It's easy to interpret Nobuhiko Obayashi's "Hausu" as a bizarre horror-fantasy. Let's face it: a bunch of teenage girls who go to a house that swallows each of them, how could anyone take that seriously? It sounds more like something that should star Bruce Campbell.
Ah, but when you watch the interview with the director on the Criterion release, that's where it changes. You see, it's understood that the aunt died while waiting for her fiancé to return from WWII, so her spirit has stayed in the house and eats girls who enter. But the director has a more personal connection. He is from Hiroshima and survived the bombing, but he lost friends in the bombing. In that respect, the movie is an indictment of war and war's lasting effects.
Of course, even if you don't realize that, the movie is still a fun romp. It's got some of the weirdest sequences imaginable. The sort of movie that you have to see to believe, and I have no doubt that you'll enjoy it.
Ah, but when you watch the interview with the director on the Criterion release, that's where it changes. You see, it's understood that the aunt died while waiting for her fiancé to return from WWII, so her spirit has stayed in the house and eats girls who enter. But the director has a more personal connection. He is from Hiroshima and survived the bombing, but he lost friends in the bombing. In that respect, the movie is an indictment of war and war's lasting effects.
Of course, even if you don't realize that, the movie is still a fun romp. It's got some of the weirdest sequences imaginable. The sort of movie that you have to see to believe, and I have no doubt that you'll enjoy it.