House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)

6/10
Any score is fairly arbitrary because this one is basically unrateable. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi's debut feature in 1977 and although it definitely lands in the so-bad-it's-good category, it's also interesting to watch because of just how off the wall and outrageous it is. Obayashi was given a lot of money and the keys to the studio at a time when theatres all around the world were in a depression and he blew the doors off the thing, throwing in as much as he possibly could without any real logic to it. The basic plot is that a girl and six of her friends (all with names like Gorgeous, Fantasy, Melody, Sweet, etc) take their summer vacation to visit Gorgeous' reclusive, bizarre, estranged aunt. One by one mysterious things start to happen...you know the rest. But there's so much weird shit that happens along the way, you have to see it to believe it. I'm kind of surprised this movie isn't more talked about because it's like nothing I've ever seen before, good or bad. It was fun to watch with friends and have a laugh at its ludicrousness, but it did get tedious at times.