House (1986)

Director:

Steve Miner

Writers:

Fred Dekker (story)
Ethan Wiley (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 February 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Ding dong, you're dead.

Plot:

Roger Cobb is a Vietnam vet. Whose career as a horror novelist has taken a turn for the worse when his...

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Author | Shot In The Back | Cut Into Pieces | Supernatural

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

William Katt	...	Roger Cobb
George Wendt	...	Harold Gorton
Richard Moll	...	Big Ben
Kay Lenz	...	Sandy Sinclair
Mary Stavin	...	Tanya
Michael Ensign	...	Chet Parker
Erik Silver	...	Jimmy
Mark Silver	...	Jimmy
Susan French	...	Aunt Elizabeth
Alan Autry	...	Cop #3
Steven Williams	...	Cop #4
James Calvert	...	Grocery Boy (as Jim Calvert)
Mindy Sterling	...	Woman in Bookstore
Jayson Kane	...	Cheesy Stud
Billy Beck	...	Priest

Also Known As:

House: Ding Dong, You're Dead (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Glenn Close and Sigourney Weaver were considered for the female lead role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Roger and Jimmy are surprised by Skeleton Ben at the front door, their clothes and hair are dripping wet. Two seconds later, their clothes and hair are perfectly dry.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Grocery Boy: Mrs. Hooper?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Monster Squad Forever! (2007) (V)

lotsa fun

I had to make a comment simply because most of those I've read have missed part of the point.

William Katt is an author dealing with a number of emotional challenges all at the same time. All these things start fraying at his psychological health; he's not coping well.

What's haunting him most of all is the guilt he feels over an incident while he was serving in Vietnam. His buddy is wounded, and requests that William kill him, but William runs "for help" and his buddy is captured, to suffer torture as a POW.

His ordeal at this time in his life that we watch through the movie is his final process of dealing with that guilt.

Along the way, we are treated to that unique genre of horror-comedy. And, make no mistake, it is both funny and frightening.

The difficult thing is the direction, which tries to suggest that what he sees (and what we, the audience see) is not what others see. These things are presented so as to fool him, and us, into thinking they are in fact "real." By the time we get to the end, we see what the real deal is.

It's not perfect, but it was fun.