Nobuhiko Obayashi's "House" haunts North American theatres

by Chris MaGee

I owe my love for Nobuhiko Obayashi's debut feature film "House" to the enthusiasm of one man, Outcast Cinema's Marc Walkow. His posts about this wonderfully insane horror film twigged my attention and once I scared up a copy of it I too became a "House" convert. Since that I've tried to induct others into the "House" army including all the Pow-Wow writers. Recently we all hunkered down at my apartment and watched the story of Oshare, Gari, Kung Fu, Maku, Fanta, and Sweet as they face every kind of psychedelic threat in the country house of Oshare's mysterious aunt. After picking their jaws up off the floor they too fell in love with "House". Now Janus Films, the folks who own the rights to the film, have dedicated a page on their website exclusively to its touring release across the U.S. and Canada. If you live in Boulder, Calgary, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Rochester or Denver than there is simply no excuse not to go and check out "House" on the big screen as it tours through your town between October and December. Trust me, you'll be thankful you did.

For all of you who aren't lucky enough to live in one of these select cities then Janus and the Criterion Collection have areal treat in store for you. According to our U.S. correspondent Eric Evans it was announced at the packed screening of "House" that took place at this year's Fantastic Fest in Austin Texas that Obayashi's film was finally going to be receiving a Region 1 DVD release sometime in the near future. Fantastic news!

Thanks to the man who started it all Marc Walkow for the heads up on "House" touring through North America.