Popular horror novelist Roger Cobb inherits his dead Aunt’s home where he intends to finish his new book, but the ghoulish monsters that reside there stir up paranormal trouble forcing him to reconcile with his own demons.

As a person who was raised at a Hollywood Video store, the cover art for HOUSE (1985) was seared into my brain at an early age. A gnarly severed corpse hand fingers an old doorbell? Easy sell. But as an easily frightened child, likely too scary to rent. So now, 200 years later, getting around to watching it feels like shutting the door on some peripheral unfinished task, and I’m happy to report it (mostly) lives up to the legendary poster.

Roger Cobb inherits his deceased Aunt’s Victorian mansion, the same home he once shared with his ex-wife and young son who mysteriously disappeared in the pool. Despite his troubled past in the home, he hopes the space can provide the peace and quiet he needs to complete his next book about his nightmarish experience from the war in Vietnam where he recklessly abandoned a fellow soldier leading to their death.

As he settles into the creepy abode, the specter of his Aunt warns him of the house’s malevolence, begging him to leave before it’s too late. Cartoonish trickster ghouls and repulsive creatures spring forth from closets and bedrooms, tampering with his life and sanity. He fends off a nosy neighbor and the house’s haunted hooligans, inevitably delving into their other worldly dimension to retrieve his lost child.

Some of the rules of the movie are confusing, but the playful practical gags, puppets and rubber costumes are what makes this movie special, spawning an entire franchise to follow.