The House of the Devil

The only reasons that I didn't think this was a horror from the early 1980s was the appearance of TI West's name in the opening credits and the copyright date given as MMVIII. It looks and sounds like exactly like a genre movie from the late '70s or '80s. The House of the Devil begins with cash strapped student Samantha agreeing to rent an apartment even though she doesn't have the money for the down payment and only got the property because she reminded the landlady of her daughter. With her room out of bounds - signalled by a sock on the doorknob - Samantha takes a stroll around campus and notices a flyer saying 'Babysitter Wanted'.

After taking one of the chits, she calls the number from a payphone and leaves a message on the answer phone that, rather oddly, clicks in straight away. As she is walking away from the phone and back to her dorm, the phone starts ringing and, out of curiosity, Samantha answers it to find that the man is returning her call. The correspondence ends abruptly when the line goes dead but Samantha has left a message with her name and number so, when she returns to her dorm room, there is a message asking her to call back.

Deciding to take the job as she badly needs the money, Samantha is driven to a house way out of town by her best friend Megan. They immediately get the creeps from both the house and the mysterious owner, Mr. Ulman, who admits that he wasn't entirely honest and that he has no children and the job involves house sitting for his elderly mother-in-law whilst he and his wife go out for the night to see the lunar eclipse. Megan doesn't like the situation one bit but Samantha manages to talk Mr. Ulman into paying her $400 for the night's work.

Megan is placated and drives off after promising to return after no later than 12:30am and Samantha tries to settle in the dark and rather foreboding house. When a perfunctory search reveals that everything is normal and there is no sign of the old lady upstairs, she sits around, listens to her Walkman and orders a pizza from the number that Mr. Ulman left on the fridge. When curiosity gets the better of her and she hears movement and the sound of water running, she heads upstairs to investigate further.


Ti West made his name on the far from restrained Cabin Fever 2 and The House of the Devil is a completely different kettle of fish. The only similarity with his previous work is a clear love for the genre which is evident from the visual style and audio. This isn't a typical full blown horror as it spends 70 minutes building characters, place and tension before the last 20 minutes that firmly identify this as a horror.

As a low budget movie with West multi tasking as director, writer and editor, The House of the Devil is a classic exercise in building tension before unleashing the real unrelenting terror at the end of the movie. It is wonderfully written and directed by West and features a strong performance by Jocelin Donahue as the centre - her role is a tough one for and actor as she needs to carry the narrative and be the cipher for the audience whilst making Samantha as likable and easy to empathise with as possible. Megan is a much more fun character and Greta Gerwig has a great time with her. West has built a fine cast that includes Tom Noonan (Manhunter) and Dee Wallace (Cujo, The Howling) as reference points for horror fans.

There is much to like about the film and the building tension pays off with some real jumps and a final reel to satisfy gorehounds - I won't say what happens as the less you know the more you'll like this - I'm glad I went in with no preconceptions.

The Disc

Extra Features
There are two commentaries, the first with Ti West and Jocelin Donahue and a second where West is joined by producers Larry Fessenden & Peter Phok and sound designer Graham Reznick. The first is the better of the two, with a much more fluid delivery, less chat between the participants and plenty of information about the shoot. There is nothing wrong with the other but it does duplicate material and the participants become a bit grating.

In The House of the Devil is a selection of b-roll footage and other material shot behind the scenes without any narrative or explanation. It is a nice accompaniment but doesn't add a great deal to your understanding of how the film was made.

Additionally, there are a series of deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.


The Picture
The first thing I noticed was a level of surface grain that is there intentionally to aid the period setting which is done superbly with intelligent use of costumes, props and locations. Even the cover art looks like something from a horror film 30 years ago.

The picture quality is consistently good and the SFX make-up is excellent which really adds to the third act pay off.

The Sound
I sampled both the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options and the latter is the better of the two, suiting the dated feel more than the surround track and delivering the dialogue, score and source music very well. You don't lose anything when it comes to the more intense scenes and this is an example of less is more.


Final Thoughts
I didn't really care for Cabin Fever 2 but this renews my faith in Ti West who is clearly a talented filmmaker who knows his horror and employs this knowledge to good effect, making a film that isn't a fanboy splatterfest but a more nuanced and disturbing mystery/thriller before the horror climax. It is a very unusual but one I enjoyed immensely and have no qualms in recommending to genre fans.