The House Where Evil Dwells (1982)

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.

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers:

Robert Suhosky (screenplay), James Hardiman (novel)

Stars:

Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Albert	...	Ted Fletcher
Susan George	...	Laura Fletcher
Doug McClure	...	Alex Curtis
Amy Barrett	...	Amy Fletcher
Mako Hattori	...	Otami
Shunji Sasaki	...	Shugoro (as Toshiyuki Sasaki)
Toshiya Maruyama	...	Masanori
Tsuyako Okajima	...	Majyo Witch
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

Storyline

In 1840, a samurai comes home to find his wife in bed with another man, so he kills them both and then himself. Flash-forward to the present day, and an American family of three moves into this since-abandoned house and starts to experience incidents of haunting and possession.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | topless female nudity | milf | sex scene | eye candy | 

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Taglines:

An ancient curse has turned their lives into a nightmare of lust and revenge.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Casa do Diabo

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Gross USA:

$667,863

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$667,863

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cohen, Commercial Credit Holdings, Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture is not one of the film's director Kevin Connor's favorite movies that he has directed. Connor has said that this is because the film's producers re-cut his version after he had submitted it with the depth of the relationships between the characters being lost.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The 1986 UK Warner video version was cut by 34 secs by the BBFC to edit the decapitation scenes and shots of a severed arm.

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Connections

Features J.A.K.Q. Blitzkrieg Squad (1977)

User Reviews

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.