The House of the Devil (2009)

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A nice little flick with great care for detail (brings back the 80s in music and "style" like) and good acting (Jocelin Donahue playing Samantha remembers me a little of Jessica Harper playing Suzy Bannion, the heroine of the classic Suspiria). The transition to the gory end and the resolution are a little blunt and not well paced for my taste and well, I was never really scared, surprised or shocked or anything like that. But anyway, not a bad flick but certainly no must-watch or must-collect for the lover of the art of horrors.

House of the Devil utilizes tension through patience and sound to create an unsettling atmosphere many viewers underestimate in the horror genre today. This is not your normal thrill-seeking/gore-loving/violence loaded movie, rather Ti West creates a "breathe of fresh air" story driven masterpiece convincing the viewer that the events taking place in the film can be believed by anyone ultimately instilling fear to anyone who watches this. West is able to capture certain viewers for an experience they would not soon forget. House of the Devil was created in 2009 and takes place in the early 80s. It is put together beautifully to vividly imagine life in that time period and also to make it look like it was filmed in that time too. Sound plays a very significant role in the progression of the film. Throughout the earlier parts of the film the sound is soft with its diegetic and non-diegetic sound except for the music Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) plays through her Walkman Cassette player and music played in various other scenes. The louder music enables the audience to experience safety through these parts (and also wakeup calls for whoever may be yawning in this slow-paced film). I believe these moments are crucial because even though we may step away from the horror aspect of the film for a movement, we become vulnerable. When we become vulnerable with a false-sense of safety, it impacts the fear element to become even greater for the viewer. Not knowing the outcome of a situation creates interests, interests creates the viewer to engulf themselves into the atmosphere of the film, when we engulf ourselves this is where Ti West has the audience on the edge of their seat vulnerable. Vulnerability is a crucial element of the horror film which is underutilized and at many times not executed well. House of the Devil executes this feeling effectively to create a movie unlike most others, one not to be watched but to be experienced.

House of the Devil is a love letter to classic 80s horror films that timidly hides among modern horror films. This film managed to capture the true essence of the 80s: the nostalgic hits, the grainy camera, and the prominent fashion marked by big hair and high-waist pants. However, House of the Devil really shines through its purposeful callbacks to 80s horror elements. Unlike modern horror films, this film does not spoil or desensitize the viewer to a marathon of gore and nudity right off the get-go. Instead, this film takes its time by building up the horror and suspense through elements of mis-en-scene such as the lightning, sound, and the reoccurring colors of white and red leaving the viewer submissive and vulnerable to the plot by sitting on the edge of their seat thinking, "when will this go bad?". Director Ti West manipulates our emotions with the sound as it creates an illusion for the viewer that a jump scare will happen soon, only to find out it was a false alarm. Ti West allows the audience to soak up the mis-en-scene in this film by placing the camera in a seemingly casual spot as if we are to watch something horrific unravel behind the curtains, or behind the couch that Sam is sitting on, yet we are actually examining the house and the environment, searching for clues just as Sam is doing herself. The reoccurring colors of white and red are evident through the placement of white and red lamps, as they are foreshadowing the splashing use of those colors later on. Low-key lighting is used to cast a shadow of the stair railings on Sam's face to indicate that she is trapped, also foreshadowing events to come. Ti West explicitly incorporates these techniques that may be familiar to 80s horror fans, as this film shares intertextuality with Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and John Carpenter's Halloween as both films also utilized sound and lighting techniques to frighten its audience.

This film won me over. Though some say it's too slow or doesn't pay off at the end I believe it has all the right elements. Samantha, the main character, is very likable (not lovable) and give off a Margot Kidder-type vibe both with her looks and acting. What I love, and what I think a lot of newer movies lack, is the use of space. The space allows you to fill the void with your own mind and just like good music, makes the loud scary parts much louder and scarier by contrast. I hope to see more movies that emulate the greatest era of horror, in my opinion, the late 70's early 80's.