“During the 1980s over 70% of American adults believed in the existence of abusive Satanic Cults… Another 30% rationalized the lack of evidence due to government cover ups… The following is based on true unexplained events…”
The first time I watched The House of the Devil it was a completely random choice. I hadn’t heard about it, or director Ti West at all, and I think I chose it just because there wasn’t much new on streaming that particular week. I remember being pleasantly surprised and thinking this Ti West guy was a director to keep an eye on. I haven’t enjoyed his subsequent films as much, at least until X, which was something of a return to form. I still need to see Pearl and Maxxxine.
While I enjoyed the film a lot, I was more impressed with lead actress Jocelin Donahue than the film itself. I expected her to break out big, and I’m always somewhat flabbergasted that it never happened. Yes, she’s continued to work and I’m always happy when she shows up in something (like The Burrowers or Holiday), but she never became a “name,” and I don’t know why.
I’ve had a copy of The House of the Devil for years but was just never in the mood to watch it again until this week. There’s just something about ‘Satanic panic’ movies that don’t interest me much, and it’s a heavy lift to get me in the mood for it. It was a cold, foggy and rainy night, however – just the right atmosphere for some 80s themed horror goodness.
The Medium
I have the 2009 Blu-ray of The House of the Devil from MPI Media Group. It looks fairly good, especially considering the period look they’re going for, and has a couple of commentary tracks. Second Sight will be releasing a new, limited edition Blu-ray on April 28th of this year, but as they’re a UK outfit, I’m sure it’ll be Region B only. For streaming options, you can find The House of the Devil almost anywhere – from free (with ads) options like Tubi and Pluto, to subs on Amazon Prime and Shudder. It can also be purchased or rented at Amazon, AppleTV and Fandango.
The Movie
The House of the Devil is a retro horror film, done in a late 70s/early 80s style with a ‘based on a true story’ intro, flat orange titles over freeze-frames, and a kind of static shot composition I associate with that era. It’s incredibly well done in that regard, and the first time I saw the film I had to actually pause and go back to the info screen to be sure it was a 2009 film and not something from, say, 1983.
The film follows through on that feel by using a much more measured pace, with very little in the way of shocks or gore for a good chunk of its running time. It actually took me a few minutes to adjust to this, but once I did, I really started to enjoy the slow-burn buildup of suspense. West provides plenty of vaguely menacing scenes, especially once Samantha arrives at the appropriately creepy house, but he’s more interested in unsettling us than he is in causing us to jump out of our seats.
Not to say there aren’t any shocks or gore – once things get revved up it really goes all out – but by the time it does happen you’re so keyed up by the wait that it’s even more effective than it would have been if you’d been dealing with death after death and jump scares for the previous hour.
The basic premise is that a college student named Samantha (Donahue) takes a job babysitting for a weird older couple at their big house in the country. She really needs the money to afford to move out of her college dorm (and away from her slovenly roommate). Her best friend, Megan (an early appearance by Greta Gerwig) isn’t so keen on the idea – especially after it turns out the couple lied about having a child. It’s actually the wife’s mother that they need someone in the house for, but the lure of the cash overwhelms good sense and Samantha agrees.
Things are not as they seem (the title is kind of a dead giveaway).
It’s a pretty great little film overall. I have a soft spot for these kind of bare-bones films from the early 80s and Ti West does a great job keeping the suspense building (with at least one big jump to keep you on your toes). The acting is naturalistic and of a generally high quality. I loved that he uses a lot of actors that I associate with genre films from that time period as well. I get actors and their roles jumbled in my head sometimes, so my reactions were like this: “Hey, it’s the mom from ET who was in the Howling! (Dee Wallace)” “Oh shit, don’t trust him, that’s Francis Dollarhyde!” (Tom Noonan) And, “Hey, it’s Mary Woronov!” (For some reason she’s always “Mary Woronov” or sometimes “Mary Woronov from Eating Raul.”)
Jocelin Donahue does a great job as Samantha – she even looks like a 70s/80s ingénue, reminding me a lot of Brooke Adams or Karen Allen. She’s the sole character for most of the film, and she carries it well. She’s got a kind of innocent energy, and as she be-bopped around the creepy old house while listening to The Fixx’s “One Thing Leads to Another,” I found myself singing along.
My only real complaint is that once things get really going – as midnight and the eclipse approach – they go a little too fast. There’s a huge amount of buildup and there should be plenty of room in the film to drag us through some more high-tension moments, but it’s all over before you know it. I really would have liked to have Samantha hunted through the house with some of those great ‘will they find her’ sorts of set pieces, but you can’t have everything. As fast as the ending is, it’s messy, terrifying and very well done.
The Bottom Line
The House of the Devil doesn’t really tread any new ground or anything – in fact it almost feels familiar, like you could pass it off as a forgotten gem recently rediscovered – but it’s pretty good at what it does. If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth the time.
