HOUSE (1986)
Starring William Katt and George Wendt
Produced by Sean Cunningham, director of the original "Friday the 13th," and directed by Miner, director of "Friday" parts 2 and 3, this haunted house comedy was both a critical and box-office success when Roger Corman's New World Pictures released it in the mid-1980s—which was a good period for the horror genre as a whole.
Katt (who played Sissy Spacek's doomed date in "Carrie") plays a horror author who sets out to write a book about his experiences in the Vietnam War (a hot cinema topic in the mid-1980s). He chooses a haunted house to write the book in.
After seeing fake looking monsters and other cheesy special effects he sets up cameras in an attempt to photograph the ghost inside.
Flick is too sentimental about Katt's relationship with his son and it ultimately isn't scary. But it was a big improvement for Miner, who was coming a long way since directing two weak "Friday" films and would go on to direct the outstanding "Halloween: H20."
Rated R, it could have easily been PG.
George Wendty, the fat guy from the TV sitcom plays a neighbor. Another "Cheers" alum would co-star in the sequel, "House II: The Second Story."