in the middle of the nineteenth century that turns tragic. The house is then bought by a married couple with one child in the present day (when the film was made) 142 years later in 1982. Slowly the film progresses, and the Viewer is not only left in suspense, but one could never imagine the shocking twist and climax that comes right at the end! Stay with this one, should you get a little bored (some impatient Viewers may do) I originally sought this Movie out for one reason; I'm a huge Susan George fan, and not because of her 'Sex Appeal'; George is so under-rated (or can be) like others of her type, who most Viewers see only as a 'Sex Pot'. She's been one of Britain's greatest actresses, and any Movie she made is worth watching. Many will remember that Susan George was never off the Silver Screen during both the 1960s and 70s. Great Movie! Pity it's not been done on DVD yet, and you will have to search to find a Video copy - and very rare to find in good condition. Top marks!

Film starts in 1840 Japan in which a man slashes his wife and her lover to death and the commits suicide. It's a very gory, bloody sequence. Then it jumps to present day...well 1982 to be precise. Ted (Edward Albert), wife Laura (Susan George) and their annoying little kid move to Japan for hubby's work. They rent a house and--surprise! surprise--it just happens to be the house where the murders took place! The three dead people are around as ghosts (the makeup is hysterically bad) and make life hell for the family. Sounds OK--but it's really hopeless. There's a bloody opening and ending and NOTHING happens in between. There is an attack by giant crabs which is just uproarious! They look so fake--I swear I saw the strings pulling one along--and they're muttering!!!!! There's a pointless sex sequence in the first 20 minutes (probably just to show off George's body), another one about 40 minutes later (but that was necessary to the plot) and a really silly exorcism towards the end. The fight scene between Albert and Doug McClure must be seen to be believed. As for acting--Albert was OK as the husband and McClure was pretty good as a family friend. But George--as always--is terrific in a lousy film. She gives this film a much needed lift--but can't save it. I'm giving this a 2 just for her and the gory opening and closing. That aside, this is a very boring film.

I love this movie and I hate myself for loving it. I highly recommend it, but I feel guilty for doing so. It's sooo bad, it's good! I'd love to do a Mystery Science Theatre commentary on it. From Doug McClure's semi-* scene to the giant mechanical crabs, this is a must-see movie after you've seen all the really good stuff, and there's nothing else available in the video store. Just don't take it seriously and you'll love it, too!

A young American family moves to a House in Kyoto, Japan. It turns out to be haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her lover, who were killed by the woman's husband, as well as the ghost of the husband, who killed himself afterward. All I can say about this film is that it is a poor attempt at a haunting movie, ghost story or horror film. It is not particularly scary, it does not make much sense and the little blood that it has is outweighed by the nudity. I learned more about Japanese culture watching this than I was entertained. Which is not to say that it is all bad... but it certainly is not all good. The people who made this, who shall remain nameless, threw together a goofy plot and executed it without style or pizazz.

The story line alone for this flick makes it automatically pointless to watch as it tends to sound a lot like the totally not worth watching movie "The Grudge". I wonder if the story/plot similarity between the two films can be considered as related, "The House Where Evil Dwells" (original), "The Grudge" (a remake"?; "The Grudge" is supposed to be a remake of the Japanese film "Ju-on", so maybe not). Maybe "The House Where Evil Dwells" also inspired Ju-on? From this perspective a ghost story, is a ghost story, is a ghost story.....According to the general consensus in the reviews of this film it would make no sense to watch it.

This was a surprisingly good film for a 70s style B movie with an awesome ending, and I mean awesome. The movie begins set in the mid 19th century with a samurai who discover his wife cheating with another man. The husband flies into a rage and slaughters them before committing seppuku. This all took place in the small house that later in the 20th century would be rented to the American family. And that's when all the crazy stuff begins. The family starts experiencing more and more odd events in the home including giant crabs that terrorize the daughter. For some reason all three ghosts work together to manipulate the wife and husband leading them down a path to destruction involving the family friend. Inexplicably, rather than just getting the hell out of that freak house, the couple decide to seek the assistance of a local odd Buddhist monk. But the monks efforts were not enough to hold off the manipulative ghosts. All this manipulation from the three ghosts eventually leads to the awesome final scene. This is absolutely a corny and humorous movie because of the 70s style, the goofy low tech translucent blue ghosts, and giant crabs, but it was also a very entertaining film even before the kick ass ending. One of the other positives of this film is that it included one or two good * scenes along with the entertaining 70s aspects, a couple of good bloody sword scenes and the killer ending makes this a highly recommended movie to see.

This is a rotten movie.The cast seem to know just how bad it was.it starts badly and by the end is truly bad.the acting is woeful.the script could of been written on the spot.and although the movie is a horror film it has no scary scenes.Crap 1 out of 10

The film opens with a peaceful shot of a traditional Japanese house complete with thatched roof that sits on the side of a small hill and an on screen caption appears that reads 'KUSHIATA KYOTO, JAPAN 1840'. A young Japanese trainee Samurai named Masanori (Toshiya Maruyama) walks up the winding path to the house, inside waits Otami (Mako Hattori) with whom he is having an affair behind her husband, Shugoro's (Tsuiyuki Sasaki as Toshiyuki Sasaki) back who happens to be Masanori's teacher. Shugoro unexpectedly arrives home to find his wife and student having very intimate relations with each other. His honour destroyed the enraged Samurai brutally murders both Otami and Masanori before committing suicide. Over a century later and Ted Fletcher (Edward Albert) arrives in Japan on a working holiday with his wife Laura (Susan George) and their young daughter Amy (Amy Barrett). Their close friend Alex Curtis (Doug McClure) who works for the American consulate helps them out by finding them a place to stay, you don't need me to you where! He jokingly says it's going so cheap because it's haunted, to which both Ted and Laura laugh off as they obviously don't believe in ghosts, at least for the time being that is. Almost immediately the film goes into cliché mode. Lights turn on and off by themselves, Laura has an uneasy feeling about the place and a local Zen Monk (Henry Mitowa) gives them an ominous warning for them to leave before it's too late which they ignore, of course. The spirits of Otami, Masanori and Shugoro were doomed for eternity to remain within the walls of the house because of a Majyo witches (Tsuyako Olajima) curse put upon them. But there may be a way they can break the curse, unfortunately for the Fletcher family it could potentially cost them their marriage, daughter and possibly even their very lives. Directed by Kevin Connor I thought this was a pretty average film, OK to watch once if you've got nothing better to do but after a day or two you'll probably have completely forgotten it. Nothing sticks in the memory as being particularly bad but on the other hand there's nothing particularly good about the film either. The script by Robert Suhosky from the novel by James Hardiman is a little on the dull side and strictly by-the-numbers, a lot of ghostly goings on happen throughout the film but none of it is very interesting or exciting and the flat characters and direction doesn't help things. There are couple of silly sequences like the giant plastic crabs that try to get Amy and her babysitter, Noriko (Mayumi Umeda). And there is a scene where the Zen Monk exorcises the house and the ghosts are banished outside unable to get back in, however that is until Ted simply opens the door and they just walk right back in, some exorcism! One more thing, I think it was a bad idea to have Doug McClure who was 47 when he made this, try his hand at Kung-Fu and oriental sword fighting! George gets her ample breasts out a couple of times including a very unerotic sex scene with McClure, although great pains and a couple of bed sheets that stick to them like super glue were taken to ensure no below the waist nudity was present. Apart from a couple of mostly off screen decapitations there's no blood, gore or violence to speak about. The 'transparent' ghost effects are OK but they ain't going to impress many people these days. It's professionally enough made and looks quite nice but the potential in the Japanese setting and myths is squandered as this film could have been set in America, England or any Western country without having to change a thing. An OK time waster.