October Movie Marathon Part 4: House of the Devil (2009)

House of the Devil is a movie that is completely unashamed of what it is. It is also uncompromisingly straightforward in its premise. In fact just knowing the title of this movie will give you a pretty good idea about what is going to happen in this film. However, despite this, or maybe because of it, House of the Devil is a fantastically frightening and fun film to watch.

Immediately one will notice when watching House of the Devil that director Tai West has made a conscious decision to set this film in the 80s in a homage to many of the classic horror and slasher flicks of the era. While some movies such as Machete or Planet Terror utilize the grind house aesthetic in a tongue and cheek manor, House of the Devil plays it much more straight by setting the movie in an era that evokes the feel of older horror movies without trying to engage in parody.

The film begins with a college student, Samantha, attempting to get a side job as a baby sitter so that she can move out into apartment and escape her obnoxious room mate. She lands a gig at an isolated mansion deep on the outskirts of town. Her job is to baby sit a mysterious man’s elder mother. The movie follows the events over the course of the night as Samantha finds more than she bargained for at the house.

This is a movie based on slow tension and anticipation on what will happen next. Samantha is a likely character played excellently by Jocelin Donahue. This great, since a large portion of this movie is nothing but long shots of her alone in the mansion, as she explores and begins to unravel what is going on in the house. As the movie progresses your really start to feel some apprehension for what is going to happen to this girl. However, when everything goes to hell at the end of this movie (literally), it is like a punch in the gut, all leading up to a masterfully executed abrupt ending that is classic horror.

House of the Devil is one of the best horror films I have seen from 2009. Some may criticize this film for being too uneventful or lacking substance, but this movie does everything it sets out to do, and does it with a slick retro style. It is definitely a movie worth seeking out and is great for Halloween.

9/10