HORROR BUSINESS Episode 72: HOUSE & HOUSE II

Greetings and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. In this episode we’re talking about 1986’s House and 1988’s House II. First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks! We start by briefly discussing what we’ve done lately involving horror. Liam talks about seeing Alucarda, and then discusses the conclusion of HBO’s The Outsider. Justin talks about the Netflix series I Am Not Okay With This, and the films The Invisible Man and VFW. Up first is House. We start by talking about our earliest experiences with this film; Liam talks about how the film early on seemed like little more than a fun adventure movie only to realize later on that the film is quite scary. We discuss how a lot of people conflate the two films and confuse the second for the first, the difference being that the first one is actually quite scary whereas the second is rather silly. The idea of the film being just a little too much for being an introductory film into the genre for kids is discussed. Justin talks about seeing the film on HBO as a child and believing that the one monster in the film was “Bloody Mary”. Some of the scarier moments in the film are discussed, especially the effects of the film and how legitimately nightmarish some of the imagery is. The film as a parable for how Vietnam vets were treated, and for PTSD in general, is discussed. The film’s uneven ending and resolution is touched upon, in that early on the film alludes to the house itself being some kind of malevolent entity until it’s revealed that the entire plot was an orchestration of a singular character and we spend some time on how the film has something of a weak ending overall. The film transitioning from a “funny but effective horror movie to an entirely horror adventure film” is touched upon. The film’s somewhat tasteless depiction of the Vietnam War is briefly discussed, and we again talk about how the film could be seen as a metaphor for how soldiers are treated when they return from war: everyone loves the troops until they come home and it’s time to actually hear what they have to say. We conclude by discussing George Wendt’s performance. Up next is House II. The production of the film is touched upon, as is the drop in quality from the first film and its inclusion in the La Casa series. We give a brief outline of the plot of the film and how, unlike the first film, it establishes a “big bad” character early on (but then fails to really include the character until the end of the film). Royal Dano’s character, and how he’s the most “human” character in the film, is touched upon. Some of the creatures, including the fabled Dogerpillar, are discussed. John Ratzenberger’s character, and how he might actually be the most interesting character, and how it’s Liam’s favorite part of the film is discussed. We conclude that, while the film isn’t nearly as good as the first one it’s still an extremely fun film. Thanks to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected].  We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com), and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz666, check out our Spotify account (at Cinepunx), and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on iTunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time… thanks!