House Calls Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

House Calls Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 1, 2026

Howard Zieff's "House Calls" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry, and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The smooth operator

In 1978, on paper, House Calls must have looked like an exciting project. It unites two very talented stars in what could have been a 1970s variation of When Harry Met Sally.... However, in its current form, it is one seriously mismanaged project. In fact, it is so obviously mismanaged in so many different ways that it is pretty strange that at least someone with authority did not call out a few of its obvious problems.

Here are a few of them.

Walter Matthau was 58 when he agreed to play Dr. Charley Nichols. However, in front of Howard Zieff’s camera, he looks like a man who is approaching 65. Glenda Jackson was 42 when she agreed to play Ann Atkinson, and she also looks significantly older. All of this is fine. The age difference between Matthau and Jackson is fine, too. The problem is that Matthau’s character, a widower, is supposed to be highly desirable by significantly younger than Jackson women in and outside the hospital where he works, and when the two begin falling in love, seemingly against the odds, the former must convince he struggles to tame the forever young playboy still residing in his aging body. This is where some of the funniest material in House Calls emerges from. However, watching various nurses that could be Matthau’s unmarried daughters gushing over him, and Matthau playing the forever young playboy, is a bit too much in a film that was not conceived to be a straightforward comedy. Age is nothing but a number? Fine. However, Matthau plays a character whose mileage and sex appeal are off by a lot.

The necessary swings between the very, very silly comedy and serious drama, which were enormously popular in 1970s films that explored the ripple effects from the Decade of Decadence, are all over the place. For example, in one sequence, Matthau is a man driven by inexorable carnal instincts, a seasoned gigolo, who sees the emotionally available younger women around him as moving sexual objects. In the next sequence, he is the most rational man in the hospital, willing to confront an obviously senile colleague causing havoc and mistreating patients under his supervision. It is impossible to effectively merge such wildly contrasting material, which is why large portions of House Calls look like extracts from an undercooked parody.

In the second half, Matthau and Jackson are, unsurprisingly, forced to undergo massive character transformation so that the inevitable happy ending materializes. Matthau suddenly discovers that sleeping around, at his age, is not all it’s cracked up to be, and he needs a proper partner to grow old with. Jackson, a British immigrant, then concludes that despite Matthau’s sexcapades the cultural differences between the two can be overcome so that they become a proper couple. It is banal material that quickly becomes almost unbearably tedious.

When the final credits appear, it is impossible not to describe House Calls as a missed opportunity, too. Matthau and Jackson could have been great in a properly scripted romantic comedy. Sadly, Zieff was not given a screenplay for one.

House Calls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, House Calls arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The quality of the visuals ranges from average to good. Delineation, clarity, and depth tend to be rather pleasing, especially during close-ups. However, the master that was used to produce this release is slightly sharpened, and in multiple areas of the film, usually with more consistent lighting, edge enhancement is easy to observe. You can see examples here and here. Perhaps unsurprisingly, grain exposure is not convincing as it needs to be. Color reproduction and balance are good. However, some of the sharpening collapses the darkest nuances. Image stability is excellent. Ultimately, it is possible to enjoy House Calls without being distracted by any of the anomalies mentioned above. However, the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to notice their presence. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

House Calls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. It must have been fully redone when the current master was prepared because there are absolutely no traces of any age-related anomalies on it. In fact, while viewing House Calls, I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and the upper register sounded terrific. Henry Mancini's score is surprisingly effective as well.

House Calls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for House Calls. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

House Calls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Everything that is supposed to be endearing and charming is almost unbearably tedious, while Walter Matthau's success with emotionally available young women who could be his unmarried daughters is as unbelievable as Austin Powers' spy record. I do not have a problem with Matthau playing a very silly character because he is usually very good at it. However, House Calls was not conceived as a straightforward parody, and it quickly becomes obvious that it cannot properly merge the contrasting material in which its stars are supposed to excel. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an old and rather shaky master, supplied by Universal. If you have to have it in your collection, grab it during a sale.