The House Where Evil Dwells

The House Where Evil Dwells is a 1982 American-Japanese horror film starring Edward Albert, Susan George and Doug McClure about an American family that moves into a reputed haunted house in the hills of Japan. It was directed by Kevin Connor and produced by Martin B. Cohen. It was based on a novel by James Hardiman and turned into a screenplay by Robert Suhosky.

The film opens in 1840, in the vicinity of Kyoto. The opening act is a murder-suicide by a samurai. He kills his wife, her lover, and then himself. More than a century later, an American writer and his family move into the abandoned home of the samurai. The three ghosts trapped in the house use spirit possession to influence the behavior of the living. They hope that by re-enacting the original murders-suicide, they will be free to escape their confinement in the house. Two of the ghosts shapeshift into Japanese spider crabs to attack the family's preteen daughter, ensuring that the injured girl will be away from the house at the time of the intended re-enactment. An exorcist monk is called to deal with the ghosts, but he fails to prevent violent behavior in the living. The ghosts' plan succeeds, and they recruit three new ghosts as replacements within the house.