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The House Where Evil Dwells/Ghost Warrior - Double Feature
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (23rd February 2016). |
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The Film
 The last time Scream Factory unleashed a samurai shocker it was the unabashedly 80's “Ninja III: The Domination” (1984), a title I frequently champion as one of the greatest gems in their catalog. The film takes absurdity to new heights, but the insanity isn’t exactly done tongue-in-cheek, resulting in a rather… special movie that is a series of one crazy scene after the next. While neither of the titles included here reach those lofty peaks, both play as strong companion pieces to the pinnacle that is “Ninja III”. Here, what we have are two titles dealing with spirits from the past. In “The House Where Evil Dwells” (1982), those spirits are disembodied, while in “Ghost Warrior” (1984) the spirit is alive in the body of a samurai reawakened after spending 400 years on ice. The former has sporadic memorable moments but ultimately fails to truly break out, while the latter is much more enjoyable than expected, though replay value may be low. Looking to capitalize on the “evil spirits in the family house” trend of the late 70's/early 80's, “The House Where Evil Dwells” starts off in Kyoto, Japan circa 1840. A samurai warrior returns home to find another man laying down some bamboo with his wife, prompting him to explode with rage and brutally dispatch the two of them to another realm. He then promptly commits seppuku. Cut to “present day” where Ted Fletcher (Edward Albert, looking like Ron Jeremy circa the 70's), his wife, Laura (Susan George), and their daughter Amy (Amy Barrett) are moving to Japan. A local gaijin realtor, Alex (Doug McClure), has found them an ideal home for a great price… the only problem is that it’s supposedly haunted. But the rent is so affordable! The family moves in and, wouldn’t you know it, are almost immediately beset upon by the spirits of the deceased. Yes, the husband, wife and guy who was nailing the husband’s wife are now all working together. I guess when you’re forced to spend an eternity with people fast friends are made… Each of the family members is possessed at different times by the spirits – Amy manages to ingest one of them when he appears in a bowl of soup, while Laura is commandeered into a tryst with Alex, who seems to have zero moral quandary when it comes to nailing his close friend’s wife. Ted, meanwhile, is off talking to the Monk of Exposition, who basically recaps the opening. Eventually history repeats itself when Ted returns home to find Laura and Alex in a rather uncompromising position. Will everyone enjoy the same fate as their homebound ghosts once did? This movie never quite gets ridiculous enough to enter the hallowed halls of cheesedom, though it does come reaaalllyyy close. At the very least the picture deserves credit for a handful of flat-out weird scenes. The aforementioned Soup Ghost being one; a random attack by spider crabs being another. The story also glosses over things such as why the three ghosts are suddenly working together when it was clear at the very least the two men hate each other. What should be a salient plot point is strangely absent. I also get a kick out of how Alex, portrayed as an aging, lonely American living in Japan, has virtually no reservations about nailing the woman of the one man he seems to consider a close friend. Though, to be fair, Susan George had this casual sexiness about her that is pretty damn irresistible. In any other setting this film could have been another rote haunt, but I loved seeing a movie set – and shot – in Japan. The Japanese culture, architecture and traditions have long fascinated me, plus it adds another element of interest to the story. Director Kevin Connor, who also helmed the irreverent cannibal classic “Motel Hell” (1980), punches up a flat story with moments of graphic violence and plenty of sex, the latter of which seems to dominate over horrific moments. Uneven as it may be, “The House Where Evil Dwells” gets a pass thanks to a unique setting and a handful of zany moments. Second up, a title I enjoyed more than the first: “Ghost Warrior” (1984). This fish-out-of-water tale is like “Encino Man” (1992), only with a samurai and minus The Weasel. Way back when, in feudal Japan, a samurai, Yoshi (Hiroshi Fujioka), engages in battle to protect his woman. He hesitates when preparing to deliver a final blow to the enemy, resulting in his taking an arrow to the torso. Yoshi falls off a cliff and into the icy waters below, seemingly dead. Cut to “present day” and a couple of amateur skiers find Yoshi’s frozen body and alert the proper authorities. The corpsicle is taken to a cryosurgery research lab (in America, despite Yoshi being found in Japan), where cutting-edge surgeon Dr. Alan Richards (John Calvin) successfully reanimates the bushy-haired warrior. Chris Welles (Janet Julian), a Japanese historical expert, is brought in to aid with Yoshi’s reawakening. For some reason Dr. Richards is intent on keeping Yoshi sequestered away, in a small room, though his acclimation is going well enough thanks to a tenuous bond he begins forming with Chris. The slow reintroduction to modern society is sped up, however, when a sleazy orderly decides to break into Yoshi’s room late one night to steal his valuable swords. Naturally, Yoshi ices the guy before vanishing into the night. Somehow going unnoticed, Yoshi wanders into downtown and is introduced to newfangled Western magic, like a television set playing clips from “The Dungeonmaster” (1984, also an Empire Pictures release). While on his walkabout he comes across an old man, Willie Walsh (Charles Lampkin), who is being assaulted by some generic thugs. Yoshi, naturally, defends the man and in the process draws the ire of the surviving gang members. After another skirmish a short while later, Yoshi is met by Dr. Richards, who promptly uses his Taser on the samurai. Chris won’t stand for Yoshi’s treatment, however, and she helps him to escape… only for the two of them to run into a bigger problem: a veritable army of cops. Considering the weird science premise it would be understandable for viewers to expect a wilder tale than what is presented. There’s a certain air of nobility and respect instead, with the movie offering a decent approximation of what might happen if an actual ancient warrior were to suddenly wake up in modern times. Yoshi isn’t a crazed swordsman, nor is he a naïve “newborn” in today’s society. He is presented as a man of conviction and class, attempting to make some sense of what has happened to his life. He acts on instinct and training, almost ignoring the strange trappings of the city around him. He isn’t even able to really communicate with anyone, since he uses an old Japanese dialect, though the film occasionally allows Chris to understand him for the sake of convenience. Fujioka carries this film entirely on his own, with the only decent supporting role coming from Julian. Otherwise, it’s a roster of stock characters and a typical villain. But the players who aren’t Yoshi are of little importance here. The story has plenty of weak points that are easy enough to exploit, but by the time the credits rolled I felt satisfied with this early effort from Empire Pictures. “Ghost Warrior” could have done a few things differently to punch it up – like maybe having Yoshi’s old enemy become frozen alongside him, setting up a rematch 400 years later – but as it stands the movie works.
Video
Despite only one of the films receiving a new transfer (that would be “House”), both look more or less similar. “The House Where Evil Dwells” sports a new 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer. This isn’t totally apparent during the opening, which is bathed in shadow and a bit murky, but once the film moves into better lighting it’s evident this is a clear, clean print. Clarity is excellent during the many daylight scenes. Film grain appears very fine, though it spikes a bit under darkness. “Ghost Warrior” features a 1.85:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image, which is equally as sufficient. The opening here, too, is a bit rough but once we move into the film proper things smooth out considerably. There are more instances of white flecks appearing here than on the previous film, but that’s about the only minor issue. Otherwise, this is a pleasing HD image.
Audio
Both films get an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track – “House” in mono, “Ghost” in stereo. In each case, dialogue is presented clearly and cleanly, with a nice balance alongside sound effects and scoring. Fidelity is good on both tracks, though there are so few moments of heavy activity there isn’t a lot to work with. Subtitles are included in English on both movies.
Extras
The entirety of the extra features is comprised of a theatrical trailer for each picture. “The House Where Evil Dwells” theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 7 seconds. “Ghost Warrior” theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 3 minutes.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keep case. The cover art is reversible.
Overall
If you’re looking for a couple of light horrors that falls outside the usual fare, then this double feature may just be for you. Neither picture has any real scares – though with “Ghost Warrior” that wasn’t the intention – but the stories are just interesting enough to stand out from the pack.
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