[wp-review id=”75578″]

HOUSE
Roger Cobb is an author of crime thriller books and he is quite successful.  His agent and the publishers are hounding him about getting his next book out there but he wants to do something a little different.  He’s a Vietnam vet and he wants to do a book about his experiences over there during the war.  He has dealt with some real horrors in his life like the PTSD from the war and the loss of his son.
 
His Aunt passes away in her very old house that has been left to him so he decided to move in to write his new book in solitude.  But is he really alone?
 
HOUSE is a horror comedy directed by Steve Miner.  It’s one of those movies that you might catch on a Sunday afternoon on cable when there isn’t much on TV.  It doesn’t feel like much of a comedy at first with one of the first images in the movie being Roger’s dead Aunt.  George Wendt is hilarious because he really has nothing but genuine worry for his new neighbor and brings an incredibly funny portrayal of his character.  His timing keeps the lighter parts clearly light.
 
Cast
William Katt as Roger Cobb
George Wendt as Harold Gorton
Richard Moll as Big Ben
Kay Lenz as Sandy Sinclair
 

HOUSE II: The Second Story
After many years, Jesse and his girlfriend Kate are returning to the mansion that has been in his family for generations.  Also along for the ride are Jesse’s friend Charlie and his girlfriend Lana.  After they move in, Jesse finds a picture of his great-great grandfather holding a jeweled, crystal skull.  When they figure out that he is buried with the skull, they decide to go get it back and that means digging it up.
 
Ethan Wiley directs HOUSE II and the majority of his career is doing sequels.  Like the first movie, it is a horror comedy but it live more in the comedy realm than horror.  Yes, there are zombies, worm…pet…things, and a super creepy villain but the movie never takes itself too seriously.  
 
Cast
Arye Gross – Jesse
Jonathan Stark – Charlie
Royal Dano – Gramps
Bill Maher – John
John Ratzenberger – Bill
Lar Park Lincoln – Kate
Amy Yasbeck – Lana
 

VIDEO QUALITY:

HOUSE
The transfer is a 1080p AVC presentation, which has been restored to a 2k resolution from the original 35mm film.  It makes for a cleaner picture that looks better than any version up to this point.  There is a film grain that gets both heavier and lighter at times.  It gives the film some character and aligns it with the Arrow Films library.  Skin tones are a shade on the red or pink side depending on the time of day of the scene.  There is decent contrasting for the most part but some of the trouble can come from the smoky or foggy scenes and when there are deep black backgrounds.  Otherwise, it is  a solid transfer.

 
HOUSE II:: The Second Story
The transfer is a 1080p AVC presentation, which has been restored, in a similar fashion as the first movie.  It is a 2k scan restored from the 35mm film.  This transfer is not as good as the other.  It could have to do with the source material but the skin tones aren’t very natural looking.  They’re much warmer than they should be and some of the primaries are stronger as well.  The details are there and they have some fluctuating contrasting in lower lit scenes.
 

AUDIO QUALITY:

HOUSE and HOUSE II:: The Second Story
The audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. Both utilize the home theater to bring the various parts together in a way that makes some of the action scenes and scares stronger. The effects move and echo in places that make the spaces feel larger.  The voices are clear and reproduced well. The available mono and stereo mixes are on the shallow side but for a reason.  There is a lot happening on screen and even though this has been created from the original audio, the 5.1 mix suits the movies better.

 

SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING

HOUSE
-Audio Commentary: with Ethan Wiley, William Katt, Sean Cunningham and Steve Miner.
 
-Ding Dong, You’re Dead!: This long featurette about the production dives deep into this movie.
 
-Vintage Making Of: This featurette is over 20 mins of the old style of a behind the scenes look at the movie.
 
-Still Gallery
 
-Trailers
 
-Teaser
 
-TV Spots
 
HOUSE II: The Second Story
-Audio Commentary: with Ethan Wiley and Sean Cunningham.
 
It’s Getting Weirder!: This featurette is a good look at the movie with some of the folks involved.
 
-Vintage EPK: This behind the scenes look at the movie is like the standard EPKs.
 
-Still Gallery
 
-TV Spot
 
Disc Details
2-disc set with 2 Blu-rays 
 
HOUSE
Edition Ratings
Rated PG-13
 
Region Coding
Region A
 
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
 
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English LPCM 2.0
English LPCM Mono
 
Subtitles
English SDH

HOUSE II: The Second Story
Edition Ratings
Rated R
 
Region Coding
Region A
 
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
 
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English LPCM 2.0
English LPCM Mono
 
Subtitles
English SDH
 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

HOUSE and HOUSE II are the types of movies that the time period is known for with gross horror and some comedy.  There are some good points of acting and I feel like so much more was put into the first movie than the second.  The audio and video have been restored well and the bonus features have plenty of information on both movies.  As I mentioned, this is the best these movies have ever looked and I would recommend grabbing this if you’re a fan.