The House of the Devil

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source: The House of the Devil

Ti West, who directed the underrated Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, is a name to watch out for. The House of the Devil, although not fantastic, proves that West has an excellent eye for visuals, details and creating suspense. This film feels as though it has come directly out of the 80's, more like a lost film of some horror director like John Carpenter or Tobe Hooper than a second feature by a new millennium director. From the opening and end credits, to the walkman, fashion, soundtrack and the slightly faded visuals, even the storyline, centred on babysitters and Satanists feels like the movie belongs back in the 80's. Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a college student who needs money fast. Her roommate is a disgusting slob, and Samantha is a neat-freak, lucky for her she has found an apartment, but needs money to pay the rent. She stumbles across a babysitter advert at the college and quickly applies. Soon enough she is meeting with Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) and his odd wife Mrs. Ulman (Mary Woronov) on the night of the lunar eclipse. Straight away it is obvious to us, and Samantha's friend Megan (Greta Gerwig), that this job is a setup for some sinister goings down (hence the title 'The House of the Devil'). The first 40 minutes of this movie are excellent. Samantha is a character we can care about and a sense of dread permeates the proceedings. However, once the babysitting starts very little happens and the movie slows to a halt which ultimately destroys the fantastic mood setup. Events pick up at 75 minute mark, but with only 15 minutes left the final act is rushed with no time to generate any scares (apart from some nice gory deaths). The cast do an excellent job, the exchanges between Mr. Ulman and Samantha are deliciously creepy, and the house itself is reminiscent of the Amityville house. The actual story is quite good, nothing new or exciting but a simple little devil-themed yarn with a little twist. Unfortunately it is the pacing which is this film's undoing, and it is a shame because it really could have been an amazingly good film otherwise. 3½/5

All I can say is AWFUL.... What a waste of an hour and a half of my life which I will never get back... The only good side to the film is attention to detailing with regards to it being set in the 80's,for example the clothing, the Walkman, even the fact it is fuzzy. I kept looking out for mistakes they may have made, like leaving something in that was created in the 90's, but alas there was nothing like that so I can't fault them for that but this again goes to show how boring the film was, that I was spending the time watching it doing this.It takes almost the entire film to build up to anything. I know they are trying to create suspense, as do most horrors, but this just gets boring. After an hour of waiting still nothing happens. It all seems to kick off in the last 10 minutes and then it's over. Completely pointless. Dire Dire Dire film.

I don't understand that scene where she finds an apartment to rent - yes, it shows she needs money (as does the interminable amount of scenes showing her current living situation is ... ahem ... "untenable"), but none of this is necessary to the plot (they basically wrote a short B- grade student film and needed 70 minutes of "filler"). Why doesn't Tom Noonan initially keep their appointment, why does a knife slash from the level of someone lying down hit a large standing guy in the throat, why does it upset me that so much of a horror movie is utterly nonsensical and the heroes' actions are that of a blithering moron who has never seen a horror movie or been scared for a second in her life (well, that one's easy to answer - it's because it is incredibly lazy writing), why does it annoy me that so many horror fans think that this is something they need to settle for ?? No doubt the film-maker would say this is a pastiche of 1980's horror movies, and as such was MEANT to be bad, but the cynical part of me wants to say that until I've seen better from this film-maker, pastiches of bad 1980's horrors is where he should stay.

It is the late '70's/early '80's. Cash strapped babysitter Samantha Hughes agrees to take on a very well paid job by rather creepy home owner, Mr Ulman.(Tom Noonan.) As the Night Progresses however, Samantha comes to realize that Mr Ulman and his no less creepy wife(Mary Woronov) may very well have a sinister plan for her... The House Of The Devil may very well divide audiences and fans, as it's a slow burning film, which takes its time to get to its payoff. However, I thought it was a fairly decent throwback horror film, that captures the feel of its setting perfectly. It's also got great performances from Noonan and Woronov as the sinister couple. It does indulge in one or two unlikely scenarios, but is overall a decent and solid effort from director Ti West. Well worth a look for fans seeking something a bit more offbeat.