I learned about Hausu from an article called The 5 Most Baffling Horror Movies from Around the World, where this was inexplicably #5. The article describes the plot as “a group of schoolgirls go to visit a lonely old lady at her isolated property when suddenly God has an acid flashback.” It’s a cross between Moulin Rouge and Japanese Super Happy Fun Time! On the surface it appears too stupid, but its audacious style is extremely entertaining, infinitely bizarre, sometimes quite funny and always surprising. Try explaining to people why in Evil Dead II it’s awesome when Ash chases his possessed hand around the cabin. It just is.
Before the house, things are kind of explainable. The style tricks set in “reality” make for a smooth transition for the later fantasy stuff. Not everything works, but the amount that does is astonishingly high, including a couple of musical numbers. (It would’ve been a missed opportunity for Hausu to not have musical numbers.) The color and sound effects and sheer joy of filmmaking make this a great Halloween film for a group, and much more upbeat than Tetsuo: The Iron Man.
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