The House of the DevilA buddy of mine described The House of the Devil best: he said that it feels like discovering a long-forgotten horror movie gem that would play on some Thursday night prime time movie-of-the-week back in the early '80s--all that's missing are the commercial breaks. I think this observation is spot-on, and that's a testament to Ti West's dedicated homage to those celluloid creepfests. Oozing nostalgia, The House of the Devil clings fervently to the setting, in wardrobe, soundtrack, and even casting, with cult icons like Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, and Dee Wallace making appearances.
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The story--and I will be spare with the details, since watching the pieces fall into place is a part of the charm of The House of the Devil--revolves around a young college sophomore at an upstate New York university, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), and her recent procurement of an apartment she rents from a benevolent landlady, played by Dee Wallace, who waives the deposit out of kindness, but will still expect the rent money of three-hundred dollars, a detail which causes Sam to panic at the means to obtain that cash. Sam's current living situation with her roommate (Heather Robb) is strained, though she has the sympathy and enthusiasm of her best friend, Megan (Greta Gerwig) to help sustain her, who relates to Sam's problems as much as she can, though it's clear she's less adept at understanding the financial concerns Sam has. Sam contacts a man via a flier to land a babysitting job to help with the finance, which leads her and Megan to an old house in the country, where she meets the Ulmans, played by Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov, with the creep factor turned up to eleven. Megan advises Sam to drop the deal, but when Mr. Ulman ups the rate for her services to three-hundred dollars--it's Sam who pushes him to four-hundred--her commitment is locked in. Sam's stay in the dark, foreboding house is peppered with paranoid moments, that escalate gradually as the film progresses, although she does make an effort to distract herself from the all-too quiet locale with occasional bouts of homework and even a dance through the sinister home to the tune of The Fixx's "One Thing Leads to Another", on her Walkman no less. Written, directed, and edited by newcomer Ti West, The House of the Devil is a love letter to the films it mirrors, like anything from Halloween to Rosemary's Baby, but also others which may have faded into obscurity over time. The movie walks the very delicate line of presenting a period in time--ostensibly in the early Eighties--without dipping into parody or letting the details make a comedy out of itself. Important details like the costumes and props are, for the most part, treated appropriately as the background of the story proper, underscoring the filmmaker's talent by virtue of his restraint and discipline at making a movie that is consistent in its aesthetic.
It would be too easy to say that The House of the Devil is simply a horror movie set in the late '70s/early '80s, with feathered hair and high-waisted jeans; the film also embodies a narrative structure that is reminiscent of its spiritual predecessors. The pacing is intentionally slow, methodic--with periodic jumps and scares--building up to a big reveal and teasing the audience with intermittent clues as to the true terror lurking at the end. As my horror-aficionado friend observed, this too is in keeping with that "movie-of-the-week" vibe, as those kind of movies would lead you along to keep you watching, making sure you caught all those "commercial breaks". This subtle attention to structure is, I believe, one of the film's greatest strengths. Shot on 16mm film, the movie is shot and edited--complete with fonts and score--that are both consistent with the movies it emulates, while remaining stylish and spooky in its own right; there is even the addition of some graininess to the film to complete that look, so no need to adjust your TV set. The House of the Devil also subverts the "true story" convention, heralded by the introductory preface about the predominance of satanic cults, a trope often exploited in the kind of horror movies that The House of the Devil resembles; unsurprising, considering the title. And while many of the scenes in the film are direct nods to other alike horror films, The House of the Devil makes those scenes a part of its clever patchwork quilt. If you still have an old cathode ray tube TV hanging around in the basement, bust it out to watch this film, grab a case of Pepsi Throwback, and order up a pizza for that authentic movie night experience...after all, kids love pizza.
Recommended for: Horror movie buffs craving nostalgia by the truckload, or really anyone looking for a suspenseful period piece with a liberal dose of "satanic panic".
It would be too easy to say that The House of the Devil is simply a horror movie set in the late '70s/early '80s, with feathered hair and high-waisted jeans; the film also embodies a narrative structure that is reminiscent of its spiritual predecessors. The pacing is intentionally slow, methodic--with periodic jumps and scares--building up to a big reveal and teasing the audience with intermittent clues as to the true terror lurking at the end. As my horror-aficionado friend observed, this too is in keeping with that "movie-of-the-week" vibe, as those kind of movies would lead you along to keep you watching, making sure you caught all those "commercial breaks". This subtle attention to structure is, I believe, one of the film's greatest strengths. Shot on 16mm film, the movie is shot and edited--complete with fonts and score--that are both consistent with the movies it emulates, while remaining stylish and spooky in its own right; there is even the addition of some graininess to the film to complete that look, so no need to adjust your TV set. The House of the Devil also subverts the "true story" convention, heralded by the introductory preface about the predominance of satanic cults, a trope often exploited in the kind of horror movies that The House of the Devil resembles; unsurprising, considering the title. And while many of the scenes in the film are direct nods to other alike horror films, The House of the Devil makes those scenes a part of its clever patchwork quilt. If you still have an old cathode ray tube TV hanging around in the basement, bust it out to watch this film, grab a case of Pepsi Throwback, and order up a pizza for that authentic movie night experience...after all, kids love pizza.
Recommended for: Horror movie buffs craving nostalgia by the truckload, or really anyone looking for a suspenseful period piece with a liberal dose of "satanic panic".