House (1977)
This Japanese film by Nobuhiko Obayashi as a gentle eeriness to it until the story unfolds. When Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) invites six of her friends to her family’s home, little would she know that the abode has other plans for them. It’s one part terrifying and two parts surreal. I feel that this is the perfect haunted house story to watch for the season.
Some fans like to compare this work to that of John Hughes or Sam Raimi but they emerged later in the horror cinema scene. The Evil Dead was not made until 1981! I believe Raimi might have been influenced by this film before he made his first or second film.
KISS Meet the Phantom of the Park (1978)
This movie is a conundrum when considering the members of KISS must have relaxed their feelings towards how they are depicted on-screen. I’ve watched Scooby-Doo! & KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015) and I see the band is just as buffoonish in this recent animated take. In this newer movie, they are super-powered. In this 70’s film, they just rely on their stage magic to fight the evil.
The plots for both are just as outlandish. While the story is nothing like Image Comic’s Psycho Circus, where the glitter is replaced with the gothic, I accept this 70’s product for what it is, to spotlight their music. At least we get to see Peter Criss, the original Catman, sing Beth as it should sound. I’m sad for Peter. He is the Catman! Whatever his personal problems were, he owns this song because it delved into his heartaches, not the band’s.
