Every decade has its own distinct flavor of horror, but to genre fans, there was something special about the ’80s. Released in the middle of the era sits the wacky 1985 cult classic House. The film doesn’t often receive the same recognition as classics of the time, such as Fright Night and Evil Dead II, but it deserves it. It’s a haunted house tale wrapped in a war story, filled with comedic elements and top-notch practical effects. It doesn’t fit perfectly into one particular box, and that is part of its charm. House spawned a franchise of films, notably on the back of its fun, genre-blending approach and special effects wizardry. It’s campy, strange and feels hand-crafted. The monsters are surreal and imperfect, which adds to the overall tone. Rewatching House nearly 40 years later highlights the unique appeal of the era’s commitment to practical effects.
House and other films like it feel organic because they were made with a kind of creative freedom that doesn’t exist in most modern horror. The technology didn’t exist to fix issues in post with CGI, so issues had to be addressed on set and navigated with imagination and innovation. Even if the results were rough around the edges, the effects had personality. The tone of House swings from horror to humor seamlessly, and the animatronics and puppets reflect that. Even if the plot doesn’t land with some viewers, horror fans can generally appreciate the effort that comes across in the practical effects. For as strange as House is, it’s sincere in its delivery. As the great effects artist Tom Savini has stated previously, great practical effects can ground a film and give the monsters a physical presence that a digital approach lacks.
House’s Effects Perfectly Reflect ’80s Horror
Arthur Cobb (William Katt) nervously stares down the grotesque demon lunging at him.Image courtesy of New World Pictures
Directed by Steve Miner, of Friday the 13th franchise fame, the 1985 horror-comedy mashup House centers on novelist Roger Cobb (William Katt) as he moves into his deceased aunt’s house to finish his new book about his experiences in the Vietnam War. What may seem like a typical haunted house tale on the surface quickly bends in every possible genre direction. For all of its goofs and silliness, House surprisingly tackles themes of grief and trauma. Cobb is a war veteran, and the loss he carries isn’t something the movie brushes aside. Through a flashback, viewers are shown that his son had gone missing years earlier while swimming in the pool at the haunted house. All of Cobb’s past trauma from the war, his son’s disappearance, failed marriage and the death of his aunt are filtered through the house’s antics. In a way, the house itself is forcing Cobb to confront his past.
The story was penned by writer and director Fred Dekker, who genre fans may know from the cult classic The Monster Squad. Without a doubt, the film’s biggest strength is the practical effects. The effects are a part of the entertainment. Initially, they may be scary, but they’re also intentionally a bit ridiculous. The production team used prosthetics, puppets, animatronics and camera tricks to make the house feel alive. The monsters are oddly fitting for Cobb’s internal dilemmas. They’re imperfect metaphors of his mistakes. As over-the-top as some of the creatures may seem, they all represent something in Cobb’s life that’s been troubling him. They’re not necessarily terrifying in the same sense as the work by the legendary Rob Bottin and his team on John Carpenter’s The Thing, but they serve their purpose well. The monsters are surreal and look as if they’ve been summoned from a fever dream, which lines up with Cobb’s constant visions of the war. The creature effects are an accurate representation of Cobb’s past in their own wacky way.
The movie is unpredictable, from the tone to the jump scares. House shifts from scares to slapstick humor in the same way, yet somehow it all flows together. Even when the film displays violence, there’s an underlying sense of play. The late, prolific character actor, George Wendt, adds an extra hilarious element to the movie with his comedic timing. House mirrors the horror-comedy approach of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series. The tone and the creatures are married into a singular vision that highlights the constant mood shifts. The creature design has that rough, handmade texture that gives old horror movies their charm. The viewers can see the seams, but somehow that makes it feel more believable and authentic. The effects aren’t meant to be realistic; they’re meant to be theatrical and bizarre. The effects and the story itself are stuck somewhere between parody and playing it straight, and it works.
The effects give the movie a playful energy that’s rare even in ’80s horror. Watching the creatures move, knowing they’re pulled, propped, and manipulated by hand, makes every encounter feel alive. The performance of lead William Katt matches the energy. A veteran of the horror genre, having starred in Brian De Palma’s terrifying adaptation of Carrie, Katt completely understands what the filmmakers are trying to accomplish and doesn’t play it too loosely or too seriously. He walks the same horror-comedy tightrope as the film itself. He never overplays the absurdity, but he also doesn’t shy away from it. His approach allows the effects to shine. He doesn’t treat them as a complete joke because his reactions are believable. His portrayal enables the audience to enjoy the campy nature of the film while also still being able to root for him to survive the ordeal.
House Keeps the Horror Elements Alive Despite Its Comedic Tone
House still stands out 40 years later due to its inventive and creative effects. The bulk of the work was handled by the creature effects company Backwood Films. James Cummins was the creature design supervisor and designer for the film, and he was largely responsible for shaping the film’s most memorable monsters. Cummins’ goal was to move beyond simple gore or shock value. He wanted the creatures to feel surreal, almost like nightmares made tangible. That meant experimenting with proportions, textures and movements that weren’t necessarily realistic but carried personality. Cummins spearheaded the creation of the film’s famous “war demon” creature that pops out of the closet to grab Roger Cobb.
Cummins was joined by young, rising special effects star Chris Walas, who would go on to win an Academy Award for his work on David Cronenberg’s body horror remake The Fly. Walas was responsible for much of the makeup and creature effects in House, creating transformations and prosthetics that made the monsters feel alive in a tactile way. The creatures have a rubbery quality that some may consider dated, but it blends perfectly with the film’s goofy approach. The monsters have a dream-like appearance, but since they exist in the same physical space as the actors, they are able to react to them in a way that feels genuine.
Peter Chesney was responsible for the animatronics that made some of the more complicated creatures, like the massive 18-foot war demon, actually move. All the various disciplines of effects were represented on House and sometimes overlapped in the same scene: puppetry, animatronics and stop-motion. This could come off as chaotic, and it definitely does at times, but in the best way possible. The culmination of the various effects gives the movie a playful feel and serves to keep the audience off-balance, along with the ever-shifting tone. The crew was dedicated to making effects that meshed perfectly with Steve Miner and Fred Dekker’s vision for the final product.
The iconic practical effects displayed in the movie are a technical achievement that defines the film’s personality, cementing House as a classic haunted house movie of the era. The interior scenes of House were filmed on a sound stage, which was important as it gave the crew complete control over the sets and the effects. In all, the special effects were handled by a dedicated team of over 15 individuals to operate the puppets and animatronics, and 17 for the effects and makeup department. Working with a tight budget and a three-month time constraint, the effects team had to work long hours to complete the creatures in time for shooting.
House’s Tone and the Special Effects Stand the Test of Time
Arthur Cobb (William Katt) stands precariously at the edge of the cliff where his house is suddenly placed.Image courtesy of New World Pictures
House certainly has a unique feel when compared to modern horror and even its contemporaries of the ’80s. Initially, writer Fred Dekker and director Steve Miner intended to create a horror anthology film loosely based on The Twilight Zone: The Movie. House is Dekker’s segment in that planned project, which expanded into a full feature. Even all these years after its initial release, the effects in House still stand out and perfectly reflect the unpredictable story that unfolds. Knowing that it was meant to be used for a The Twilight Zone homage, the creative choices make a lot of sense in retrospect.
House is full of character, from the creatures themselves to Katt’s performance as Roger Cobb and George Wendt as the hilarious neighbor, Harold Gorton. All the various elements blend to make the film a unique horror experience in a decade defined by the genre. It may not be the most popular entry of the era, but it was financially successful at the box office, spawning several sequels. The oddball visuals and horror-comedy tonal dance create a movie that stands on its own over four decades later.
- Release Date
-
February 27, 1986
- Runtime
-
93 minutes
- Director
-
Steve Miner
- Writers
-
Ethan Wiley, Fred Dekker
- Producers
-
Sean S. Cunningham
-
-
George Wendt
Harold Gorton