The House of the Devil (2009)

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This movie is extremely true to the eighties. Although I didn't live in that time, I have seen many of the movies from then and the editing is incredible. It is slow at the beggining, but the director and writer uses this to develop fear as the girl hears strange noises.

In a time where jump scares are so prevalent, Ti West's The House of the Devil is a refreshing film that does not rely solely on jump scares but of the paranoia of the audience. Ti West brilliantly succeeds in making the mundane task of babysitting utterly horrifying through the film's foreboding atmosphere and use of tension. Silence is utilized throughout the film as a means to build this terrifying tension which lasts hours after the film has ended. The House of the Devil makes you question the safety of mundane tasks, such as the simple act of walking down a street at night. The lingering presence of this film can also be attributed to the main location of the film a house. While the claustrophobic hallways and frequent use of low angle shots give the house a horrific presence, it is the normality of the house that is terrifying. Other films such as Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre throws the audience into a terrifying community with a killer, while The House of the Devil puts the audience in an obscure house leaving everything else up to their imagination. The film immerses the audience through the use a single main character, instead of splitting the audience's attention between a group of friends allowing for a more intimate connection as well as an unnerving sense of isolation throughout the film. Overall, The House of the Devil is a beautifully innovative film that leads you on a terrifying journey making you question the safety of everyday events.

Ti West creates a world in The House of the Devil, made in 2009 the film looks as if it was made in the 80's. The time-machine effect of the film truly brings audiences back into the past through clothes, characters, framing, and filters used, West creates an old-fashioned horror film using the baby-sitter trick to tie it all together. Samantha, the cute brunette, seemingly quiet girl looking for a way to move out of her dorm room with her very messy, very slutty, and very sleepy roommate, acquires a number to a specific babysitting gig that offers plenty of compensation for her time, and decides why not? The number leads Samantha and her dopey, blonde friend to a rich-looking, creepy neighborhood, where something seems very odd about the people whom she meets and the man who she had spoken to multiple times over the phone introduces himself as if he had something to hide. The story continues to creep along as we watch and endure Sam's own questioning of the job she's agreed to do. Using a cult-like group of freaks, Ti West creates horrors unimaginable in the 80's by most people, this was the time where trust amongst neighbors began to fade into the fear all of our parents have today. Using film techniques, West portrays Sam in low angles and dark shadows, showing her fear begin to surface from beginning to the end of the film. Though she remains a fighter, the over-towering height of her captures make her look extremely small and vulnerable to the evil doings. Ti West indulges in cliché horror movie concepts: the bloody fights, the running from the villains, using the villains weapons on them, only to be caught up and have to choose between life or death. The film creates a persona we all known of, but rarely see in contemporary horror films. Though the ending of The House of the Devil deceives us into believing there may be a sequel, audiences are let down knowing there is no true end to this horrible night for Sam or for viewers.

From the moment we are brought into this film, it is obvious that Ti West's The House of the Devil is going to include a reemergence of the classic '80s stereotypes we have grown to know and love. Ti West does something extremely smart when placing the opening credits over freeze frames of our main character, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), because it allows us to automatically feel connected to her. It also reminds us of the films we have watched over and over. However, with this being a horror film, West also creates an atmosphere that makes the viewer slightly uncomfortable. The dulled sounds and grainy edits, something that we have become accustomed to when viewing films made 30 years ago, is somehow out of place when viewing a movie that came out in the last decade. The feeling of nostalgia that viewers experience is almost misplaced, and it begins the sensation of terror in their stomachs for the anticipation of what may come next. This feeling of dread compounds throughout the movie when little oddities begin to occur, such as Mr. Ulman's peculiar phone habits, strange appearance, "off" mannerisms, and unusual interactions with his own wife, whom Samantha engages with as well. Everything adds to this dreadful feeling. So, commence the white knuckles on every viewer, as Samantha is left alone in this Hitchcockian house. The suspense builds, and the mise-en-scène alone is enough to make a viewer go mad. Although there are moments of relief placed strategically throughout, the anticipation for the modern day, fast-paced gore we have grown used to is immense. The lull in the movie, which is preceded by the abrupt and gory death of Samantha's friend Megan, allows a viewer's imagination to run rampant. The yearning for questions to be answered grows exponentially with every passing scene as Samantha slowly explores the home. I commend Ti West's use of these elements that build suspense, similar to the ones that the great Alfred Hitchcock used thoroughly himself. When the film is over, the viewers are left with a feeling in the pit in their stomachs that is never quite resolved… much like Samantha.