The House Where Evil Dwells (1982)

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers:

Robert Suhosky (screenplay)
James Hardiman (novel)

Release Date:

14 May 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

It Never Forgives Or Forgets

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

House | Ghost | Haunted | 1840s | Samurai

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Edward Albert	...	Ted Fletcher
Susan George	...	Laura Fletcher
Doug McClure	...	Alex Curtis
Amy Barrett	...	Amy Fletcher
Mako Hattori	...	Otami
Tsuiyuki Sasaki	...	Shugoro (as Toshiyuki Sasaki)
Toshiya Maruyama	...	Masanori
Tsuyako Olajima	...	Majyo Witch (as Tsuyako Okajima)
Henry Mitowa	...	Zen Monk
Mayumi Umeda	...	Noriko, the babysitter
Hiroko Takano	...	Wakako
Shuren Sakurai	...	Noh Mask Maker
Shôji Ohara	...	Assistant Mask Maker (as Shoji Ohara)
Jirô Shirai	...	Tadashi (as Jiro Shirai)
Kazuo Yoshida	...	Editor
Kunihiko Shinjo	...	Assistant Editor
Gentaro Mori	...	Yoshio
Tomoko Shimizu	...	Aiko
Misao Arai	...	Hayashi
Chiyoko Hardiman	...	Mama-San
Hideo Shimedo	...	Policeman (as Hideo Shimado)

Directed by
Kevin Connor

Writing credits
Robert Suhosky		(screenplay)
James Hardiman		(novel)

Produced by
Martin B. Cohen	....	producer

Original Music by
Ken Thorne

Cinematography by
Jacques Haitkin

Film Editing by
Barry Peters

Casting by
Mikiya Kashima

Art Direction by
Yoshikazu Sano

Makeup Department
Hatsuo Nagatomo	....	makeup artist
Masako Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Misao Arai	....	executive in charge of production
Tairo Taira	....	production director

Art Department
Toshiyuke Manabe	....	property master
Tadeo Nishida	....	property master
Shigeji Yamamoto	....	property master

Sound Department
Teruhiko Arakawa	....	sound
Graham Harris	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Anne S. Coffey	....	camera operator: second unit (as Anne Coffey)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Munejuki Kuroki	....	wardrober
Nobuo Miyagawa	....	wardrober

Music Department
Richard S. Kaufman	....	conductor (as Richard Kaufman)

Other crew
Tan Tanaka	....	executive general director

Production Companies

• Cohen
• Commercial Credit Holdings
• Toei Company

Distributors

• MGM/UA Entertainment Company (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1986) (Belgium) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Gomillion Sound  post-production

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #26559) | Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | UK:18 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Cohen

Trivia:

Mako Hattori receives an "introducing" credit.

Quotes:

Amy Fletcher:[as she is watching a blue, ghostly face making faces at her] There's an awful face in my soup!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Vamp (1986) (V)

Silly, boring ghost story

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.