HOUSE WEEK DAY 4: House IV: The Repossession (Part of the House: The Collection Box Set) Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

Released by: Arrow Video

Release Date: January 29th, 1992 (Video)
                        March 27th, 2017 (Blu-ray)

Region Code: REGION FREE (Blu-ray)
                        REGION TWO (DVD)

Run Time: 1h 35m

Audio: LPCM 2.0 (English)
            DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)

Video: 1080p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio)
             480p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio)

THE FEATURES ⭐⭐

Home Deadly Home (29m 24s, HD)

Director Lewis Abernathy, Producer Sean S. Cunningham, Actors Terri Treas and William Katt, stuntman Kane Hodder, and Composer Harry Manfredini are all on hand to talk about his film. Abernathy constantly talks about how bad the film is, which is weird for a director to say. Katt and Treas do their best to not show their sad faces when talking about this film. Cunningham doesn’t really have much to say about the film. A big portion of the making-of talks about that damn pizza scene. Finally, Kane Hodder talks about the car flip stunt.

Still Gallery (3m 26s, HD)

Stills from the film, behind the scenes shots, and various poster used to advertise the film are on show while the score plays in the background.

Trailer (1m 50s, HD, 1.66:1 4x3)

Audio Commentary with Lewis Abernathy moderated by David Gregory from Blue Underground.

This track was recorded in 2004 and is not really worth the time, even if you are a fan of the film. There are some good stories told, but there is a lot of dead air, which there shouldn’t be if there is a moderator. That is what the moderator is there for.

THE PACKAGING ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: House IV is part of the House: The Collection box set.

The front cover is reversible, with one side for the theatrical poster (which is not the poster that I remember) and the other side for the newly commissioned artwork from Justin Osbourn. The Osbourn artwork is very nice, but since nothing really happens in the film, it is a little more restrained.

The back cover gives us the film’s synopsis as well as the special features.

The two discs inside get some of the Osbourn artwork, with the blu-ray getting William Katt and the 

DVD getting the wife and the exploding car.

The blu-ray is REGION FREE and the DVD is REGION TWO.

THE PICTURE ⭐⭐⭐

The fact that Arrow wasted money giving this film a 2K restoration is questionable. There are plenty of actual worthy films that could use a 2K restoration. The film looks fine. There is a thin layer of grain and detail is nice in close-ups. The film is shot in the doom and gloom colors so the transfer doesn’t shine when it comes to colors. The bright water at the end is one of the only colors that we see in the film. That and the shower of blood.

THE SOUND ⭐⭐⭐

As with the other films, Arrow has given us a LPCM track that sounds good. I am sure that this is how the film sounded when released.

THE FILM  ZERO STARS

House IV is a terrible film. One of the worst 90’s films I have seen and one of the worst horror films I have ever seen. The film feels like none of the previous films. It tries to be clever, but fails at every turn. When the highlight of your film is a singing pizza (it is way less funny than it sounds) then you should have your priorities checked.

The film brings back William Katt as Roger Cobb (the main guy from the first film). This time he is in a completely different house, one that his parents used to take him to when he was young. I thought his parents died when he was young and that he was raised by his aunt who killed herself in the first film, but we are actually thinking more for this film than it is for itself. Cobb now has a totally different family than he had at the end of this first film. He has a different wife and a girl instead of a boy.

Anyways, his half-brother (ok?), Burke, his trying to buy the house from him, but Cobb won’t sell it 

to him because of some bullshit promise his grandfather made with a Native American. There is a seal below the floorboards in the basement that glows when things happen, but doesn’t glow when other things happen. I don’t know. It shoots glowing water into the air at the end, so that’s something. Cobb refuses to sell and then is killed off in the next scene. Way to go movie.

Cobb’s wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Laurel, move into the house. Laurel is now paralyzed and rolls around in one of those old fashioned wheelchairs, the ones with the really high backs. The house, for some reason, begins to mess with Kelly, resulting in a few close calls when it comes to murdering her child.

Burke sends out goons to “persuade” Kelly into selling the house to him, but I don’t know, or care for that matter, why he wants the house.

Honestly, I had a hard time watching this film. So much happens that has nothing to do with anything, that I bet you that the film, if edited properly, would be about twenty minutes long. At least with the other House films, we cared for the characters and wanted to see them live. Here, I don’t care about any of these characters and a bomb could kill all of them and I couldn’t care less.

House IV is a poorly written, poorly directed piece of shit. The characters are all worthless and there are no gags to remember other than the pizza thing, and that is only because of the song that goes with the scene. It will drive you mad. Stay away from House IV like cancer. This is truly a garbage film.

OVERALL ⭐⭐

House IV is a film that should not exist. Actually, it should exist, but only as a warning to directors who think their turd of a film is any good. House IV is the film that proves that there has to be good films in the world. Any time that someone thinks that they have seen the worst film ever, they should have to watch House IV from beginning to end. Arrow has given the film a release that it doesn't deserve. The A/V quality is good and the packaging is nice. The special features are there if you want them there, but the film is so bad that I wouldn't waste my time with them again. Watch this film at your own risk!