House II: The Story Continues…in a completely new house…
This weekend I revisited my youth with a gig at Leeds’ famous Kirkstall Abbey. A huge line up of bands I’d loved since I was a young whippersnapper. An absolutely great day and being in VIP with free drinks tokens ensured I was sufficiently lubricated throughout. I was also spurred on as whilst at the gig, VHiStory hit 1,000 views, so a huge thank you to everyone who has and continues to read this blog. Keep your eyes peeled but there’s some big plans coming up before the end of the year…
Anyway. That’s all well and good. Unfortunately though, I’m now 34 and I can’t put them away and crack on the next day like I used to when I first saw those bands at 17/18… it meant I was going to have to have a day, on the sofa, feeling sorry for myself and watching a comfort film.
Everyone will have their own but my go to is House (1985). Initially intended as an anthology style film, House became a on location film packed with ideas, concepts, vibes and some truly abstract horror. It was a surprise box office success and obviously lead to a sequel.
House II: The Second Story (1987) duly followed two years after and is probably my favourite in the series. After watching the first, I had to watch the second too. Despite the tagline of the story continuing…it doesn’t. It’s set in a totally new house, with completely new characters and apart from high levels of insanity, doesn’t really share any of the same DNA. This is pretty much the way the rest of the series carries on. The tone difference between II and III: The Horror Show, particularly, is insane.
Logging it on Letterboxd (it doesn’t count unless you log it…) I was shocked to see a plethora of 1 & 2* reviews. Were my friends watching the same film as me?!
If for some reason you’re reading this blog having not watched House II, you need to rectify that soon. Ignore the naysayers and throw yourself into a true love letter to cinema.
That’s what this film is to me. It has elements of near enough every style of film you can imagine. It’s a horror, a comedy, a western and an adventure epic. It’s got real love in there too. Familial love on the screen with Gramps and Jesse’s relationship. We also get the bromance between Jesse and Charlie. It feels real and makes the characters loveable.
There’s clear love to SFX geniuses who came before: Ray Harryhausen style stop motion effects as well as beautiful make up and puppetry. We’re treated to a baby Pterodactyl, a zombie horse and the infamous Catterpuppy. The sets are gorgeous and feel realistic, transporting us to Aztec temples, Jurassic lands of the lost, western saloons and ghostly graveyards. We also get one of my favourite character types through Bill Maher: the 80s prick in a suit. His smarmy performance is perfect.
John Ratzenberger comes in and steals the show for me as Bill Towner, Electrician and Adventurer. In a film crammed with surreal moments, his brief cameo ramps up the comedy and is delivered in such a deadpan manner, it feels believable. Watching the Arrow Blu-Ray release, it made it even funnier realising that Ratzenberger was classically trained in London and did his own stunts and sword fighting in his scene. He also improvised the majority of his lines and had the rest of the cast and crew in tears.
It’s got flaws for sure. As a horror film I’ve seen scarier dog food adverts. Throw off that shackle of going into the film and expecting horror and I defy anyone to watch this film and not take some enjoyment from it.
The whole series is genuinely bonkers but House II really takes the crown amongst its siblings. It’s impossible to pin down but it feels like that’s the whole point. It was written in 2 weeks and that could be interpreted as a negative or a positive. To me, I look at and think “Is this not just a bunch of writers, actors, set designers, SFX crew and producers making a film about shit they loved?” It certainly seems that way to me.
A 5th film/reboot was announced back in 2024 by Sean S.Cunningham but so far, aside from an updated poster to include a ring door bell, no further details have come. Would it work now? Could a similar film be made? I don’t think so but if they can rope in some of the people who made this so special, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
House II is available on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray new and used! I would recommend getting your hands on Arrows fantastic set of all 4 films in the series!
