On H List of Movie Reviews

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The House Where Evil Dwells (1982)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 5/20

HouseEvil
5/20: I randomly picked up The House Where Evil Dwells, thinking of it as another haunted house picture, but didn't realize the story was going to take place in Japan.

That being said, the introduction threw me off, and I was like, "Huh?", needing to pause the film to make sure that it's going to involve an American cast. After a while, I began to see the connection, so yeah...things did make sense after all despite the weird but scary-looking giant black spider crabs.

The ending is okay, but it loses me for good. I think, somewhere there, a different direction could've been taken for a more satisfying finish. After hearing the history of the house, the husband makes no mention of it to his family for a while? That's strange. I think they have the right to know.

Apart from the supernatural stuff which is done rather well through an old German camera technique called "Shauftausen," I can't stop thinking of Edward Albert as Perry King. What an uncanny resemblance they have of each other. It's too bad that Edward died of lung cancer at age 55 after taking care of his eponymous actor father for ten years until his death at 99.

Back to the film, Edward Albert makes the plot work, and he has a good screen presence and is fun to watch. His counterpart, Susan George, is okay, but her uneven tan throws me off a lot. Once again, she's nude after appearing in Straw Dogs; is that all there's to her acting career? Speaking of Susan George's character, she comes on to Alex (Doug McClure), and he does nothing to dissuade her? Some friend Alex is to her husband despite getting a nice-looking but haunted Japanese house on the cheap for them. I expected more from him given the strength of their bond.

All in all, a cheaply made American-Japanese haunted house picture, The House Where Evil Dwells isn't terrible.