Sadly Over-hyped

Boring

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

Top bad for mu taste. There is nothing interesting in this movie

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.

A babysitting job takes a turn for the worse, beginning from an advertisement placed on a college job board to a hung up phone call; things are not quite right from the get-go. A movie that crescendos, never releasing its tension, and finally hits an apex that leaves one questioning what has just been witnessed. There are moments that lead you to believe the movie is going in a certain direction, only to veer in another. Subtle hints of skulls and bright hues of red portray what it already known to be a movie somehow involving the devil. The movie shifts from brief moments of a teenager having fun babysitting in a house and exploring to the house becoming an inescapable hell. There is an large amount of character progression to be found within the main character. She transforms from a shy, almost naive girl to a women fighting for her life. Movies such as, The Omen, compare to how tension is built up and how there is a sort of mystery to be solved. As a viewer, there is a need to try to put the pieces together of this "puzzle" and reach a conclusion before it is revealed to you. The movie has its points where the action occurring seems monotonous, but in retrospect, that helps to add more to the film and makes the ending that much better. This movie pays homage to the 1970s/80s horror movies, in that it is filmed in that time period with camera quality that was around at that time as well. Hold onto your seat and pay attention this movie will take you on a ride.

*SPOILERS*By now, the conventions of 80's horror are well established within the genre. The final girl, panning shots, and incredibly tall hair. But what would an 80's film look like in a modernized world? That is the question House of the Devil seeks to answer. Director Ti West looks to shock viewers by broadcasting the nightmares experienced by Samantha, a babysitter just looking to make a quick buck. However, she ends up signing up for something much more sinister. Where House of the Devil succeeds is not only in it's accurate portrayal of the decade, but also the slow, gradual build to its climax. West takes makes the film feel as if it's a roller coaster slowly rising to it's descent, with low- angle shots of the gloomy house and a eerily-aching score. The backing music helps capture the magic of having a brilliant score, similar to the slasher flicks of decades before, such as John Carpenter's Halloween. But this film is far from being a generic slasher flick - it's quite the opposite. The House of the Devil is a smart, goosebumps- inducing film which tells the tale that not everything is what it appears to be on the surface. We find ourselves hoping for the pizza that Samantha ordered to just be a pizza, but we know better - and that's the best and worst part about this film. We, as the viewers, know that whatever is going to happen to this sweet babysitter (and trust me, what happens will surprise you more than you are ever expecting) is not going to be great, but we keep rooting for her to make it out alive. By the time we are finally able to get a close up shot of the madness (specifically the demonic creature that impregnates her), we're ready for Samantha to end this movie for once and all. The House of the Devil is just the answer to what a modern day 80's horror film should look like - one that invokes a sense of nostalgia, all the while being ready to be the cause of your nightmares.