About
Nobuhiko Obayashi's man-eating-piano haunted house plays on 35mm at Metrograph, right up against midnight.
House is the film people describe with their hands because words fail — a severed head that bites, a piano that eats a girl, chroma-key skies painted like a cough-syrup ad — and every effect was built in camera in 1977. On 35mm the seams show, which is the entire point. If you want the specific New York pleasure of walking onto Ludlow Street at one in the morning deranged, this is your screening.
What to expect
A late-night repertory crowd that laughs and gasps in the right places, in Metrograph's small Ludlow Street auditorium. The print carries visible grain and color shifts that suit the film's hand-made effects. The bar upstairs runs late enough for a post-mortem.
Good to know
- Metrograph is at 7 Ludlow Street; the F to East Broadway is the closest stop
- Late-night screenings are the easiest Metrograph shows to walk up to, but booking is still safer
- The film is in Japanese with English subtitles
- It runs 88 minutes, so you are out well before the subway thins out
- The upstairs bar is a good landing spot afterward
- Ask about accessible seating and elevator access when you book
More film this weekend
Common questions
Is House actually scary?
It is more delirious than frightening — a comedy-horror built from psychedelic in-camera effects rather than dread.
Is it subtitled?
Yes, it screens in Japanese with English subtitles.
Is it a good first repertory screening?
It is one of the best — short, wildly entertaining, and a crowd film that rewards seeing it with strangers.