House

As a young heathen growing up with Grandparents who loved Hitchcock murder mysteries, it didn’t take me too long to stumble upon things that would horrify me on TNT. I got my first taste of Return of the Living Dead when I was about 7 years old. One lesser known flick was house. I would always catch small snippets of the movie, but I saw enough creature effects to give me some restless nights. In these final months leading to Halloween, I decided that it was time to rent house again.
It’s the story of a successful author who writes scary stuff and has a fan base, but his latest book is about his experiences in the Vietnam war. There is a lack of interest in this subject matter. He inherits a house from his aunt where she committed suicide not too long ago. It’s largely a horror comedy, and it’s a good mixture, almost on par with Evil Dead 2. George Wendt as his nosy neighbor adds a level-headedness to the spooky proceedings. Poor guys house is overrun with ancient evils, portals opening up, etc. When he finally finds out the source of all this weirdness, it is a Tales from the Crypt nightmare.
You see, it has Nam flashbacks with Bull from Night Court. In one scene, our hero has the chance to put Bull out of his misery, but can’t bring himself to slit his throat. Seconds later, the Viet Cong capture Bull as he bellows “I’ll never forgive you for this!” At one point, our hero goes through a bathroom window into an alternate world that looks suspiciously like Vietnam. He finds his missing son in a cage and is trying to get him out. The child escapes, but soon enough, here comes Bull. He is skeletal, rotting, and pissed off. He chases him through the house, and it’s eventually revealed that the dude can’t even hurt the living. So Mr. 80’s perm lodges a live grenade in the ghoul’s chest, and they live happily ever after. (Until House 2, that is)

P.S. This is not the Japanese House. You can tell that one because the announcer likes to call it HOOOOUUUSSSSEEEEE