Hausu (1977, dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, Japan) by Kymm Zuckert

“Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas! Bananas!”

Hausu is a film that i was introduced to by Secret Movie Club, I think in 2019, and then saw it again in 2021, but I didn’t remember much specific about it except that it was one of the craziest movies I’ve ever seen, and I remembered that spot on. Very crazy!

Seven schoolgirls, named Gorgeous (because she is), Fantasy (wildly imaginative), Kung-Fu (strong and athletic), Sweet (well, sweet!), Prof (smart and logical), Melody (the musician), and Mac (who likes to eat a lot, and I suppose this was a reference to Big Mac?), all go to visit Gorgeous’ aunt. Who lives in the House.

Originally, the girls were all going to go to a sports training camp, and Gorgeous was going on vacation with her father, but he brings home an unknown stepmother for Gorgeous, who is very upset, so she goes to join the training camp, only to find that it has been canceled, which is why she gets the idea for them all to visit her aunt, whom she doesn’t really know.

When they get there, many strange things start happening, and the girls start disappearing one by one, into the House. The only girl who sees what happens is Fantasy, but nobody believes her. “There you go, daydreaming again!” they say, and frankly, if a known person with a big imagination ran into a room and told me some of what Fantasy saw, I wouldn’t instantly believe her either. But finally, there are few enough girls left that they must believe.

After seeing this film for the first time, I heard that much of the scary stuff that happens to the girls came from the director’s daughter, who told her dad all the weird fears that she had when she was little, which is why it is so very weird. Kids imagine strange things, but you don’t often see it on the big screen.

This movie is seriously wild, very storybook-y, with big effects and over-the-top happenings. It is, clearly, very difficult to describe, but very fun to experience. Not a movie to miss, but also not a movie to expect to be like anything you have seen before.

Kymm Zuckert is an actor/writer/native Angelino. When Kymm was a child, her parents would take her to see anything, which means that sometimes she will see a film today and say, “I saw that when I was eight, I don’t remember any of that inappropriate sex stuff!” Check out her entire 365 day blog @ https://365filmsin365days.movie.blog