Not to be confused with the epically strange Japanese movie the Trylon plays every Halloween, this is an obscure horror franchise who's only major through line is the title. (Though, this series was produced by Sean S. Cunningham who produced the Friday the 13th franchise, and features music by Harry Manfredini who scored the same series... if you count that sort of thing as coherence.) If you've not watched any of the House movies, you're missing out on a strange pocket of haunting movies that get weirder the further you get into the series.
House (1985): Troubled writer, Roger Cobb, has just inherited a house from his aunt and is moving in with the hope it will help him focus on writing his new book. But, this man is not just a tortured man writing a memoir outlining the haunting memories he brought back with him from Vietnam; he's also processing the loss of his child from a failed marriage! All that stuff is about to take a back seat though, because the house has begun to reveal that it's far more than just a house... Directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th II & III, Lake Placid, and Halloween H20), stars William Katt (who was the titular Greatest American Hero) and features George Went (Norm from Cheers), this weird-but-fun film does a surprisingly good job of balancing scares, comedy and heartfelt character moments. It also features some great monster effects, is Kane Hodder's (Jason Voorhees (parts VII-X) first credited Stunt Coordinator effort, and is one of Fred Dekker's (writer/director Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) earliest writing credits.
House 2 (1987): Jesse (Arye Gross) and his friend Charlie (Johnathan Stark) uncover a murder mystery that has connections to Jesses his parents, great-grandfather, and an ancient Aztec crystal skull. This sequel was directed by the writer of the original's screenplay, and as you may have guessed, has almost nothing to do with the previous flick, including it taking place in a different house. This one is also a lot more goofy and leans harder into wacky comedy than it does horror movie. But, even though this installment is as big a mess as it sounds like it is, it's still enjoyable mostly due to Chris Wallas and his effects crew (Gremlins, The Fly) who bring some really bizarre and fun creature effects by way of skeleton cowboys, pterodactyls, and a caterpillar-puppy.
House 3 (aka The Horror Show (1989)): After a long murder spree, crazed serial killer (Brion James) has finally been caught and sentenced to death by electric chair. Unfortunately, sending a murderous amount of electricity through his body only gives his newly forming ghost super powers! He puts these powers to immediate use by tormenting the detective who took him down (Lance Henricksen) and killing everyone close to him. Now, if you're familiar with this series you may have just exclaimed "there were more than two of these movies?!!", or perhaps you came across House 4 and thought "what the hell happened to part three?". Those are both common reactions (to the few that fit the criteria of knowing about these movies at all) due to the fact that Sean S. Cunningham pre-sold this movie to European distributors under the name House 3 but, once they started actually making the movie, he realized this flick wasn't going to fit into the the franchise so for releases everywhere else they called it The Horror Show. This installment takes yet another departure from the previous flicks as far as tone, this time omitting the comedy completely and leaning hard into dark to the point of mean spirited. But, the two lead actors give some pretty great performances and there are more wild and enjoyable effects and gore by a young KNB effects team.
House 4 (1992): Roger Cobb is (finally) back! And he's killed in a car accident right away! He's also married to Kelly Cobb (Terri Treas) and they have a 12 year old daughter, but there's no mention of his wife from the first movie, or that he had a son that disappeared, or that they are "returning" to a house that's totally different from the house in the first film... but seems like it's
supposed to be the house from the first film... Still, the last in this weird series is the first to have anything to do with any of the others and that's at least something! This installment was straight to video and sadly was the last in the series, but it is another fun/weird notch in the belt of director Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Witchboard).
House (1985): Troubled writer, Roger Cobb, has just inherited a house from his aunt and is moving in with the hope it will help him focus on writing his new book. But, this man is not just a tortured man writing a memoir outlining the haunting memories he brought back with him from Vietnam; he's also processing the loss of his child from a failed marriage! All that stuff is about to take a back seat though, because the house has begun to reveal that it's far more than just a house... Directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th II & III, Lake Placid, and Halloween H20), stars William Katt (who was the titular Greatest American Hero) and features George Went (Norm from Cheers), this weird-but-fun film does a surprisingly good job of balancing scares, comedy and heartfelt character moments. It also features some great monster effects, is Kane Hodder's (Jason Voorhees (parts VII-X) first credited Stunt Coordinator effort, and is one of Fred Dekker's (writer/director Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) earliest writing credits.
House 2 (1987): Jesse (Arye Gross) and his friend Charlie (Johnathan Stark) uncover a murder mystery that has connections to Jesses his parents, great-grandfather, and an ancient Aztec crystal skull. This sequel was directed by the writer of the original's screenplay, and as you may have guessed, has almost nothing to do with the previous flick, including it taking place in a different house. This one is also a lot more goofy and leans harder into wacky comedy than it does horror movie. But, even though this installment is as big a mess as it sounds like it is, it's still enjoyable mostly due to Chris Wallas and his effects crew (Gremlins, The Fly) who bring some really bizarre and fun creature effects by way of skeleton cowboys, pterodactyls, and a caterpillar-puppy. 
House 4 (1992): Roger Cobb is (finally) back! And he's killed in a car accident right away! He's also married to Kelly Cobb (Terri Treas) and they have a 12 year old daughter, but there's no mention of his wife from the first movie, or that he had a son that disappeared, or that they are "returning" to a house that's totally different from the house in the first film... but seems like it's supposed to be the house from the first film... Still, the last in this weird series is the first to have anything to do with any of the others and that's at least something! This installment was straight to video and sadly was the last in the series, but it is another fun/weird notch in the belt of director Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Witchboard).
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